Integrating Gender issues into Climate Change Adaptation: National and Regional policy making and...

Integrating Gender issues into Climate Change Adaptation: National and

Regional policy making and planning

ECOWAS Regional Ministerial Dialogue on Climate Change

in West Africa, Cotonou, Benin 18 -22 October 2008

Dr. Janet Kabeberi-Macharia

Senior Adviser on Gender, UNEP

Gender and Climate Change:UNEP 2008

Introduction

The IPCC in 2001 noted that

“ Climate change impacts will be differently distributed among different regions,

generations, age, classes, income groups occupations and genders”.


Developing countries bear the brunt of climate change impacts:

• development is constrained, increasing poverty levels and delays in achievement of MDGs

• living conditions and livelihoods are harmed, increasing inequities in health, access to water, food sources of energy.

• increasing human costs particularly for the poor who are heavily dependent on the environment for survival.


CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS AND VULNERABILITIES IN AFRICA

Vulnerability refers to

“the degree to which a system is susceptible to, or unable to cope

with the adverse effects of climate change”


Vulnerability occurs disproportionately

•Who or what are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change?

•What social, physical, and environmental factors make them vulnerable?


• Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents to climate change; already under pressure from climate stresses – variable climates in many areas

• Africa’s vulnerability is increased by climate-dependency of major economic sectors and by existing development challenges

• African women by virtue of their reproductive and productive roles are more vulnerable to impacts of Climate Change


Examples

• Water: Population at risk of increased water stress 75-200 million people by 2020 – potential for conflicts

• Agriculture: Production will be compromised in many African countries due to loss of land, shorter growing seasons, lower yields – risk of increasing food insecurity


Human health: • Changing geographical distribution of

disease vectors, malnutrition, floods and heat-waves.

• Africa accounts for 90% of global malaria cases and over 90% of cholera cases, while nearly half of Africans lack adequate access to sanitation and clean water


Coastal zones:

•Future sea level rise may have significant impacts on African coastlines.

•Threaten people,infrastructure and coastal ecosystems

Gender and Climate Change:UNEP 2008 10

WHY GENDER AND CLIMATE CHANGE?

The intricate links between gender, environment, climate change and related disasters are complex.

• Women and men experience climate change differently.

• Their experiences, needs, rights and the options available to them differ according to socio-culturally defined gender roles.


• The division of labour between men and women often determines how men and women will adapt to environmental challenges posed by climate change

• A distinction needs to be made in the way both genders relate to and deal with natural resources

• Access to and the control over natural resources determines the financial and physical security of women and their families, and ultimately their survival.


• Climate change related disasters and conflicts radically change gender roles

• Women may be forced to undertake traditionally male roles yet existing legal or societal norms prevent them from fully undertaking these

roles


Gender Issues in Adaptation • To what extent are gender concerns fully

integrated into specific assessment tools and methodologies to assess ecosystem vulnerability.

• To what extent does a focus on community knowledge on climate change adaptation take into consideration women’s knowledge?

• To what extent is women’s knowledge harnessed to inform planning and responses for disaster risk reduction and climate change science?


Cross-cutting gender issues

Poverty

• Increase in female headed households

• Illiteracy, poor infrastructure, health inequities

• Gendered impact of poverty and how this impacts on climate change adaptation


• Gendered roles and responsibilities

– leading to increased dependency on nature

– lack of access to resources– differences in attitudes, needs,

consumption, also determined by geographical and an socio

economic


Control and Access to resources

Climate change and disasters highlight existing gender inequalities:

• unequal distribution of land property rights and access to land or resources which constrains women’s decision making abilities in the absence of a male owner

• In many African societies men generally control the access to, use and ownership of natural resources.


• In many societies, traditional legal systems and customary rights prevent widowed or single women from having formal access to or control over land, water or other resources.

•Without ownership or rights, women are systematically excluded from decision-making. They have no voice and their needs are not taken into account.


Recommendations

• Development of new structures of environmental governance to afford opportunities for changing laws and societal attitudes.

• Gender inclusiveness in the access to, usage and ownership of natural resources, resulting in greater equality in other areas.


Sex and gender disaggregated data• To enable the integration of gender

concerns into adaptation policies and strategies

• Provide analysis of the extent to which power relations / power structures in the family or community influence coping mechanisms

• Provide analysis of the extent to which ownership and utilisation of natural resources determines women’s ability to apply their knowledge on adaptation


• Men and women have to be involved in developing adaptation strategies or coping mechanisms.

• Gender sensitive communication strategy to be integrated into awareness campaigns

• Gender sensitive monitoring indicators to be integrated into overall indicators


Sharing good practices:

Water conservation, water harvesting and storage, better management of supply systems.

This has reduced the burden on women and girls in looking for water


• Building institutional capacity on gender mainstreaming

• Training for adaptation practitioners on gender and climate change link

• Development of gender responsive proactive vs reactive strategies


Thank you

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