Climate Justice Needs Gender Justice
With the #COP26 having closed recently, the importance of linking #climatechange, climatejustice and #genderjustice has become more crucial than ever before: Women make up the majority of the global poor, being highly dependent on local natural resources and mostly responsible for food production but at the same time own less than 10% of the land. These factors in combination with restricted access to socio-economic opportunities severely increase their vulnerability in times of disasters. Moreover, limited access to decision-making, related to environmental resources and management, often impacts possibilities of climate change preparedness and adaptation. Natural disasters, and their resulting displacements and destructive coping mechanisms, such as child labour and early marriage, in turn increase gender-based violence gender-based violence and marginalization of women with severe consequences for the whole community.
The reality is though, that in many contexts, it is precisely because women have responsibilities in food production, livestock and agriculture, that they can significantly contribute to enhancing local adaptive capacity and sustaining a community's livelihood. They have developed expert knowledge and skills related to water harvesting and storage, food preservation and natural resource management, and have experience recognising the early warning signs of natural disasters and their impacts on the environment. If women had the same access to resources as men, harvests could increase and thus significantly raise agricultural output and reduce #hunger and #poverty.
Considering the impact of #climatechange on #genderinequality, women, and in particular indigenous women, have not been given enough voice at the #COP26: the representation of women was only 20% and representation of women of color and from the global south was also lacking. While the commitments of several countries give reason to hope, the continuous negligence of the fact that the #climatecrisis can only be addressed through a #humanrights and #socialjustice lens is worrisome. It is beyond shocking that 3.8 trillion USD have been invested in fossil fuels since the #ParisClimateAgreement in 2015 and that the fossil fuel industry had the largest representation during #COP26. Many fossil fuel reserves are on indigenous lands, against the will of the affected communities, accompanied with gross #humanrightsviolations and disastrous consequences for the #environment and #biodiversity.
While it is important that representatives of these corporations are involved in the decision-making processes around sustainable action against climate change, it is crucial to question the stark contrast in representation which seems to reinforce divisions between the global north and south, as well as perpetuate patriarchal norms and wider structural oppression. If we want to reach the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, we need an intersectional human rights based approach. Some countries and non-state actors pledged to support such an approach on November 9 which marked Gender Day at the #COP26. These pledges build on commitments already made towards the UN Women-convened Action Coalition on Feminist Action for Climate Justice, launched at the Generation Equality Forum in Paris in July 2021. Here are some other meaningful steps taken that can serve as an example for those still to adopt gender responsive policies and programming in the face of climate change…
Author(s) - Julia Hollaender