Is the World Making Enough Progress on Addressing Gender Equality Within Climate Action?

Mar 23, 2022 | Verania Chao
View Original

We can only transition to zero-carbon and climate resilient development to the extent that we transform our societies. One of the areas in which this transformation is most needed is gender equality and women’s empowerment. It may be surprising to hear, but without women at the centre of climate action, the world cannot achieve its mitigation and resilience goals.

Women play a substantial role in key climate sectors such as in agriculture, energy and forest. Nearly one third of women’s employment globally is in agriculture, including forestry and fishing. There is ample evidence of a positive relationship between women’s participation in forest management decisions and enhanced forest management outcomes, too: when women have rights to own and secure access to land, this improves productivity, increases food security and reduces land degradation. 

Yet across the globe, persistent structural inequalities deny women income, legal rights, and access to resources, decision-making roles and political participation, while assigning them to the primary unpaid role for care of their families.