Climate change is a pressing concern that the world is facing, and the need to reduce carbon footprints has been vastly exacerbated by various other global issues. These include environmental, socioeconomic, geopolitical, and sociological factors that have made a barrier to tackling global change in the climate. One of the emerging issues that is intersectional with the climate crisis is the need to recognize its sociological aspect, especially those concerning gender inequality and the problems that women within the climate change literature face.

Often called a "threat multiplier," climate change has a cascading effect, especially in conflicted and fragile settings. Women, in most cases, are adversely affected and are subjected to being neglected from having access to resources. This can largely be seen in the agricultural sector, which employs a third of women worldwide, but when it comes to being landowners, only 12.6% are women. As an estimate says, if equal resources were distributed to women smallholders and there was not such a disparity in control of these resources, a 30% rise in farm yield could be expected, and most of the population would not go hungry. Additionally, if equity is promoted, even a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions could be made possible, provided women in agriculture receive proper awareness of farm practices. Rising sea levels, global warming, air pollution, failure in crops, and water shortages often result in a shortage of food for people in regions of distress and poverty. Women, in such cases, face a higher risk of food insecurity that reduces their consumption considerably, resulting in them being prone to diseases. Also, less access to education, markets, and infrastructure and even less awareness about climate change's adversities on their overall well-being subject them to unpaid labor and reduce their employment prospects other than agriculture.

Financially inadequate families that face the brunt of climate crises such as floods, livestock destruction by drought, diseases and illness, migration, food shortages, and lack of resources often resort to child marriage, which is a common occurrence amongst girl children. The girl child is also, in many cases, traded as human labor or even subjected to human trafficking and exploited to fulfill the requirements of these low-income families. Gender-based violence like Female Infanticide and Female Foeticide are still prevalent which collectively point towards the scarcity of resources and the need for sustainability. Lack of awareness, proper sex education, overconsumption of resources, and, to a large extent, power and political bias have not only created a gap between where women are and where they should be but have also created a stigma amongst many on pressing concerns such as that of the climate crisis and their link with gender inequality.

Climate change has come to affect the livelihood of many, and this issue intersperses majorly with gender discrimination and inequality. The linkage between these significant issues is often overlooked, but it is imperative to come up with solutions and implement them. Providing the required awareness to women, men, and the other gender, ensuring social protection systems for vulnerable communities, assessing, analyzing, and taking up measures to combat climate changes that directly affect the vulnerable genders, and aiming for the empowerment of women in different sectors could be the targeted measures that could be undertaken. Nation leaders, organizations, and countries must come together to address and tackle them to not only protect the current generation and prevent the escalation of any other crisis but to also create a better, safer, and healthier world for the future generation.

Template: https://hbr.org/2022/07/we-cant-fight-climate-change-without-fighting-for-gender-equity

About the author,

    Shreeparna Kar

An avid reader who finds reading not just as a source of recreation but also as one that helps her broaden her horizons of thinking and learning . Immersing herself in the works of Kafka and Plath is her favourite pastime . Apart from reading ,Shreeparna also takes keen interest in writing and is also a movie enthusiast. As an introvert who is always motivated to think ,learn and grow , Shreeparna is ever ready to embrace the changes and challenges that come her way while also expanding upon her skills and wisdom.