5 Facts About Gender Equality and Climate Change
Mar 16, 2023
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GABRIELA CARBÓ ZACK
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Girls and women do not experience climate change in the same ways as boys and men. The reason? Historical and structural gender inequalities — which also affect how, and to what extent, girls and women can lead, make decisions, take action, and advance solutions to combat climate change.
Explicit and implicit social norms and laws have imposed differentiated powers, roles, and responsibilities on women and men in all aspects of life. Girls and women — especially those living in the Global South — bear an unequal responsibility for securing food, water, energy, and other vital resources as well as for caring for the young and elderly — all of which place them at greater risk of experiencing detrimental climate impacts. For example, girls and women often suffer the most when heat waves, droughts, severe storms or other extreme climate events strike. They face physical and mental health complications, bear the burden of traveling farther to collect scarce food, water, and firewood, and are often forced to stay behind in disaster-prone areas to care for the vulnerable.