This article is written by Sarah Furman, Research Assistant, Global Institute for Women’s Leadership and Dr Betty Barkha, Research Fellow at The Global Institute for Women’s Leadership – Australian National University.

  • The problem: The impacts of climate change are deeply gendered, affecting women, girls, men, boys and minoritised genders differently and exacerbating existing gendered social, economic, and cultural inequalities.
  • Why it matters: As climate-related disasters become more frequent and severe, it is crucial that those who are disproportionately affected – namely, women, girls, and minoritised genders – are not left behind.
  • The solution: A gendered lens should be applied to climate action and relevant policies and programs to ensure that climate action is equitable and just.

How is climate change gendered?

Climate change is one of the greatest crises facing our world today, posing a threat to the natural environment, communities, livelihoods, and even entire nations. Whilst people of all genders and demographic backgrounds are impacted by climate change, these impacts are not gender equal, disproportionately affecting the livelihoods, health, and safety of women, girls, and gender diverse groups. UN Women’s 2023 gender snapshot warns that more than 340 million women and girls will live in extreme poverty by 2030, and nearly 1 in 4 will experience moderate or severe food insecurity. Women comprise the majority of the world’s 719 million people living in extreme poverty, with their lower incomes, lower access to credit and decision-making authority and limited control of resources increasing their vulnerability to climate-induced stressors. Climate-induced disasters are also found to exacerbate gender-based violence and sexual exploitation of women. These statistics suggest that the gendered impacts of climate change present a crisis within a crisis.

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Climate action is crucial in adapting to our changing world and ensuring a sustainable future. Yet despite the unequal effects of climate change, a gender lens is often missing when it comes to climate change research and interventions. In light of this gap, the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership hosted a workshop on climate and gender justice as part of its Youth Summit in Brisbane from 19-20 October 2023. The workshop explored the critical intersection of climate justice and gender and generated ideas for how communities, policymakers, and researchers can collaborate to create a more just and sustainable future for all. Key themes that emerged are included below.

From despair to hope

Evidence from across the globe demonstrates how existing socio-cultural norms and gender inequalities, combined with slow and sudden onset impacts of climate change, are reinforcing gendered power hierarchies and inequalities. For example, the February 2023 earthquake in Morocco’s Rif Mountains disproportionately impacted women and girls, with women accounting for 55% of fatalities and 60% of the injured. According to the United Nations, over 10,000 homes were destroyed or damaged, and over 30,000 people were displaced. Displaced women and girls became more vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence in the aftermath, with UNICEF reporting that cases of sexual violence against women and girls in Al Hoceima increased by 50% in the month following the earthquake. This is one case study that we drew upon to illustrate the gendered impacts of climate-related disasters in our workshop.

Another case study closer to home is the catastrophic floods that inundated Australia’s New South Wales Central Coast in February 2022. The town of Lismore was one of the hardest hit areas, with over 6,000 homes destroyed, widespread damage to infrastructure and thousands of people displaced. Yet as in the Moroccan earthquake and countless other climate-related crises, women and girls, as well as those from marginalised backgrounds, faced additional challenges. In one instance, a 75-year-old woman with a disability was trapped in her flooded home for 12 hours before being rescued. A pregnant woman was forced to give birth in her car after being stranded. These cases highlight the need for the application of a gendered lens to disaster preparation, response and recovery efforts to ensure that no member of the community – particularly individuals from marginalised backgrounds – is left behind.

Climate change is a threat multiplier, exacerbating existing gender inequalities globally. However, it can also be an opportunity to transform and disrupt gendered power dynamics. This was broadly indicated by the responses from our workshop on gender and climate justice. Here are a few ways that climate change could become an opportunity to advance gender equality:

  • Education on the gendered impacts of climate change and strengthening the evidence base to explicitly indicate how causes of gender inequality, such as high prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence and discrimination, unequal land ownership, inheritance rights, and discriminatory social norms and practices, are exacerbated in climate crises.
  • Ensuring gender-responsive climate policies and programs by integrating lived experiences and women’s voices in the policymaking process.
  • Emergency preparedness empowerment through investment in policies and programs that centre preparedness rather than reactionary responses. This is particularly crucial in driving climate adaptation and long-term, sustainable changes.
  • Equitable access and justice for all members of the community before, during, and after climate-induced crises. This should include factors such as equitable access to financial and material resources, support, safety, and communication systems.
  • Enabling enhanced community engagement by ensuring communities, across their gender and social diversities, are engaged across all relevant stages of a climate adaptation or mitigation response project (e.g., Women’s Weather Watch in Vanuatu). A bottom-up approach to climate adaptation is needed to ensure the lived experiences of those directly affected by climate disasters have a voice in decisions and policies that will ultimately affect them the most.

The meaningful, informed, and effective participation of women, girls, and gender non-binary people in relevant decision-making processes lies at the heart of a rights-based, gender-responsive approach to climate action.

The key lesson

At present, climate-related disasters are exacerbating gendered inequalities across the world. However, this also creates an opportunity to disrupt patriarchal norms. Climate action must recognise that gendered vulnerabilities require tailored adaptation measures. Women's time poverty due to unpaid care and domestic work must be addressed, as adaptation programs often add to this burden by relying on women. This unpaid care work is a major barrier to women's earning power and resilience. Climate adaptation should not be another gendered responsibility. Investment in basic social services, infrastructure, social protection, access to safe water, and public transportation could improve women's mobility and decrease the gendered burden of unpaid work. These measures are essential for social stability and preparation for and recovery from climate disasters.

A holistic approach is needed to address systemic and specific power imbalances. Open spaces for discussion, collaboration, participation, and decision-making at all levels, from household to national, should be a global priority. By enabling and empowering women, girls, marginalised genders and community members from marginalised backgrounds to have a voice in climate policies and programs, we can strengthen community preparedness for future climate disasters and improve response and recovery efforts. In the face of increasingly frequent and severe climate crises, equitable climate action matters more than ever.

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