The Problem That Has No Name: Gender, Climate Migration, and the Case of Israel

May 3, 2023 | Hadas Cohen
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Female climate refugees are doubly vulnerable, both to climate catastrophes back home and once on the road as refugees. Israel, which is expected to be one of the main destinations for climate refugees from the Middle East and North Africa, does not acknowledge and consequentially does not prepare for this extra vulnerable population. When a problem has no name, as is the case with the particular vulnerabilities of female climate refugees, it lacks framing, and as a result no policy is created to address it. Thus, while Israel officially addresses climate migration in policy papers, it does so in a gender neutral way, and even as it considers women to be particularly vulnerable to climate change, it does not interconnect the two. The Middle East is a climate change hot spot, and one of the most climate vulnerable areas in the world. With precipitation predicted to decline by 25% and temperature to rise by 4°C (7.2°F) by the end of the century (according to conservative estimates), and with sea levels expected to rise by one meter by 2050, the area is facing an inevitable climate catastrophe.