Women are most impacted by climate change – 08/03/2023 – Environment

Migration, exposure to violence, child marriage, school dropout, loss of income. These are some of the social problems caused by the climate crisis — and which disproportionately impact women.

Climate change has already made events such as storms, droughts, heat waves and hurricanes more frequent and intense. This scenario should get even worse, depending on how much humanity manages to reduce its carbon emissions. However, when these phenomena affect populations that are already more vulnerable, the consequences are even more serious.

According to estimates by the Institute for Economy and Peace, for example, the number of displaced people due to climate disasters could reach 1.2 billion by 2050. Currently, the UN (United Nations Organization) points out that 80% of people forced to leave from their homes because of climate change are women, which has a series of consequences that vary around the world.

A report published last year by the UNFCCC, the UN arm dedicated to climate change, points out that in some African countries, men who live in rural areas hit by climate disasters, such as extreme droughts, tend to migrate to urban centers in search of work. . Women are left behind and have to assume, in addition to taking care of the children, the command of the crops, but often they do not have the right to own land guaranteed.

As a result, they are unable to access financing that could help with the recovery of production and livelihoods. Especially in the global south, illiteracy rates and lack of access to education are also higher among women, which adds another layer of difficulty to receiving these funds.

According to Save the Children, women and girls make up more than 40% of the agricultural workforce and are responsible for up to 80% of food production.

Estimates by FAO, the UN agency for food and agriculture, also point out that if women had the same access to resources as men, they could increase the productivity of their farms by 20% to 30%, which could raise the total agricultural production in developing countries by 2.5 to 4%.

The social standards that impose tasks of caring for the home and other family members on women and girls are another accentuated aspect in the midst of the economic difficulties caused by climate change. Often, it is up to them to guarantee water and food.

“If they are in a place that is heavily impacted by the drought, they start to walk a much greater distance to fetch water for the family”, exemplifies Isvilaine Silva, advisor for engagement and mobilization at the Observatório do Clima, adding that this makes them more vulnerable to harassment. .

The UN study also indicates that many girls are forced to stop studying to take care of the house after extreme weather events.

Crises, as happened during the Covid-19 pandemic, also contribute to the growth of various forms of gender violence.

“The economic stress induced by disasters and climate change can lead to cases of child, early and forced marriages as a strategy to combat poverty”, says Christiane Falcão, human rights specialist at UN Women Brazil.

In addition, the increase in poverty due to the impact on food production or fewer job opportunities also enters into the account. “These are trends that push them towards financial dependence, the main reason for entering and remaining in violent intra-family relationships and for their sexual exploitation”, she says.

An example can be found in the United States. A 2010 study found that after Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the city of New Orleans in 2005, physical violence against women increased by 98%.

“Climate change also increases violence in countries where the sea level is rising and this population is forced to leave”, explains Silva. “These are women who arrive in other countries, other communities and are left in this position of exposure, with nowhere to go and end up having to put themselves in this risky role, becoming more vulnerable”. Women are also more prone to sexual assault when living in refugee camps or shelters.

Mwanahamisi Singano, senior leader of Global Policy at the US NGO Wedo (Women’s Environment and Development Organization), points out that social norms also impact women’s ability to adapt in the face of climate or environmental crises.

“For example, in Bangladesh in 1991 there was a cyclone and 91% of those killed were women and children. Gender norms that deprive women and girls of their right to reach their full potential and develop life-saving skills, including swim, made it harder for them to escape,” he says.

Women are also historically underrepresented in decision-making positions and public policy-making positions—no different on scientific panels and climate-related discussion forums.

Data from Wedo indicate that at the 2022 UN climate conference, COP27, less than 36% of the official representatives of the countries were women. The number is better than that recorded in the previous year (34.8%), but these rates are still lower than those of pre-pandemic COPs: in 2018 and 2019, female participation rose from 37%.

The experts also highlight the importance of treating the consequences of climate change for women from the lens of intersectionality, an approach that takes into account how different oppressions add up and affect people.

“The effects of climate change are not felt equally, nor are the blame equally shared. And while women and girls are among the hardest hit, this is even more significant for women in the global south, in small island countries, for women non-white, low-income, and grassroots women, peasant women, migrants, and so many more facing intersectional marginalization,” says Singano.

Speaking specifically of the Brazilian case, Falcão states that, as black women are at the top of the worst socioeconomic indices in Brazil (such as income, violence, access to health, education, work and social protection) they are even more impacted by climate change.

“Indigenous, quilombola, extractive and traditional women are also disproportionately impacted”, he adds, explaining that this is due to their food security, health maintenance practices and way of life being directly linked to nature.

_{The Planeta em Transe project is supported by the Open Society Foundations.}