Gender and Climate Change

Climate Change
• What is climate change?
Any change in global temperatures and precipitation over
time due to natural variability or to human activity
• Why is climate change a gender issue?
-vulnerability of women to the effects of climate change
-feminization of poverty
-limited adaptive capacities (social inequalities ;ascribed social and
economic roles ;differences in property rights, access to information,
lack of employment and unequal access to information)
-Climate change will most probably affect sectors associated with women
(cotton and tea plantations)
Effects of climate change

Monsoon
Effects of climate change

Drought
Effects of climate change

Deforestation
Effects of climate change

Ozone layer depletion

How climate change affects women directly in
developing countries

•Poverty – intensifies all impacts.

• Farmlands are destroyed so income diminished.
•Domestic responsibilities take longer as resources are scarce.
•Water and heat related diseases increase due to climate and
flooding.
•Death rates increase.
•Increased dependency as carers for sick.
•Vulnerable to violence in resource conflicts.
•Bear brunt of psychological strain.
•Forced to borrow money from unreliable sources.
•Become sole parent as men migrate to find work.
 What is climate change adaptation?

• It aims to reduce the vulnerability and improve the adaptive capacity or resilience of
people

• In the agricultural sector, adaptation requires the use of good agricultural, forestry, and
fisheries practices to meet changing climate conditions

• Household level: ability to adapt depends on control over land, money credit and tools,
low dependency ratio, good health and personal mobility, secure housing

• Women are less able to adapt:

-low income earners
-less educated
-denied rights to property and land
-gender biases in institutions
 How to incorporate gender issues into
climate change adaptation?
• International and National Policies
-mainstream a gender perspective into policy
making process
-gender analysis
• Local and Community Activities
-use participatory approaches
-understand local gender roles
Why do we need to address gender issues
in climate change adaptation?
• Because climate change adaptation is not
gender-neutral
• Women suffer most from climate change
• For adaptation strategies to be effective and
sustainable, we need women to participate
• Women’s priorities and strategies integrated
in adaptation results in more sustainability
and fairness
 Criticism

• Overemphasize on women’s vulnerability,

separate them from human being as a whole.
• Problems vary from countries and regions which
can not be treated without any characteristics.
• International Protocol is lacking of constraint
force and monitoring power.
• Indicated women’s absence of policy making.
However fail to demonstrate an effective
approach to figure it out.
 Criticism

• Legal reform and political help are insufficient.

• Functions overlapped between departments,
however some of them are invisible.
• Lack of international, national, individual
cooperation and interaction.
• Afterwards remedies, need more pre-
protection of the unpredictable disaster.
 Conclusion
• More locally based research on gender is needed because
gender roles vary across cultures, class, ethnicity , income and
education

• Action on the gender dimension of climate change is needed

at the policy making level

• Adaptation at an accelerated and more targeted pace is

critical for the security and development of vulnerable
populations