women and climate change.pdf

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Impact and Agency in Human Rights, Security,and Economic Development

Women and Climate Change


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Authors

Mayesha Alam Associate Director, GIWPSRukmani Bhatia Hillary Rodham Clinton Research Fellow, GIWPSBriana Mawby Hillary Rodham Clinton Research Fellow, GIWPS

Expert Advisers

Ambassador Melanne VerveerHer Excellency Mary RobinsonHer Excellency arja Halonen

Acknowledgements

Te authors of this report would like to express their deep gratitude to H.E. Mary Robinson (MaryRobinson Foundation Climate Justice), Aira Kalela (Office of the President of Finland), LorenaAguilar (IUCN), Professor Susan Martin (Institute for the Study of International Migration, George-town University), and Professor Robert Egnell (Security Studies Program, Georgetown University) forserving as external reviewers of this report. Teir guidance and feedback were invaluable to our re-search and writing process. We are also indebted to Mara DAmico, Anna Applebaum, ricia Correia,Alexandra Z. Safir, and Erica Vsquez for their input and support. In addition, we would like to thankSusan Markham (USAID), Cathy Kaplan (USAID), Leora Falk (USAID), Emily Rostkowski (USAID),Jennifer Hawkins (USAID), Marina Colby (USAID), Karen Frederickson (USAID), Verania Chao(UNDP), Eleanor Blomstrom (WEDO), Bridget Burns (WEDO), James Close (World Bank), BhuvanBhatnagara (World Bank), Ella Lazarte (World Bank), Anne Kuriakose (World Bank), Simmy Martin

(World Bank), Audrey Anderson (Plan International), Verona Collantes (UN Women), Jamie Bechtel(A New Course), H.E. Ritva Koukku-Ronde (Finland Ministry of Foreign Affairs), and Riina-RiikaHeikka (Finland Ministry of Foreign Affairs) for their consultations on this report.

Cover photoSolar engineer making a solar cooker: Knut-Erik Helle

For more information about GIWPS or to contact the authors of this report,please email [email protected].

Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security 2015


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Women and Climate Change:

Impact and Agency in Human Rights, Security, andEconomic Development

Published by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security


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Authors

Mayesha Alam Associate Director, GIWPSRukmani Bhatia Hillary Rodham Clinton Research Fellow, GIWPSBriana Mawby Hillary Rodham Clinton Research Fellow, GIWPS

Expert AdvisersAmbassador Melanne VerveerHer Excellency Mary RobinsonHer Excellency arja Halonen

AcknowledgementsTe authors o this report would like to express their deep gratitude to H.E. Mary Robinson (MaryRobinson Foundation Climate Justice), Aira Kalela (Office o the President o Finland), LorenaAguilar (IUCN), Proessor Susan Martin (Institute or the Study o International Migration, George-town University), and Proessor Robert Egnell (Security Studies Program, Georgetown University) orserving as external reviewers o this report. Teir guidance and eedback were invaluable to our re-search and writing process. We are also indebted to Mara DAmico, Anna Applebaum, ricia Correia,Alexandra Z. Safir, and Erica Vsquez or their input and support. In addition, we would like to thankSusan Markham (USAID), Cathy Kaplan (USAID), Leora Falk (USAID), Emily Rostkowski (USAID),Jennier Hawkins (USAID), Marina Colby (USAID), Karen Frederickson (USAID), Verania Chao(UNDP), Eleanor Blomstrom (WEDO), Bridget Burns (WEDO), James Close (World Bank), BhuvanBhatnagara (World Bank), Ella Lazarte (World Bank), Anne Kuriakose (World Bank), Simmy Martin(World Bank), Audrey Anderson (Plan International), Verona Collantes (UN Women), Jamie Bechtel(A New Course), H.E. Ritva Koukku-Ronde (Finland Ministry o Foreign Affairs), and Riina-RiikaHeikka (Finland Ministry o Foreign Affairs) or their consultations on this report. Finally, we are

grateul to Marcela Manubens and Unilever or their support to launch this report, and to H.E. Mary


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Table of Contents

List of Acronyms ..........................................................................................................................................5

Foreword ........................................................................................................................................................ 7

Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 9

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................11

Why Now? ..............................................................................................................................................12

Climate Change: An Overview ............................................................................................................13

A Universal Human Rights Imperative ........................................................................................14

A Global Security Treat ...............................................................................................................16

A Pervasive Economic Strain ........................................................................................................17

I. Various Manifestations of Climate Change and Teir Gendered Impacts.................................19

Sea Level Rise and Flooding .................................................................................................................19

Deorestation and Ocean Acidification ...............................................................................................23

Water Scarcity .......................................................................................................................................26

Climate-Related Migration & Displacement......................................................................................31

Energy Production and Green Power ..................................................................................................37

Climate Finance ....................................................................................................................................41

II. Looking to COP21: Mobilizing the International Community andStrengthening National Capacity............................................................................................................45

Women and the International Climate Change Regime ....................................................................45

National Commitments: Climate Change Gender Action Plans......................................................49

Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmentally Friendly Business........................................52

III. Conclusions and Recommendations ...............................................................................................55

Recommendations .................................................................................................................................57

International Organizations ................................................................................................................57

National Governments..........................................................................................................................58

Private Sector .........................................................................................................................................58

NGOs ......................................................................................................................................................59

IV. Bibliography .........................................................................................................................................61


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List of Acronyms

AIRES Alianza Internacional de Reorestacin

ASEAN Association o Southeast Asian NationsAU Arican Union

ccGAP Climate Change Gender Action Plan

CDC United States Center or Disease Control and Prevention

CEDAW Convention on the Elimination o All Forms o Discrimination against Women

CIF Climate Investment Funds

CO2 Carbon Dioxide

CO2e Carbon Dioxide Equivalent

COP Conerence o PartiesEU European Union

GACC Global Alliance or Clean Cookstoves

GCF Green Climate Fund

GEAG Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group

GEF Global Environment Facility

GGCA Global Gender and Climate Alliance

GLOF Glacial Lake Outburst Flood

Gt - Gigatonne

IBA International Bar Association

IDP Internally Displaced Person

IOM International Organization or Migration

IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

IUCN International Union or the Conservation o Nature

MDGs - Millennium Development Goals

MWC Maasai Wilderness Conservation rust

OAU Organization o Arican Unity

REDD/REDD+ Reducing Emissions rom Deorestation and Forest Degradation

SAFECO Synergy o Congolese Womens Associations

SDGs Sustainable Development Goals

SGBV Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

UNSCR United Nations Security Council Resolution

WASH Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

WEA Womens Earth Alliance

WECAN Womens Earth and Climate Action Network International

W - Watts

Wp Watt Peak

WRI World Resources Institute


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Forward

Photo: J.L.Urrea (CCAFS)


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Foreword

Climate change is one o the greatest ecological and environmental challenges o our time. Itis also an incontrovertible challenge to human rights, security, and economic development.United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has declared 2015 the year or global action

on climate change. In November, the Conerence o Parties 21 negotiations will take place in Paristo advance the global dialogue on climate change and necessary actions to tackle it. Moreover, theMillennium Development Goals, which were adopted by the UN in 2000 to eradicate extreme pov-erty, have been transormed into the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, which have a globalscope and place a stronger emphasis on sustainability environmental integrity, social equality,and economic prosperity as central to human progress. As the world conronts the borderless andmultidimensional effects o climate change, it is imperative that we understand the impact o climatechange on women, as well as the importance o their agency in addressing its threats. At this important

juncture, we hope this report will fill a critical knowledge gap and demonstrate why it is important to

include womens voices, perspectives, and participation at all levels o decision-making and all levels oadaptation and mitigation.

Te impacts o climate change drought, floods, extreme weather, increased incidence o disease, andgrowing ood and water insecurity disproportionately affect the worlds 1.3 billion poor, the majorityo whom are women. Although women are orced to bear the brunt o the consequences o climatechange, they have been systematically excluded rom decision-making mechanisms and denied agencyin deciding when and how to overcome the vulnerabilities they ace. Tis is a serious omission thatundermines the potential and compromises the effectiveness o even the best-intentioned efforts to ad-dress climate change. Nevertheless, women are contributing to both adaptation and mitigation effortsin many parts o the world, and they are creating innovative and localized solutions to build resilientcommunities. At all levels o leadership and across all sectors o society, womens representation is notan option, but a necessity.

At the Georgetown Institute or Women, Peace and Security, one o our primary goals is to ensurethat evidence-based research is accessible to practitioners and policymakers. Tis report identifiesmany key challenges posed by climate change, examines their gender dimensions, and proposestimely recommendations or a broad base o stakeholders international decision-makers, nationalministries, the private sector, and local organizations. In doing so, Women and Climate Change: Impactand Agency in Human Rights, Security, and Economic Developmentrepresents an interdisciplinary andseminal contribution to the existing literature.

Perhaps more than any other global challenge, climate change reminds us both o our interdependence

and the need or cross-sector collaboration and the ull participation o women. Health, livelihoods,the saeguarding o human rights, and the security o our collective uture depend on nothing less.

A M V

Executive DirectorGeorgetown Institute or Women, Peace and Security


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Executive Summary

Climate change is a global challenge that burdens all o humanity, but not equally. Te worldspoor, the majority o whom are women, are encumbered disproportionately. Te distinctimpacts o climate change on men and women are exacerbated in settings that are also affected

by violent conflict, political instability, and economic strie. As the world struggles to grapple withrapid onset disasters as well as respond to slower degradation caused by climate change, it is critical toensure that the plight o women is firmly on the agenda o concerns, and that women rom differentbackgrounds are able to lead in negotiations and participate in the design and implementation oprograms.

Tis report comes at an important time o international observance when new commitments to actionwill be made, coinciding not only with the fifeenth anniversaries o UN Security Council Resolution1325 (UNSCR 1325) and the adoption o the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, butalso in anticipation o the Conerence o Parties (COP) 21 conerence in Paris in late 2015. In an

effort to remedy the dearth o existing literature on women and climate change, this report makes animportant contribution by covering a wide variety o issues; highlighting both impact and agency;mapping examples o solutions that have proven to be successul; and holding relevance to policy-makers, practitioners, scholars, and students. Te findings o the report are based on and buttressedby a thorough examination o international conventions and protocols; national action plans; journalarticles and other scholarly publications; reports by government and multilateral agencies; policy briesand guidance notes, as well as civil society reports. Te analysis is also inormed by and draws upon aseries o consultations with experts rom around the world in research, advocacy, program design andimplementation, and global leadership positions. As a result, the study represents an interdisciplinaryendeavor with ar-reaching practical applicability.

Te report rames climate change as a universal human rights imperative, a global security threat, anda pervasive economic strain. Cataloguing the effects o climate change, the study examines the gen-dered dimensions o sea level rising and flooding; deorestation and ocean acidification; water scarcity;energy production and energy poverty; and climate-related displacement and migration. As part o thisanalysis, the report not only identifies how women are strained differentially and severely by the effectso climate change, but also how women have, continue to, and could serve as agents o mitigation andadaptation. For example, the section on water scarcity details how climate change causes droughts andsoil erosion, which not only disenranchises women armers, who are the majority o the agriculturalworkorce in Arica and elsewhere, but also undermines hygiene and sanitation, affecting maternalhealth, womens economic productivity, and girls education. Similarly, the section on energy identifiesthe gendered health, economic, and human security consequences o unmet energy needs o amilies

that lack access to affordable and dependable energy sources. It also highlights the solutions that areworking, such as the work o Grameen Shakti to provide clean, renewable energy to rural communitiesin Bangladesh, in doing so building a new cadre o women solar engineers and technicians.

Te responsibility or addressing climate change alls on multilateral institutions, states, civil society,and the business community. Each o these stakeholders must lead in their respective arenas andwork across sectors to orge partnerships and oster collaboration through efforts that are sensitiveto the needs and experiences o women, as well as attuned to their capabilities and potential. Greaterconnectivity is necessary between international, national, and local levels, but, at the same time, it isimportant to recognize that the mere presence o women does not guarantee that womens experiencesand leadership will be integrated into climate change policies and protocols. While greater inclusion

o women at the highest levels o decision-making related to climate change is necessary, it is notsufficient. Women must also be able to lead at the national and municipal levels, just as the perspectivesand initiatives o civil society women must be brought into the ore. Attention to lessons-learned andthe exchange o ideas are important not only across borders, but also within countries. o this end, thereport provides a set o recommendations that seek to enhance the efficacy o climate change policiesand programs by introducing gender-sensitive reorms to the current agenda.


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Around the world, women tend to be marginalized frompolitical and economic power and have limited access

to financial and material resources particularly inconflict-affected, post-conflict, or less economicallydeveloped settings which can exacerbate theirvulnerability to the impacts of climate change.


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Introduction

Climate change1is a threat to global peace, security, and prosperity. o date, however, much othe ocus o international policymakers and institutions has been confined to the arenas oscience and the economy. While climate change is certainly an environmental phenomenon

that necessitates scientific research and innovation, it is also a security, economicdevelopment,andhuman rightsimperative.

In all three o these areas, women who constitute hal the worlds population bear severe genderedimpacts o climate change2without equal representation in decision-making or policy and program-matic design. Te differential impacts o climate change on men and women are, demonstrably, morepronounced in settings that are also affected by violent conflict, political instability, and economicstrie. Women and men are shaped by the societies in which they live, and societal expectations affectthe roles both women and men play in the political, economic, and social spheres. Tis means thatwomen and men ofen do different work, have differentiated access to resources and inormation, and

experience natural disasters differently. Around the world, women tend to be marginalized rom polit-ical and economic power and have limited access to financial and material resources particularly inconflict-affected, post-conflict, or less economically developed settings which can exacerbate their

vulnerability to the impacts o climate change. As this report examines, efforts to mitigate3the effectso climate change and prevent its acceleration present unprecedented challenges, but, simultaneously,there are important opportunities worth seizing to enhance womens empowerment and promote gen-der equality. Te existing literature on climate change largely overlooks the peace and security impli-cations o climate change and specifically lacks a comprehensive discussion o the gendered impacts oclimate change. Tis report explores these under-researched areas to highlight the gaps in the existingknowledge resources, and also identifies areas or potential research and discussion in the uture.

While women ace unique and sometimes disproportionate burdens as a result o climate change,they are not merely victims. o the contrary, women are also agents with important perspectives andindigenous knowledge, which can inorm and influence solutions to address climate change. In manycommunities around the world that are already acutely affected by climate change, women are havingto adapt4their lives to survive and care or their dependents. As arja Halonen, ormer President oFinland stated, [Women] are powerul agents whose knowledge, skills and innovative ideas support

1 Climate change means a change o climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activitythat alters the composition o the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability

observed over comparable time periods. UN Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC), art. 1,May 9, 1992, 1771 U.N..S. 107, accessed Aug. 7, 2015 https://unccc.int/files/essential_background/back-ground_publications_htmlpd/application/pd/conveng.pd.

2 Climate change impacts are the effects o climate changeon natural and human systems. Dependingon the consideration o adaptation, one can distinguish between potential impacts and residual impacts:potential impacts: impacts that may occur given a projected change in climate, without consideringadaptation; residual impacts: the impacts o climate change that would occur afer adaptation. Appendix I:Glossary E-O, Climate Change 2007: Working Group II: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, IPCC FourthAssessment Report, 2007, accessed Aug. 7, 2015 http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg2/en/annexessglossary-e-o.html.

3 Mitigation reers to human interventions to reduce the emissions o greenhouse gases by sources or en-hance their removal rom the atmosphere by sinks, which are orests, vegetation, or soils that can reabsorb

CO2. Fact sheet: Te need or mitigation, UNFCCC, last modified Nov. 2009, https://unccc.int/files/press/backgrounders/application/pd/press_actsh_mitigation.pd.

4 Adaptation reers to adjustments in ecological, social, or economic systems in response to actual orexpected climatic stimuli and their effects or impacts. It reers to changes in processes, practices, andstructures to moderate potential damages or to benefit rom opportunities associated with climate change.FOCUS: Adaptation, UNFCCC, 2014, accessed Aug. 18, 2015, http://unccc.int/ocus/adaptation/items/6999.php.


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Introduction

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the efforts to combat climate change.5Tey are not just bystanders, nor simply beneficiaries o as-sistance. And yet, there is a wide chasm between the women who are most adversely affected6by theconsequences o climate change, especially among the poor, and international leaders who control theresources and hold the decision-making power to address climate change. While climate change nego-tiations are ofen centered on common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capacities,

the inclusion and support o women is a universal imperative.

Te findings and analysis here suggest that greater attention to gender-related perspectives is criticalto increasing the effectiveness o climate change policies and programs around the world. Te interna-tional community must better understand the different, and similar, ways in which men and womenexperience the effects o climate change, and also ensure that womens voices are represented at inter-national, national, and subnational negotiations. Tis is urgent in order to realize the transormativepotential whether in humanitarian, environmental, political, or socioeconomic spheres o climatechange policies and programs.

At the same time, more synergy is necessary between civil society, governmental, intergovernmental,and private sector initiatives that seek to address the threats posed by climate change. Evidence andexperience demonstrate that although women may be very active in climate change-related activitiesas part o civil society, non-governmental, or local community-level enterprises, they are typicallyrelegated to the sidelines o ormal and high-level processes.7In addition to not tapping the talents owomen, high-level processes ail to be inclusive and take into consideration the needs and aspirationso those most vulnerable to and endangered by climate change.

Why Now?

Climate change is undermining the enjoyment o human rights, especially o the people on the ront-line o the climate crisis who have contributed least to the causes o climate change. Climate justicelinks human rights and development to achieve a people-centered approach to the climate crisis -

saeguarding the rights o the most vulnerable and sharing the burdens and benefits o climate changeand its resolution equitably and airly.8Te inclusion and consideration o women and their needs isnot simply a moral right, but also a smart and strategic approach to address climate change.

While high-level discussions about climate change have historically been dominated by the issueso national pollution and industrial concerns, which are certainly critical, identiying and enactingeffective mitigation and adaptation measures will depend on the consideration o gender-based

vulnerabilities and the participation o women. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared 2015 the

5 arja Halonen, Gender Equality Must be Incorporated into All Matters Connected to Climate Change,Equal Climate, accessed Aug. 18, 2015, http://www.equalclimate.org/en/background/President+o+Fin-land,+arja+Halonen%3A+Gender+equality+must+be+incorporated+into+all+matters+connected.9UFR-rYYk.ips.

6 Adverse effects o climate change reers to changes in the physical environment or biota resulting romclimate change which have significant deleterious effects on the composition, resilience or productivity onatural and managed ecosystems or on the operation o socio-economic systems or on human health and

welare. UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), art. 1, May 9, 1992, 1771 U.N..S.107, accessed Aug. 18, 2015, https://unccc.int/files/essential_background/background_publications_htm-lpd/application/pd/conveng.pd.

7 Mayesha Alam et al., Te United Arab Emirates Panel Series on Women, Peace and Security(New York:Permanent Mission o the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations; Georgetown Institute or Women,Peace and Security, 2015).

8 Email correspondence with H.E. Mary Robinson, September 7, 2015.


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year or global action on climate change. Additionally, this year marks three key anniversaries relatedto womens empowerment, economic development, and creating a peaceul world:

wenty years since the adoption o the Beijing Platorm or Action on gender equality, whichreinorced womens rights as human rights, at the 1994 Fourth UN World Conerence on

Women; Fifeen years since the adoption o historic UNSCR 1325, which recognized the unique and

disproportionate impact o armed conflict on women, as well as their agency in promotingpeace and security; and

Fifeen years since the adoption o the MDGs to eradicate extreme poverty, which are nowbeing transormed into the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and agenda.

As the international community commemorates these anniversaries, it is important to pause and re-flect on progress made, as well as to strategize thoughtully about the unfinished work that lies ahead.Climate change, a cross-cutting global issue, is relevant to all three o the aorementioned rameworks.

Te international community should draw upon the guidelines encapsulated in the Beijing Platormor Action, the SDGs, and the ull package o Women, Peace and Security Resolutions9to addressclimate change in ways that uplif women and men, undo inequalities, and bolster societies. Te SDGs,which pertain to the uture o every nation, provide a broader ramework or improving human devel-opment indicators that are inextricably linked to protecting the environment and promoting womenssocioeconomic well being. Te UNSCR 1325 ramework on women, peace and security provides auseul lens through which to address climate change as a global security threat. At the same time, theBeijing Platorm or Action remains relevant to enabling women to manage their resources and securetheir livelihoods, which in turn, provides the greatest return on investment or both conservationand development goals.10

At the COP21 negotiations in Paris later this year, delegates will shape the dialogue about climatechange and rame the agenda or global action. Tey should seize this opportunity to open a placeon the agenda and at the table to recognize the unique experiences, vulnerabilities, perspectives, andcapabilities o women. Tis is an opportunity to build on small steps taken by past COP negotiationsand to place women firmly as stakeholders and decision-makers in climate change mitigation andadaptation processes. Tis is also an historic moment or considering and supporting womens in-

volvement in climate change mitigation and adaptation at the international, national, and local levels.Women are among the most vulnerable to the effects o climate change, but also demonstrably capableto lead adaptation.

Climate Change: An Overview

Te United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines climate change asa change o climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the compo-sition o the global atmosphere and which is in addition to other natural climate variability that hasbeen observed over comparable time periods.11

Climate change is a process that maniests in a number o ways, including a rise in average tempera-tures; changes in rainall patterns leading to floods, droughts, and, in some areas, desertification;

9 S.C. Res. 1820 (June 19, 2008), S.C. Res. 1888 (Sept. 30, 2009), S.C. Res. 1889 (Oct. 5, 2009), S.C.Res. 1960(Dec. 16, 2010), S.C. Res. 2106 (June 24, 2013), S.C. Res. 2122 (Oct. 18, 2013). SeeWomen, peace andsecurity, UN Peacekeeping, accessed Aug. 17, 2015, http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/issues/women/wps.shtml.

10 Why Women, New Course, accessed Aug. 17, 2015, http://anewcourse.org/why-women/.11 UNFCCC 1992, accessed Aug. 17, 2015, https://unccc.int/files/essential_background/background_publica-

tions_htmlpd/application/pd/conveng.pd.


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Introduction

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extreme and unpredictable weather patterns leading to more numerous and intense natural disasters;and the melting o glaciers and the polar ice-caps, resulting in rising sea-levels and coastal erosion,leaving low-lying areas uninhabitable.12

Climate change impacts, especially rapid-onset events, may result in death, injury, or damage to healththrough an increase in inectious diseases, physical and mental stress, and the loss o medicinal plantsand biodiversity. Te global effects o climate change will negatively impact communities at multiplelevels, threatening the security, economic, and human rights conditions o people around the world.Women are disproportionately burdened by these processes, but they also have the capacity to leadadaptation and create more resilient13communities.

A Universal Human Rights ImperativeClimate change is undamentally an issue o human dignity, and is, thereore, inseparable rom humanrights. Mary Robinson, UN Special Envoy or Climate Change, speaking as President o Te MaryRobinson FoundationClimate Justice argues, Te human cost o global warming has a name: cli-mate injustice.14As a serious threat to the ull enjoyment o human rights, climate change is connect-

12 United Nations High Commissioner or Reugees, Climate Change, Natural Disasters, and Human Dis-placement: A UNHCR Perspective(UNHCR, Aug. 14, 2009), accessed Aug. 17, 2015, http://www.unhcr.org/4901e81a4.html.

13 Resilience reers to the ability o a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb,accommodate to and recover rom the effects o a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including throughthe preservation and restoration o its essential basic structures and unctions. erminology, UN Office orDisaster Risk Reduction, Aug. 30, 2007, http://www.unisdr.org/we/inorm/terminology.

14 Mary Robinson, International law is coming up short in its response to climate change, Te Guardian, Jan.9, 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/jan/09/mary-robinson-law-coming-up-short-climate-change.


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ed to many o the principles enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration o Human Rights, althoughthe term climate change was not coined until years later. Flavia Pansieri, UN Deputy Commissioneror Human Rights, explains, A human-rights-based approach allows us to identiy the most pressingneeds o individuals in a highly inequitable global society, with greatly differing social, environmentaland economic levels o development.15

Te Convention on the Elimination o All Forms o Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW),

adopted in 1979, provides an insightul ramework or linking climate change with the protection owomen rom harms caused by climate-related vulnerabilities, and the advancement o gender equality,including womens ability to lead alongside men in pursuit o sustainable solutions.16Tis notionaligns closely with the 1995 Beijing Platorm or Action, which does not explicitly mention climatechange, but holds relevance to climate change through an emphasis on womens decision-making andprotection o the environment.17In the SDGs, gender is integrated into the goals, and gender equalityserves as a key theme throughout the agenda. Moreover, the relationship between climate change andwomens empowerment is reinorced rom a security standpoint in the ramework or UNSCR 1325.As the International Bar Association (IBA) noted in a 2015 report on the relationship between interna-tional law and climate change, Gender equity is also an essential element o climate change justice...Asclimate change accelerates migration and displacement, women in particular are subject to abuse anddeprivation.18

Climate change will challenge states and communities ability to protect human rights and the dignityo the individual. According to the IBA, this undamental justice concern is exacerbated by the actthat climate change will strain the ability o many states, especially the poorest among them, to upholdtheir human rights obligations.19As societies struggle to maintain political, economic, and social

15 Climate change impacts enjoyment o human rights, UNHCR, Feb. 17, 2015, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/Climatechangeimpactsenjoyment.aspx#sthash.0Z2DFaPR.dpu.

16 CEDAW defines discrimination against women as any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on thebasis o sex which has the effect or purpose o impairing or nulliying the recognition, enjoyment or exerciseby women, irrespective o their marital status, on a basis o equality o men and women, o human rightsand undamental reedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field. Conventionon the Elimination o All Forms o Discrimination against Women, art. 1, Dec. 18, 1979, 1249 U.N..S. 13,http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/ProessionalInterest/cedaw.pd.

17 Te Beijing Platorm or Action called or womens participation at all levels o decision-making processes aswell as womens representation in various government and ministerial bodies, which would include womensparticipation in decision-making bodies ocused on climate change. See Platorm or Action, UN FourthWorld Conerence on Women, Beijing, 1995.

18 International Bar Association Climate Change Justice and Human Rights ask Force,Achieving Justice andHuman Rights in an Era o Climate Disruption (London: International Bar Association, 2014): 47.

19 Ibid.,2.

[Women] are powerful agents whoseknowledge, skills and innovative ideas support

the efforts to combat climate change.H.E. arja Halonen, former President of Finland


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rights in the ace o significant, and ofen unpredictable, climate change impacts, societies will becomeless secure and more vulnerable to natural hazards.

A Global Security Threat

Climate change threatens to deepen tensions within societies and undermine the means o peaceulconflict prevention and resolution in affected societies. Already affecting billions o people, climatechange has the potential to exacerbate conflict especially over limited natural resources andincrease political instability. Shifing physical and social environments influence how communitiesdistribute resources and settle conflicts. Individuals are likely to ace threats to their lives and security,as they are impacted by natural disasters, resource scarcity, and displacement.

In these situations, women are ofen among the most vulnerable, as they are typically excluded romdecision-making bodies and may not be considered when determinations are made. Te paradigmo human security, which broadens the traditional conceptualization o security as only a concerno states and militaries to place greater emphasis on individuals and societies, is highly relevant toaddressing climate change as a threat to security. It also underpins the Women, Peace and Securityagenda, and is resonated throughout the UNSCR 1325 ramework and subsequent resolutions, aswell as other policy developments, including National Action Plans on the subject. Barnett and Adgernote in their examination o the relationships between climate change, human security, and war, Tegendered division o labour in most countries also makes women the first to suffer rom the direct andindirect depredations wrought by violent conflict.20

Although much more research is necessary to define the correlation and potential causal links betweenclimate change and violent conflict, important lessons on the plight o women in wartime can bedrawn upon to better understand how climate change as a threat to peace and human security couldmake women increasingly insecure. Historical evidence demonstrates, or example, that women acespecific gender-based vulnerabilities during armed conflict, such as sexual violence and loss o proper-

ty, when communities disintegrate and resources become scarce. Domestic violence also spikes duringtimes o intense sociopolitical and economic pressure induced by conflict. Women and childrencomprise the majority o displaced populations, and when normal lie is disrupted, women have totake on new and added responsibilities to keep amilies and communities intact, especially i men areengaged in combat.

In a seminal 2007 report,21the German Advisory Council on Global Change identified our keyvariables that are likely to cause violent conflict, political upheaval, and humanitarian crises in theuture: ood insecurity, natural disasters, water scarcity and migration due to environmental actors.All o these are inextricably linked to climate change. Te regions most likely to be affected, accordingthe report, are the Middle East, North Arica, Central Asia, the Pacific Rim, and the Mediterranean, in

addition to specific countries such as Bangladesh, which are already acutely affected by climate change.Tese regions and countries, identified as the most vulnerable to instability, are also those wheregender gaps are persistent across different social development indicators, including health, education,political participation, and economic participation.

Scheffran argues, while much o the research on climate change is aimed at predicting the uture, his-torical records may provide clues to better understand the interaction between climate and security.22One quantitative study, or example, ocused on the relationship between changes in temperature, oodsecurity, and outbreak o violent conflict in Europe, China, and the Global North in the last millenni-

20 Jon Barnett and W. Neil Adger, Climate Change, Human Security and Violent Conflict, Political Geography26 (2007): 644.

21 World in ransition: Climate Change as a Security Risk (German Advisory Council on Global Change, May29, 2007): accessed Sept. 20, 2015, http://www.wbgu.de/fileadmin/templates/dateien/veroeffentlichungen/hauptgutachten/jg2007/wbgu_jg2007_kurz_engl.pd.

22 Jrgen Scheffran, Climate Change and Security, Bulletin o the Atomic Scientists64, no. 2 (2008): 19.


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um. Te authors ound that amine, war, and population growth are affected by changes in climate, but

Scheffran notes that the risks and impacts highlighted in studys findings pale in comparison with theclimate change expected within the coming decades and centuries. In other words, without the neces-sary orethought, cooperation, and active engagement, the humanitarian and political consequences oclimate change could be devastating and spread across multiple regions. States with weak institutionsand governing structures are particularly susceptible to disorder, violence, and instability induced byclimate stress.

A Pervasive Economic Strain

Although climate change is a borderless phenomenon that affects the entire planet, its consequencesaffect certain people and places more than others. Tose most severely impacted by climate change are

the poorest o the poor living in the Global South, o whom women comprise the majority.23

Womenmake up an average o 43 percent o the global agricultural workorce,24with women armers produc-ing as much as 90 percent o the Arican continents ood supply;25ailing to address womens needs inclimate change policy threatens global ood security.26Skinner notes that because women and girls arepredominantly in charge o unpaid household chores and caregiving in less economically developedcountries and especially in rural communities, their lives are directly affected by the changes broughtabout by climate change.27Teir domestic duties can require more time as a result o climate-relatedwater shortages, reduced mobility, deorestation, or other effects described in this report, meaning lesstime is available or schooling or paid work.28During the past decade, the percentage o women wholive in poverty has increased. Te United Nations Development Programme claims, poverty is char-acterized not only by a lack o economic income, but also by the inability to live a long and healthy lie,

to have ull access to knowledge, to enjoy a decent standard o living and to participate in the richnesso the social, cultural and economic lie o a community. 29

Climate change worsens the cycle o poverty and vulnerability or women and girls. Women are morelikely than men to die during and in the afermath o disasters, and womens socioeconomic margin-

23 Gender Equality and UNDP, United Nations Development Programme (April 2009): 1.24 Food and Agriculture Organization, Te State o Food and Agriculture(2014): 35.25 Karla D. Maass Wolenson, Coping with the ood and agriculture challenge: smallholders agenda (FAO, July

2013): 22.26 rish Glazebrook, Women and Climate Change: A Case-Study rom Northeast Ghana, Hypatia 26, no. 4

(Fall 2011): 763.27 Emmeline Skinner, Gender and Climate Change Overview Report(BRIDGE, Institute o Development

Studies, Nov. 2011): 2.28 Irene Dankelman, Human Security, Climate Change and Women, UN Chronicle(2009): 52.29 Resource Guide on Gender and Climate Change(United Nations Development Programme, 2009): 28.

poverty is characterized not only by a lack ofeconomic income, but also by the inability to

live a long and healthy life, to have full access toknowledge, to enjoy a decent standard of livingand to participate in the richness of the social,

cultural and economic life of a community.United Nations Development Programme


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alization increases their vulnerability afer natural disasters.30For those women who do survive theimpacts o natural disasters and climate change-related events, adjustment to their new circumstancesmay be difficult. Women ofen lack legal assets and rights to property, which leaves them ew resourceswith which to rebuild their lives. Livelihood scarcity leaves women to head households without thesocial stature or material resources to do so, and as women travel greater distances to collect theresources to support themselves and their amilies, they are more prone to attack and abuse.31Teseactors perpetuate the cycle o poverty and the continued marginalization o women.

As a cross-cutting issue, climate change intersects with population growth, human mobility, urbaniza-tion, and ood, water, and energy insecurity, all o which increase the vulnerability o women. In order

to reduce the likelihood o reinorcing existing inequalities, it is important that policies and programstargeting climate change mitigation take into account the power dynamics between men and womenat national and international levels, as well as their differential access to resources within communities.At the same time, by ocusing on capacity-building to augment womens opportunities, climate changeinitiatives can also boost womens economic participation and bolster growth. Capacity-buildingefforts can promote womens knowledge o issues and ability to take leadership or decision-makingpositions, which in turn leads to changing social norms and outcomes, and increased economicgrowth. Research shows that women invest up to 90 percent o their income - 30 to 40 percent higherthan men32- on the well-being o their amilies. Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Laureate and oundero the Grameen Bank, notes, when a destitute mother starts earning an income, her dreams o successinvariably center around her children...money entering a household through a woman brings more

benefits to the amily as a whole.33

Promoting womens economic empowerment is also one o themost effective ways to improve human development indicators.34

Te next chapter o this report explores the myriad consequences o climate change, explains theirgendered impacts, and highlights innovative solutions or or led by women.

30 Eric Neumayer and Tomas Plmper, Te gendered nature o natural disasters: the impact o catastrophicevents on the gender gap in lie expectancy, 1981-2002,Annals o the Assoc. o American Geographers97, no.3 (2007).

31 Dankelman, Human Security, Climate Change and Women, 52.32 Creating Opportunities or Women, Unilever, 2015, accessed Sept. 25, 2015, https://www.unilever.com/

sustainable-living/transormational-change/creating-opportunities-or-women/.33 Muhammad Yunus, Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty(New York:

Public Affairs, 2008), 70.34 For more inormation on Human Development Indicators, see: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-de-

velopment-index-hdi.

when a destitute mother starts earningan income, her dreams of success invariablycenter around her children...money enteringa household through a woman brings more

benefits to the family as a whole.Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Laureate and founder of the Grameen Bank


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I. Various Manifestations of ClimateChange and Their Gendered Impacts

Climate change maniests itsel in a variety o ways; rapid-onset events may destroy property,lives, and livelihoods in a single day, while slow-onset processes change the landscape orsurvival gradually over time. Tese are not disparate processes. Both rapid-onset and slow-on-

set climate change impacts are occurring at the same time, and these impacts are interrelated, creatinga cycle o vulnerability or women. Tis section o the report examines the gendered impacts o a rangeo maniestations o climate change and how women are distinctly or disproportionately threatened bythese impacts. Tis section also highlights ways in which women are already leading mitigation andadaptation efforts.

Sea Level Rise and Flooding

Flooding and sea level rise destroy crop production and cause sanitation problems, which seriouslyaffect womens ability to provide resources or themselves and their amilies. Projections by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change indicate that during the twenty-first century, global warmingwill continue and will accelerate, estimating a temperature increase o three degrees Celsius by 2100.Increasing temperatures intensiy the hydrologic cycle,35causing dry regions to become drier and wetregions to become wetter.36

Sea Level Rise

Sea level rise occurs as a result o thethermal expansion o the ocean, andthrough the melting o glaciers andice sheets caused by rising atmo-spheric temperatures. On average,global sea levels rose at a rate oapproximately 1.7 mm (+/-0.3mm)per year rom 1950 to 1992, and at anaverage rate o approximately 3.3 mm(+/-0.4 mm) per year rom 1993 to2009. Sea level rise can cause salini-zation o soil and reduced crop yields

in cultivated areas, drinking waterimpairment rom salinity intrusioninto coastal aquiers, inundation anderosion o coastal ecosystems, loss ofish habitat and reduced fish production, damage to coastal inrastructure, and loss o territory.37

Coastal cities are increasingly at high risk rom sea level rise and corresponding flood damage. A 2005study estimates the average cost o global flood damage to be US$52 billion per year by 2050, withcities such as Guangzhou, China; New Orleans, United States; Guayaquil, Ecuador; Ho Chi Minh City,

35 Te hydrologic cycle, also known as the natural water cycle, describes the continuous movement o wateron, above, and below the surace o the Earth. Te water cycle, U.S. Geological Survey, last modified Aug. 7,2015, http://water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle.html.

36 Slow Onset Events: echnical Paper (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Novem-ber 26, 2012): 9, accessed Sept. 26, 2015, http://unccc.int/resource/docs/2012/tp/07.pd.

37 Ibid.,8.


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Solutions designed to slow down and mitigatethe effects of climate change also offer criticalopportunities for job creation, which can help

women move forward in industries and occupations

to which they may have previously lacked access.


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Vietnam; and Abidjan, Ivory Coast among the most vulnerable.38Additionally, the anticipated risk by2050 increases the most or cities without a high level o risk today. In Alexandria, Egypt; Barranquilla,Colombia; Naples, Italy; and Sapporo, Japan, sea level rise and other effects o climate change areexpected to increase the level o flood risk dramatically.39

In Cotonou, Benin, in West Arica, sea level rise is increasing the risk o the resurgence o endemictropical diseases as a result o the development o breeding grounds or anopheles mosquitoes, whichspread malaria, and tsetse fly larvae, which have adapted to salt water. Tis may lead to an increasein cardiovascular and cerebral diseases related to high saline levels in the water, which could increasemortality rates, especially among pregnant women, children and elderly people. Salinity in drinkingwater has been ound to be associated with gestational hypertension in coastal communities. Inlow-income countries, hypertensive disorders can cause maternal and perinatal death; coastal popula-tions o low-income countries are disproportionately affected by the increasing salinization o water.40Tese conditions have the potential to exacerbate the poverty and precarity or local residents. Simplyput, sea level rise threatens livelihoods and ecosystems, both on land and at sea.

Women in Senegal are working to address the consequences o sea level rise, including the salini-zation o rice fields.41Tis issue particularly affects women, who are the main cultivators o rice. InJoal-Fadiouth, south o Dakar, national and local governments, institutions, NGOs, and organizations,including Dynamique Femmes - a local womens association - collaborated to construct a 3,300-meteranti-salt dyke to reclaim lands affected by saline water intrusion. Tis dyke has revitalized rice-grow-ing activities, and has regenerated natural vegetation and promoted biodiversity recovery.42Projectssuch as this demonstrate that women, who are the most adversely affected by climate change, can alsobe catalysts or combating and adapting to new climate realities. Solutions designed to slow down andmitigate the effects o climate change also offer critical opportunities or job creation, which can helpwomen move orward in industries and occupations to which they may have previously lacked access.

FloodingA warmer climate and the associated increased climate variability will increase the risk o floods. Upto 20 percent o the worlds population lives in river basins that are likely to be affected by increasedflood hazard, with the rise o global temperatures, by the 2080s. For example, Bangladesh - a countrythat already experiences requent extreme flooding and is one o the most vulnerable to climate changedue to its geography - is projected to experience an increase in flooding by almost a third, with a globaltemperature rise o two degrees Celsius.43Flooding is exacerbated by glacial retreat, particularly inBangladesh and Nepal.44When glaciers melt, glacial lakes are ormed within the Himalayas. Te rateo glacial retreat has increased in the 20th century, meaning glacial lakes themselves have expandedin size. Disturbances around the lake dams, caused by rockslides and avalanches rom the glacier, can

38 When cost is measured as a percentage o city GDP. Stephane Hallegatte et al., Future flood losses in majorcoastal cities Nature Climate Change, 3 (2013): 803.

39 Hallegatte et al., 804.40 A. E. Khan et al., Salinity in drinking water and the risk o (pre)eclampsia and gestational hypertension in

coastal Bangladesh: a case-control study, PLOS One(2014).41 Sally Brown et al., Sea-Level Rise and Impacts in Arica, 2000 to 2100, University o Southampton School o

Civil Engineering and the Environment(2011): 11-12.42 Adaptation to Coastal Erosion in Vulnerable Areas in Senegal, Te Adaptation Fund and Centre de Suivi

Ecologique:6, accessed Aug. 17, 2015, http://unccc.int/files/adaptation/cancun_adaptation_ramework/adaptation_committee/application/pd/session_4_cse_senegal_eng.pd.

43 Floods and Droughts, IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007 (Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change, 2007): accessed Sept. 25, 2015, https://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg2/en/ch3s3-4-3.html.

44 anvir Dewan, Societal Impacts and Vulnerability to Floods in Bangladesh and Nepal, Weather andClimate Extremes, 7 (2015): 37.


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trigger glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF), which cause an enormous release o water.45GLOF eventshave caused significant damage to both human lives and inrastructure, specifically in the mountain-ous regions o the Himalayas in Nepal and the northern region o Bangladesh.46Floods cause loss olie, an increase in disease, loss or destruction o property, and damage to agricultural production.Tese effects increase the vulnerability o the entire population affected, and communities ofen ace

ood scarcity and an increased likelihood o water-borne diseases, such as diarrhea, cholera, typhoid,and skin rashes, in the afermath o a flood. Floods also cause unemployment, as people are displacedrom their places o residence and employment.47

Women conront particular challenges afer flooding, and may ace more severe vulnerability becauseo various circumstantial and structural actors. In their study o women in Bangladesh impacted byfloods, Azad, Hossain, and Nasreen ound that nearly 61 percent o those surveyed were evicted romtheir normal dwellings in times o severe floods, and the sanitation acilities o 21 percent were dam-aged. Tey also ound that 89 percent o the women surveyed became ill rom wearing wet clothing,since they did not have adequate spare clothing.48Women are also susceptible to sexual and otherharassment - such as mental torture, verbal abuse, and domestic violence - in the wake o a flood. In

Bangladesh, Azad, Hossain, and Nasreen ound that 35 percent o the women surveyed were harassedby a male relative or acquaintance in the afermath o flooding due to increased stress and socialdisruption.49Floods, like other rapid-onset natural disasters, upend normal lie, increase crime, anddestroy essential resources such as preserved uel wood that is ofen collected by women rom ardistances.50

Tere are many existing programs that recognize the adverse effects o flooding on women, and workto engage women in mitigation and adaptation in the ace o this issue. For example, in 2011, theGorakhpur Environmental Action Group (GEAG) and the Womens Earth Alliance (WEA) launched ayear long India Women, Food Security, and Climate Change raining Program. Trough this program,grassroots women armers and NGO field workers rom our flood-affected states worked togetherto develop action plans to enhance the resilience o women armers to the effects o climate change,including increased flooding. Te trainees then sought to implement these adaptation and mitigationstrategies in their respective regions, leading to thousands o women armers being trained in andadopting climate change-adaptive arming techniques.51GEAG is also working on a project to addressflooding with small-scale women armers belonging to marginalized communities by developingwomen-led sustainable flood and climate change-resilient livelihood systems.52

45 An Overview o Glaciers, Glacier Retreat, and Subsequent Impacts in Nepal, India and China, World WideFund or Nature, (2005), accessed Sept. 25, 2015, https://www.ww.or.jp/activities/lib/pd_climate/environ-ment/Overview_o_Glaciers.pd.

46 Dewan, 37. Ives et al., Formation o Glacial Lakes in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas and GLOF Risk Assess-ment, International Centre or Integrated Mountain Development, May 2010, accessed Sept. 25, 2015, http://www.unisdr.org/files/14048_ICIMODGLOF.pd.

47 Abu Kalam Azad et al., Flood-Induced Vulnerabilities and Problems Encountered by Women in NorthernBangladesh, International Journal o Disaster Risk Science 4, no. 4 (2013): 191-193.

48 Ibid., 193-94.49 Ibid.

50 Ibid.,191-93.51 Women, Food Security and Climate Change: Building Women Farmers Solidarity and Capacities, Wom-

ens Earth Alliance and Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group, (2012): accessed Sept. 25, 2015, http://www.womensearthalliance.org/downloads/GEAG%20training%20report.pd

52 Flood resilient livelihood system with special ocus on women armers, Gorakhpur Environmental ActionGroup, (2014): accessed Sept. 25, 2015, http://www.geagindia.org/project/Flood-resilient-livelihood-sys-tem-with-special-ocus-on-women-armers.aspx.


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Deforestation and Ocean Acidification

Individuals and communities around the world rely on natural resources ound in orests and coastalareas or subsistence and shelter. Forests and coral rees provide ood, water, and medicinal andcultural resources, and their destruction threatens the livelihoods and health o the communities that

depend on those materials. Forests and coral rees serve similar roles or communities who depend onthe resources ound in these natural environments, providing oundational support or entire regions.As these resources diminish, ood insecurity and livelihood instability grow. Women ofen serve as themanagers o household resources, and their burdens are likely to become significantly heavier as theymust find new sources o ood and resources to support their amilies, travelling arther and spendingmore time addressing the resources scarcity.

Deforestation

Deorestation occurs as a result o land-use change and can be driven byheat, drought, illegal logging, resources extraction, agricultural production,

or as communities begin to cut down trees when other resources have beendepleted. During periods o limited rainall, soil dries out; heavier rainallresults in greater and more rapid runoff, increasing flooding and erosion.Tese processes reduce the productivity o the land, leading to decliningood production and crop yields.53Te runoff carries sediments and pol-lutants to downstream bodies o water, damaging water quality and leadingto overbank flooding. In coastal areas, the increased siltation o river deltasrom upstream erosion, combined with the destruction o mangroves, reesand other natural breakwaters, has increased exposure to storm surgesand seawater intrusion into coastal aquiers.54Tese effects in turn harmcommunities, as discussed in the flooding and sea level rise sections o

this report. When trees and ecosystems are lost, a significant flux o CO2isreleased into the atmosphere, increasing carbon emissions.

As orests are cut down, the loss o tree cover increases soil erosion, decreases agricultural produc-tivity, and increases the burden o gathering orest resources and water. Many people in rural areasdepend on orests or ood, firewood, fiber timber, material or crafs, animal odder, and medicinalherbs, and it is ofen women who collect these resources. As a result o deorestation, women mustwork harder to secure resources and eed their amilies. Deorestation is currently affecting livelihoodsacross Arica, especially in anzania, Sudan, Cameroon, Kenya, and Mali, where women and childrencollect 60 to 80 percent o all domestic firewood supplies in Arica.55In Zanzibar, anzania, as treesare cut down to make room or clove tree plantations, women must travel greater distances to gather

firewood, and poor households spend up to 40 percent o their income on uel.56

Te Global Commission on the Economy and Climate posits that restoring 12 percent o degradedagricultural land could boost small landholders incomes by as much as US$40 billion per year andability to eed 200 million people per year within 15 years. Restoring land increases resilience toweather shocks and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by nearly two gigatonnes (Gt) o carbon dioxideequivalent (CO

2e) per year. Initiating orest restoration o at least 350 million hectares by 2030, mean-

while, could generate US$170 billion per year in net benefits rom watershed protection, improvedcrop yields, and orest products. Tis would also sequester between one and three Gt o CO

2per year,

53 Slow Onset Events: echnical Paper (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2012):10-11, accessed Sept. 25, 2015, http://unccc.int/resource/docs/2012/tp/07.pd.

54 Ibid.55 Filomina Chioma Steady, Women, Climate Change and Liberation in Arica, Race, Gender and Class 21,

no. 1 (2014): 3.56 Ibid.


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depending on the areas restored.57Protection o land and afforestation have the potential to positivelyimpact the lives o communities and women around the world, while helping to mitigate the effects oclimate change.

Te Green Belt Movement, a Kenyan environmental and womensrights organization initially led by Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai,has operated since 1977 to respond to the needs o rural Kenyanwomen who endured limited access to water and long treks to gatherfirewood or uel. oday run by Maathais daughter Wanjira, theGreen Belt Movement brings women together to grow seedlings andplant trees to bind the soil, store rainwater, and provide ood andfirewood. Te women also receive a small monetary token or theirwork.58Since its ounding, the Green Belt Movement has plantedover 51 million trees, helping to protect and restore Kenyas orests.Tis program not only addresses climate change, but also creates

jobs, increases income or women, and improves water and oodsecurity.59

Another interesting program is Reducing Emissions rom Deorestation and orest Degradation(REDD), which provides incentives to individuals predominantly in the Global South or their conser-

vation efforts, planting orests and creating carbon sinks to absorb carbon emissions usually emittedin the Global North. Te REDD+ program goes even urther, including conservation, sustainableorest management, and the enhancement o orest carbon stocks under its program purview.60How-ever, REDD is a market mechanism, and has the potential to exacerbate existing gender inequalities.Skinner notes in a report on gender and climate change that while REDD enables wealthy countriesto trade off their carbon emissions by paying less-developed countries to conserve orests, the com-mercialisation o previously ree natural resources adds to the marginalization o poor people withoutland rights a majority o whom are women who would otherwise, depend on products rom theorests or their livelihoods but rarely benefit rom the economic incentives.61Women have less accessto ormal education than men in many developing countries, making it much harder or women toengage in technical and legal negotiations or to have sufficient education to benefit significantly romREDD projects. REDD+ seeks to help reorm land tenure and land use policies to allow women to ownor have more equitable access to orest resources.62In order to ensure that women are not negativelyimpacted, international negotiations and implementation o REDD and REDD+ must account or

57 Better Growth, Better Climate: Te New Climate Economy Report,(Te Global Commission on the Economyand Climate, 2014): 91, accessed Sept. 25, 2015, http://2014.newclimateeconomy.report/.

58 Who We Are, Te Green Belt Movement(2015), accessed Sept. 25, 2015, http://www.greenbeltmovement.

org/who-we-are.59 Integrating Climate Action and Communities Using the Landscape Approach Lessons rom the Green Belt

Movement (Green Belt Movement, 2014): 2-6, accessed Sept. 25, 2015, http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/sites/greenbeltmovement.org/files/GBM%20Report%202014_0.pd.

60 UN-REDD Programme, accessed Sept. 25, 2015, http://www.un-redd.org/aboutredd61 Skinner, Gender and Climate Change Overview Report, 3.62 Email correspondence with Maggie Roth, IUCN (31 Aug 2015).

Women are also susceptible to sexual and otherharassment - such as mental torture, verbal abuse,

and domestic violence - in the wake of a flood.


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womens ull participation and integration in national and international policymaking, and in thedifferent applications o REDD and REDD+.63

Women are also working to combat the negative environmental and socioeconomic effects o deor-estation. In Democratic Republic o Congo, the Womens Earth and Climate Action Network Inter-

national (WECAN) is partnering with the Synergy o Congolese Womens Associations (SAFECO) toraise awareness on deorestation, and to empower local indigenous women to adapt to and mitigatethe impacts o deorestation. WECAN and SAFECO run training programs to discuss reorestationtechniques and sustainable practices among local women, who then implement and disseminate thosepractices in their communities.64Similarly, in Mali, the Sinsibere cooperative, a group o 300 womenrom a village south o Bamako, is working to combat local deorestation and develop resilience toclimate change. While the sale o firewood is an important source o income or rural women, wood-cutting leads to deorestation and desertification.65Sinsibere seeks to combat these issues by providingenvironmental education and alternative livelihoods or women, setting up micro-credit systems, andproviding training in other trades.66Tanks to the project, women in at least six villages have com-pletely given up commercial woodcutting and selling, while more than a thousand other women have

ound new trades.67

Another example can be ound in Iztapa, Guatemala, where women armers havepartnered with the Alianza Internacional de Reorestacin (AIRES) to plant and arm trees, preventingsoil erosion and promoting carbon sequestration. Trough this partnership, women have planted morethan 150,000 trees in Iztapa, contributing to the reorestation o the regions mountain slopes. Tepartnership also collaborated to build more than 800 energy-efficient brick stoves, which use hal theamount o firewood as traditional fires urther combatting deorestation and prevent the pulmo-nary problems that result rom the use o traditional smoky fires.68Tese examples o women-ledsolutions not only buttress community resilience against climate change, but they also provide finan-cial independence to women, increase standards o living, and help to grow local economies.

Ocean Acidification

Ocean acidification reers to changes in ocean chemistry that occur as a result o carbon dioxide (CO2)

emissions. Te oceans absorb about one quarter o the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphereevery year. Te CO

2absorbed by the oceans makes seawater more acidic, interering with the orma-

tion o the hard parts o corals and some shellfish, which destroys tropical rees. ropical rees support

63 Resource Guide on Gender and Climate Change,63.64 Democratic Republic o Congo Climate Women ake On Deorestation & Clean Energy Needs, WECAN

Intl(2015), accessed Sept. 25, 2015, https://wecaninternational.wordpress.com/2015/05/30/democratic-re-public-o-congo-climate-women-take-on-deorestation-clean-energy-needs/; Women or Forests and FossilFuel/Mining/Mega-Dam Resistance, WECAN Intl, accessed Aug. 14, 2015, http://wecaninternational.org/pages/orests-ossil-uel-resistance.

65 Te gender, energy & environment department,Mali Folkecenter, accessed Aug. 14, 2015, http://www.maliolkecenter.org/lowersection/Dep2_GEE/dep2_GEE_intro.html; Sinsibere project,Mali Folkecenter,accessed Aug. 14, 2015, http://www.maliolkecenter.org/lowersection/Dep2_GEE/dep2_GEE_sinsibere.html.

66 Sinsibere Combating desertification with womens sustainable livelihoods,Ministry or Foreign Affairs oFinland(2013), accessed Sept. 25, 2015, http://ormin.finland.fi/public/deault.aspx?contentid=287057&con-

tentlan=2&culture=en-US.67 uuli Kaskinen & Johanna ogola, 1e prix Finlande 2010 [Sinsibere], Fondation Yves Rocher(2015),

accessed Sept. 25, 2015 http://www.yves-rocher-ondation.org/r/r/terre_de_emmes/les_laureates/de-tails/6262/.

68 Women Farmers in Guatemala: Engaging in Agro-Forestry, United Nations Framework Convention onClimate Change(2014), accessed Sept. 25, 2015, http://unccc.int/secretariat/momentum_or_change/items/7843.php.


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an estimated 25 percent o marine fish species, and provide ood and livelihood or nearly 500 millionpeople worldwide.69

Increased sea surace temperatures produce coral bleaching, a condition that occurs when warmwaters cause coral polyps to expel the symbiotic algae that give them color. Nearly 30 percent o warm

water sea coral in the Caribbean Sea have disappeared since the beginning o the 1980s, and it isestimated that more than 15,000 kilometers o shoreline in the Caribbean could experience a 10 to 20percent reduction in wave and storm protection by 2050 as a result o ree degradation. Many coastalcommunities depend on fisheries and on the tourism benefits o coral rees, so the loss o rees wouldhave significant economic and biodiversity impacts.70Given that more than one billion o the worldspoor rely on fish and seaood as a primary source o protein - and that demand is expected to onlyincrease due to continuing population growth - ocean acidification poses a substantial threat to oodsecurity.71Diminishing production at local fisheries thus has multiple negative consequences; as fishand seaood become less available, many amilies and communities may also have ewer socioeconom-ic resources to replace these cheap and easily accessible ood sources in their diet. Te effects o oceanacidification on women have been understudied, but as ood resources dwindle and livelihoods are

threatened, women are ofen responsible or finding replacement resources and may receive a dispro-portionately small share o those resources.

Both deorestation and ocean acidification severely damage livelihoods, and threaten the ability oamilies and communities to provide or themselves. As the ood, water, and other resources in orestsand coastal areas decline, individuals - usually women - must find new ways to gather the resourcesnecessary or survival. Women may also be well positioned to lead adaptation efforts alongside men,and it is important to include women in decision-making and promote their participation in combat-ting the effects o deorestation and ocean acidification.

Water Scarcity

Climate change negatively impacts water supplies around theworld. Changes in temperature patterns, rainall, solar radiation,and winds are increasing the desertification o land. Prolongedperiods without adequate rainall cause droughts, which then re-sult in a shortage o water.72In Latin America, or example, severewater shortage problems have already been identified in Bolivia,Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.73Additionally, the combinationo higher temperatures and lack o water in the soil can decreasecrop productivity. It is projected that tropical orests, especially inSouth America, will be replaced by savannas i there is an increasein regional temperatures by one to two degrees Celsius.74Water

scarcity can also lead to the depletion o crops and deterioration o soil properties. Te impacts odesertification and drought can include the loss o livelihoods and the displacement o populationsrom one degraded ecosystem zone to another.75For example, desertification o pastoral lands causes

69 Slow Onset Events: echnical Paper (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2012):9-10, accessed Sept. 25, 2015, http://unccc.int/resource/docs/2012/tp/07.pd.

70 Ibid., 9.71 Matthew Huelsenbeck, Ocean-based Food Security Treatened in High CO

2World, Oceana, (2012),

accessed Sept. 25, 2015, http://oceanacidification.co.uk/pd/1acid_final_091812-pd.pd

72 Te United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) defines desertification as landdegradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas. Convention to Combat Desertification, art. 1,Sept. 12, 1994, 1954 U.N..S. 3, accessed Sept. 25, 2015, http://www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/conventionext/conv-eng.pd.

73 Slow Onset Events: echnical Paper, 10.74 Ibid.,9.75 Ibid., 11.


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the death o livestock used to till the fields and orces those communities to find other mechanisms ortilling their land, which inevitably affects arming outputs.

Agricultural Production

Women, who comprise the majority o the global agricultural workorce including between 45 and80 percent in developing countries76 must adapt to increased instances o drought and desertifica-

tion. When there is water scarcity in rural settings, men tend to leave their communities to searchor employment outside o cultivating crops.77Women become the heads o households and assumeresponsibilities traditionally assigned to men, but ofen do not have the same authority, decision-mak-ing power, or access to community services, education, or financial resources.78Tey may also beundercut by discriminatory laws and customs that prevent them rom being able to acquire, own, andretain land or other assets, such as livestock. During the 2011 drought in Kenya, or example, menmigrated away rom rural communities with livestock in search o water and pasture, and women werelef in charge o households with very ew resources. Tis led to an increase in petty trade and prosti-tution, which also increased their risk o contracting HIV/AIDS. In Kenya, women were not allowedto make the decision to sell or slaughter livestock without the permission and supervision o men inthese pastoral communities; they had to wait or men to return, which lef them in precarious ood

and economic security conditions.79

Both drought and desertification can serve as a trigger or amine when compounded with otheractors, such as dependence on importation o ood sources, significant changes in the price o ood,or security concerns that prevent the transport o ood sources to parts o a country.80Hunger andmalnutrition leave people physically weak, which reduces productivity. Children are especially sus-ceptible to malnutrition caused by hunger and must reduce their workload, which is usually spent

76 Note: Variation is due to regional differences. Te State o Food and Agriculture: Innovation in Family Farm-ing, (Food and Agriculture Organization o the United Nations, 2014), http://www.ao.org/3/a-i4040e.pd.See Women, Gender Equality and Climate Change: Fact Sheet, UN Women, 2009, accessed Sept. 25, 2015,http://www.un.org/womenwatch/eature/climate_change/downloads/Women_and_Climate_Change_Fact-sheet.pd.

77 John Abuya, How the Drought Affects Women,ActionAid USA(2011), accessed Sept. 25, 2015, http://

www.actionaidusa.org/2011/07/how-drought-affects-women. See Wilred ichagwa, Te Effects oDrought on the Condition o Women, Focus on Gender 2, no. 1 (1994): 20-21.

78 Gender and Desertification: Making Ends Meet in Drylands, (United Nations International Fund or Agricul-tural Development, 2010): 2.

79 Abuya, How the Drought Affects Women.80 Daniel Maxwell & Merry Fitzpatrick, Te 2011 Somalia Famine: Context, Causes and Consequences,

Global Food Security 1 (2012): 5.

Women, who comprise the majority of the globalagricultural workforce including between 45 and

80 percent in developing countries must adapt toincreased instances of drought and desertification.


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assisting their mothers with collection o natural resources. Women assume this burden in addition totheir other daily household tasks.81

Access to Clean Water

Lack o access to clean drinking water also disproportionately impacts women. In many communitiesaround the world where dependable irrigation is a distant dream and clean water a precious commod-

ity, women and girls bear the primary burden o finding water. What they are able to carry on theirheads and shoulders is then rationed careully or drinking, cooking, cleaning and other basic needs.Globally, women and children collectively spend 140 million hours per day collecting water or theiramilies and communities, resulting in lost productive potential.82Tis is time not spent working atincome-generating jobs, caring or amily members, or attending school.83In sub-Saharan Arica,women and girls collectively spend a total o 40 billion hours per year collecting water or their house-holds.84raveling long distances to search or water, especially in remote areas, also increases the risko sexual violence or women and girls. Tis is particularly true in countries marred by violent conflict,such as South Sudan and Democratic Republic o the Congo, where instances o rape and abductionduring water-etching trips have been documented or years.85Facilitating better access to clean watercan not only help reduce the incidence o rape and abduction, but also help ulfill the productive

potential o women previously lost o water collection, which could instead be realized in educationalattainment and economic participation.86

Socioeconomically conscious scientific research is making important headway to increase accessibilityto clean drinking water in impoverished communities. One recent example, invented by a team ointernational researchers, is the creation o a drinkable book, which uses treated paper that containsnanoparticles o silver or copper to kill 99 percent o bacteria in water.87Instructions on the impor-tance o water filtration and how to use the book are written on the pages themselves in both Englishand the local language. Each page can clean up to 100 liters o water, meaning that one person can

81 Wilred ichagwa, Te Effects o Drought on the Condition o Women, Focus on Gender 2, no. 1 (1994):20-21; SeeWomen & Hunger: 10 Facts, World Food Program(2015).

82 Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: 2014 Update (World Health Organization and UNICEF JointMonitoring Programme, 2014); Global Costs and Benefits o Drinking-Water Supply and Sanitation Inter-ventions to Reach the MDG arget and Universal Coverage (World Health Organization, 2012); Progresson Sanitation and Drinking-Water: 2010 Update (WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) orWater Supply and Sanitation, 2010), accessed Sept. 25, 2015, http://www.unice.org/eapro/JMP-2010Final.pd.

83 Progress on Sanitation and Drinking-Water: 2010 Update (WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme(JMP) or Water Supply and Sanitation, 2010): 29, last accessed Sept. 25, 2015, http://www.unice.org/eapro/

JMP-2010Final.pd.84 Ruti Levtov et al., State o the Worlds Fathers (MenCare, 2015): 81, last accessed Sept. 25, 2015, http://sow.

s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/08181421/State-o-the-Worlds-Fathers_23June2015.pd.85 Women in South Sudan: Tey Attack Us at oilets or Where We Collect Water, Te Guardian,September

11, 2014; UN Say 3,600 Raped in Congo by Military or Rebels, Te Associated Press, April 9, 2014.86 Ruti Levtov et al., State o the Worlds Fathers, 29.87 Jonathan Webb, Bug-killing Book Pages Clean Murky Drinking Water, BBC News, August 16, 2015.

In many communities around the world wheredependable irrigation is a distant dream and clean

water a precious commodity, women and girls bearthe primary burden of finding water.


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filter their water supply or our years withone drinkable book. Dr. eri Dankovichdeveloped the product at McGill Universityand conducted successul trials using contam-

inated water sources in South Arica, Ghana,and Bangladesh.88rials continue to determinei the book is capable o removing protozoaor viruses rom water in addition to bacteria.Tis type o simple tool provides a relativelycheap alternative to traditional water filtrationsystems that is user-riendly with an addedpurpose o improving literacy and education.Tis is particularly important or women andgirls who make up the majority o the worldsilliterate, which is exacerbated in conflict-a-

ected and impoverished settings.89

Another example o innovative but user-riendly solutions comes rom P&G, a multinational manu-acturer o household products, where a Purifier o Water was developed in collaboration with the U.S.Center or Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Te purifier is a small sachet o powdered ingre-dients that make contaminated water potable, using a coagulant and a disinectant. Clinical studiesconducted with the CDC and John Hopkins University show that P&G packets reduced the incidenceo diarrhea on average by 50 percent. Since 2004, more than 500 million packets, enough to puriy fivebillion liters o water, have been provided to people on a not-or-profit basis. P&G has committed tosaving one lie every hour in the developing world by delivering more than two billion liters o cleandrinking water each year by 2020, significantly reducing the rate o water-born disease and subse-

quently allowing women to spend less time caring or sick amily members.90

Health and Sanitation

In 2015, more people are likely to have access to a mobile phone than a toilet.91Modern sanitation andhygiene acilities remain rare throughout most developing countries, especially among the urban andrural poor. Water scarcity compromises hygiene, particularly or women and girls, who may need it orpurposes uncommon to men, especially during pregnancy and menstruation. Lack o adequate access

88 Ibid.89 Ibid.90 Sae Drinking Water, P&G Health Sciences Institute, accessed Sep. 25, 2015, http://www.pghsi.com/pghsi/

saewater/.91 Mayesha Alam, Women on the Frontlines o Water Insecurity(Washington, D.C.: Georgetown Institute or

Women, Peace & Security, 2015).

Globally, women and children collectivelyspend 140 million hours per day collecting

water for their families and communities,resulting in lost productive potential.


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to sae water and sanitation is a key actor in maternal and child mortality, and is dramatically morepronounced in rural settings susceptible to the effects o climate change.92

At the same time, urban communities are not immune to climate change-related water insecurity,including as a result o shifs in temperature and rainall patterns. Significant increases in temperature,anywhere between two and six degrees Celsius, create urban heat islands, which are areas where thetemperature is notably higher than the surrounding rural areas.93In regions that are already in dryzones, the creation o urban heat islands results in shortages o clean water, and increases the likeli-hood o contracting a vector-borne disease, such as malaria or dengue ever, as is the case in manyparts o India.94Poor women are more likely to bear the brunt o these types o health problems dueto their limited access to health acilities, low awareness o risks, and social and cultural norms thatmake women primary caregivers or amily members.95Lack o access to clean water or personalhygiene disproportionately affects women and girls, yet they continue to be excluded rom the creationand management o WASH programming.96Te exclusion o the voices o women and girls in WASHprogram development means their needs are ofen overlooked. In order to address this, Indias otal

92 Trse Mahon and Maria Fernades, Menstrual Hygiene in South Asia: A Neglected Issue or WASHProgrammes, Gender & Development18, no. 1 (2010): 102-103.

93 UNFPA State o World Population 2007: Unleashing the Potential o Urban Growth (UNFPA, 2007): 59,accessed Sept. 25, 2015, http://www.unpa.org/sites/deault/files/pub-pd/695_filename_sowp2007_eng.pd

94 Slow Onset Events: echnical Paper, 9.95 Gender, Climate Change and Health(World Health Organization, 2014): 3, accessed Sept 25, 2015, http://

apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/144781/1/9789241508186_eng.pd?ua=1.96 WASH programming ocuses on access to clean water, health, and sanitation. See UNICEF Water, Sanita-

tion, and Hygiene, accessed Sept. 25, 2015, http://www.unice.org/wash/index_43084.html.


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Sanitation Campaign seeks to provide access to better sanitation acilities in the country and has suc-cessully created womens sanitary complexes with latrines and bathing acilities, including establishingtoilets or girls in school.97

Climate-Related Migration & Displacement

Climate change will markedly affect the security and livelihoods o people around the world. In thehope o finding saer environments, more stable economic opportunities, and long-term adaptationsolutions, individuals and amilies will move, whether voluntarily, displaced orcibly by the impacts oclimate change