As obvious as it sounds, climate change affects everybody. That means women, men, children – and all those polar bears you’ve seen on the TV. We’re all in this together.
Courtesy of Oxfam GB the following article discusses the issues surrounding gender and climate change.
But climate change is already having a disproportionate impact on people in majority world countries, and it’s hitting women hardest.
It’s not the easiest idea to understand. After all, everyone gets affected during a flood.
Changes in weather and extreme weather events are being felt most in majority world countries. This is because poor people rely more on natural resources, are more vulnerable to disaster and have fewer ways to protect themselves.
But because women tend to do the jobs that are most affected by changes in weather, they are feeling the greatest pressure.
It tends to be women who grow the family’s food, fetch fuel and water, and bring up the children. So when clean water becomes harder to find during a drought, or when crops are destroyed by floods, it’s up to women to find solutions.
As the weather becomes increasingly uncertain in many places, that can feel like a near-impossible task.
Men are badly hit too, of course, but because they tend to do fewer jobs that rely on natural resources, they are usually in a much stronger position to cope and rebuild their lives.
They are also more likely to be educated, to have savings, and to have skills to earn money. And if there is no work locally, they are able to migrate to other areas to find it.
So it’s actually fairly simple. Climate change is hitting women in the majority world countries hardest by exacerbating inequalities that already exist.
In some places, people are fighting back and women are leading the way. Like in Bangladesh, where women in poor communities are leading projects to raise homes and introduce early warning systems to help cope with increasingly severe floods.
But to tackle climate change on a global scale we all must play our part by changing our own lives and encouraging our friends and families – and the politicians who act in our names – to make a difference too.
We’re all in this together. We must all be part of the solution.
Want to learn more?
If you are interested in reading further into the issues surrounding women and climate change, why not investigate some of the prize winners and finalists of the European Greens Essay Contest - Women and Climate Change.
