Climate change is one of the greatest global challenges of the twenty-first century for developed and developing countries alike. Though developing countries have contributed the least to the causes of climate change, they stand to suffer more due to their vulnerability to extreme environmental events. Women and men working in sectors most dependent on the weather, such as agriculture and tourism, are likely to be most affected. Climate change, moreover, is not gender neutral. Women are increasingly being seen as more vulnerable than men to the effects of climate change because they represent the majority of the world’s poor and are proportionally more dependent on threatened natural resources. What is more, women tend to play a greater role than men in natural resource management – farming, planting, protecting and caring for seedlings and small trees – and in ensuring nutrition and as care providers for their families. Yet, in the long run, no one – women or men, rich or poor – can remain immune from the challenges and dangers brought on by climate change.
The discourse on climate change does not pay adequate attention to women, either at the local project level or in international negotiations. Women are unable to voice their specific requirements even though the impact of climate change affects women and men differently. In several rural areas of the South, although women are responsible for feeding their families and are therefore more dependent on natural resources such as land, wood and water, their access to these resources is limited. They are also denied full access to loans, education and information.
Second, the potential of women as agents of change for climate mitigation and adaptation remains untapped: Their extensive theoretical and practical knowledge of the environment and resource conservation is not given due consideration. In terms of economic participation, they are not paid for the environmental services that they already provide (e.g., reforestation). Their potential contribution to climate mitigation by being part of the economic cycle is not sufficiently exploited.
This collection of contributions by gender and sustainable development experts explores the interconnections between gender equality and sustainable development across a range of sectors and issues such as energy, health, education, food security, climate change, human rights, consumption and production patterns, and urbanisation. The articles provide evidence on how women’s equal access and control over resources not only improves livelihoods, but also helps ensure the sustainability of the environment. Recommendations for policy makers and practitioners include: develop a participatory and gender-responsive consultation process to inform and ensure equitable decision-making; commit to building a green economy based on gender equality, poverty eradication, and technological and social systems that reduce the environmental impact of production and consumption; decrease women’s growing burden of unpaid labour by increasing their access to appropriate technologies and natural resources.
The publication contains several case studies, including from Ghana.
This summary was prepared by Eldis.
