Gender and Climate Change

© Oxfam photo Geoff Sayar, Uganda

Climate Change Injustice

© Oxfam photo Ami Vitale, Maritania

Poor communities around the world are the least responsible for emissions. But they are suffering the greatest effects – increased droughts, floods, disease and hunger.

Poverty and isolation makes them the most vulnerable and the least able to adapt. Within poor communities, women suffer the most. 

Insecurity

EPA/ALIWEDA/ Indonesia

The total number of weather-related disasters has quadrupled since the early 1980s.

Conflict over depleting resources is on the rise, causing more deaths and injuries.

Hunger

Climate-induced crop failures have contributed to skyrocketing food prices. More than three-quarters of the 800 million people who suffer hunger depend on agriculture to provide an income and the food for their family.

© Oxfam Photo- Gilvan Barrreto, Peru

Health

© Oxfam photo, Abbie Trayler-Smith, Malawi

Changing climate has increased water stress causing diarrhoea and cholera, as well as the spread of malaria and dengue-carrying mosquitoes to new areas as temperatures rise.

Livelihoods

Poor people’s access to natural resources is being undermined by:

- Drought -Flooding-Extinction of plant and animal species -Coastal erosion-Erratic temperatures

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© Oxfam photo AbbieTrayler-Smith, Haiti

Gender Inequality Worsens

© EPA/STR, India

Women and men face different vulnerabilities, are impacted differently and have different capacities to adapt and change.

In climate-induced disasters, three to four women die, on average, for every man who dies (women make up 85% of deaths)

Women’s Work Increases

Droughts, floods and unpredictable rainfall make food, fuel and water scarce.

As a result, women are forced to search for wild foods in the forest, spend more time caring for malnourished children, or walk for several hours a day to collect water and fuel.

© Oxfam photo Geoff Sayer, Uganda

Fewer Opportunities

More time spent collecting food, fuel and water keeps women from opportunities such as education and income generation.

Without these opportunities, women and their families miss out on improvements to their quality of life.

© Oxfam photo Jane Beesley, Kenya

© Oxfam photo Tom Greenwood, Indonesia

Women As Agents of Change

Women are also effective at mobilizing their communities.

Strategies for adapting to climate change must recognize women’s abilities and include them in the research, development and implementation stages.

© Oxfam photo Caroline Gluck, Uganda

Including Women’s Voices

Including women’s voices in climate change strategies will make the work more effective.

This helps build more resilient communities.

© Oxfam Photo- Tom Greenwood, Indonesia