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Impacts Of Climate Change On Women

/Impacts Of Climate Change On Women

 

11 10, 2025

UN Women calls for a strong Gender Action Plan at COP30 to keep gender equality as a central pillar for climate action

2025-12-03T23:11:29-05:00Tags: |

While at COP30, UN Women openly called for the adoption and implementation of a Gender Action Plan (GAP) that would ensure climate policies properly take gender equality into consideration. The plan explicitly calls for a commitment to adequately fund its corresponding goals, objectives, and projects and for the recognition of women’s leadership in the climate justice movement. Sarah Hendriks, the Head of Secretariat for UN Women’s Secretary-General’s Gender Equality Acceleration Plan, emphasized the critical importance of such a strategy, pointing out how “failure to adopt a robust GAP would set back gender equality and human rights, undermining hard-won progress and signaling that women’s leadership and experience are expendable in the climate fight.” Also introduced at COP30 was the Gender Equality and Climate Policy Scorecard, a tool meant to evaluate governments’ progress and persistent gaps in addressing gender inequalities within their national climate policies, focusing on economic security, health, gender-based violence, unpaid care work, leadership opportunities, and gender mainstreaming. The scorecard has importantly revealed that while many countries recognize the disproportionate impacts the climate crisis has on women, they tend to fall short in taking action. Few countries recognize women’s indispensable contributions to climate solutions, and comprehensive approaches to the gender-climate nexus remain rare worldwide, with a substantial number of national policies continuing to overlook how climate change affects maternal health, gender-based violence, and access to unpaid care work. 

7 03, 2025

Advancing women’s rights and empowerment in climate adaptation

2025-12-03T23:47:51-05:00Tags: |

Despite women’s central importance to environmental management, they continue to face pay gaps, gender-based violence, and exclusion from entrepreneurship and leadership opportunities. In the realm of climate change, land grabbing, pollution, and climate displacement affect women disproportionately in uniquely difficult ways. Aiming to address this crucial overlap of women’s rights and climate rights, Profonanpe, a Peruvian environmental fund, is spearheading a variety of projects that incorporate women’s perspectives and local knowledge into adaptation responses and planning. Women are the backbone to Perú’s fishing industry which accounts for approximately 10% of all fish captured around the world. However, with fish stocks plummeting, the women responsible for processing and marketing catches are facing difficult circumstances and significant changes to their livelihoods. In response, Profonanpe launched projects that would not only utilize aquaponic plants to cultivate fish stocks, but also create activities, roles, jobs, and leadership opportunities exclusively for women. Since actively including women in strategies to adapt to and mitigate climate change, project leaders such as Claudia Godfrey have observed improved economic, political, and social mobility for women as well as generational effects in the community. Daughters are not only feeling inspired to become leaders but also have equitable access to resources and inclusive decision-making that can support their aspirations. 

11 12, 2024

Women, Girls Hardest Hit By Malnutrition

2025-12-04T01:31:59-05:00Tags: |

Gender injustice, one of the main drivers of malnutrition and hunger among women and girls, is deeply entrenched in domestic spaces, with inequalities being evident at the household level through food distribution inequality. Women and girls are often provided with less nutritious and inadequate food. They also suffer disproportionately from the effects of extreme weather events and climate-induced natural disasters. Reforms are needed at all levels, from individual to systems change, and from formal mechanisms to informal social and cultural change to integrate gender justice. Greater investment in promoting youth inclusion, gender equality, climate and food justice is necessary to guarantee the right to adequate and healthy foods to all people. Breaking the cycle of hunger requires community driven solutions, inclusive policies and climate resilience. Youth and marginalized groups must be empowered to design and govern food systems, ensuring no one is left behind.

20 11, 2024

Kenya’s Maasai Face Deepening Water Crisis

2025-12-04T01:26:19-05:00Tags: |

Climate change has impacted access to clean water among the Maasai, an Indigenous community domiciled in Mara, home to Maasai Mara Reserve which is internationally recognized for wildebeest migration. Despite the high revenue generated from tourism at the Reserve, challenges of water resource management persist. Their impacts are disproportionate, with women and girls bearing the brunt due to economic hardships and power imbalances that subject them to cultural prejudices. They are socialized for marriage, childbearing, and relegated domestic chores such as  searching for water—a long walk through the Maasai Mara Reserve that exposes them to attacks by wild animals and puts their education at peril due to poor academic performance, chronic absenteeism, and high dropout rates. The safety of the water is not guaranteed due to pollution from waste and agricultural runoff. While local community members have organized associations for water management, inadequate funding, limited resources, and fragmented approaches inhibit coordination, limiting their effectiveness. Privatization and commodification of common water points, alongside political interference, corruption, and weak enforcement of regulations by the county government further undermine the efficiency and equity of water access, distribution, and management. The sparse population in Mara also discourages private sector players due to delayed return on investment. Nevertheless, Marafiki, an NGO, has developed a water grid to facilitate access to a primary school for  locals near Ololamutia Gate. This installation has increased the participation of women and girls in education and other income-generating activities.

21 10, 2024

How biodiversity loss affects women, and how to turn the tide

2025-07-29T22:09:58-04:00Tags: |

In October 2024, UN Women released a data brief on gender and biodiversity, highlighting the potentially dire future ahead and outlining the necessary actions to mitigate its worst impacts. This article highlights that the effects of the ‘triple planetary crisis’ — biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution — affect everyone, but women and girls will feel specific consequences for their health, wellbeing, and financial security. These effects vary depending on additional social vulnerabilities and the degree of reliance on biodiversity. Women’s livelihoods in rural communities, especially within the poorest households, are typically dependent on natural resources. Biodiversity loss reduces their access to resources, threatens their basic subsistence, food security, and income, and increases the burden of unpaid labour. It’s estimated that 26% of employed women work in agriculture. Millions more are informally dependent on local ecosystems for daily responsibilities such as fetching water and firewood, fishing, and subsistence farming. Increased water scarcity and aridity and decreased water quality greatly impact these activities, present health risks, and are correlated with higher rates of child marriage. Furthermore, it’s been found that when faced with food scarcity, women typically prioritize their family’s nutrition and reduce their food intake. In a similar vein, women disproportionately act as caregivers, and the mounting health impacts of pollution and habitat loss lead to a growing burden of care. Despite their clear stake in combating environmental crises, women continue to be excluded from decision-making, representing only a fraction of leadership roles in environmental ministries. There are solutions, however. One overarching approach is gender equality in the systems of power over land and resources. The article notes that “Indigenous women in particular should play leadership roles.” Enhancing gender equality in land management, ownership and tenure security, and environmental decision-making could improve women’s quality of life and ensure that green spaces are kept green. 

26 04, 2024

Building Gender-Inclusive Infrastructure for Climate Resilience in Africa

2025-06-11T23:00:12-04:00Tags: , , |

Emma Mayhew and Grace Muinga stress the need for incorporating a gendered perspective in climate-resilient infrastructure development to enhance effectiveness and avoid reinforcing inequalities. The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) integrates gender considerations into its projects, aiming to create infrastructure that serves everyone equitably amid the growing pressures of climate change. In Kenya, GCA’s climate risk analysis found that women are disproportionately affected by infrastructure disruptions from climate hazards like flooding and extreme heat. It also identified a gender-based digital divide and low female participation in decision-making. The analysis recommended collecting gender-disaggregated data, engaging stakeholders in gender-responsive ways, and implementing gender-responsive budgeting. In N’Djamena, Chad, GCA’s assessments highlighted the increased challenges women face during climate events given their primary responsibilities for childcare, water collection, and food gathering. Proposed solutions focused on reducing women’s burdens, improving access to resources, creating income opportunities, and boosting women’s roles in community decision-making. In Borana, Ethiopia, GCA’s gender action plan addressed the severe impact of water scarcity on women, who spend hours fetching water. Recommendations included forming gender-balanced management committees and addressing social norms that heighten vulnerabilities for women and girls during climate events.

14 02, 2024

Sweltering Cities panel warns Brisbane heat waves will worsen

2025-06-11T23:26:55-04:00Tags: |

Researchers have identified poor urban design as a key factor in creating heat islands in Brisbane, Australia, where temperatures can reach dangerous levels. Women, who often bear the brunt of these challenges, are leading efforts to address the issue. The Sweltering Cities panel – featuring women leaders such as Emma Bacon, the organization’s director – noted that heat waves, Australia’s deadliest natural disaster, disproportionately impact women in lower-income areas due to poor air quality, dense concrete structures, and lack of vegetation. Anna Campbell of Queensland Walks highlighted the lack of shaded walkways and water features in Brisbane, exacerbating difficulties for women who rely on walking as their primary transportation. She stressed the need for smarter urban planning that prioritizes women and vulnerable groups. Shannon Rutherford of Griffith University raised concerns about the severe impact of extreme heat on women's health, particularly for those from low-income backgrounds who lack access to cooling centers, leading to higher health risks during heatwaves. She emphasized that climate change disproportionately affects women, especially those with limited resources, and called for gender-sensitive urban planning as a critical component of climate adaptation and future infrastructure development.

27 01, 2024

The Sundarbans dilemma: Islands swallowed by water, and nowhere else to go

2025-03-27T17:28:37-04:00Tags: |

In West Bengal, India, a group of low-lying islands and the largest mangrove ecosystem in the world make up the Sundarbans Forest system. The Sundarbans act as a natural barrier against natural disasters and environmental hazards, as well as a carbon sink. Four cyclones have hit India’s eastern coast from 2019 to 2021, displacing residents of the Sundarbans with government warnings that the region is no longer safe for human habitation. Government relief has been aggravating pre-existing susceptibilities of caste and gender, as relief is selective and contingent on existing land holdings. In addition, the islands are eroding too quickly to relocate people safely. Women-headed households are more common in the Sundarbans than in any other Indian region due to men engaging in distress-forced migration and informal migratory labor, taking them away from their homes. These households face high debts and dependents. As the salinity of the water around the Sundarbans increases, so does commercial brackish water shrimp farming. Women are paid poorly to collect prawn seeds, standing in saltwater for up to six hours. The briny water causes reproductive health issues in women such as pelvic inflammation and urinary tract infections. In addition, the increased salinity is degrading the mangrove ecosystem. Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, became the first claimant for climate-induced loss and damage from the UN Loss and Damage Fund. The requested fund will include money for the climate-displaced residents of the Sundarbans. As money allocation is subject to political leanings, uncertainty surrounds when and how capital will be distributed and how climate resilience will be implemented.

19 01, 2024

New studies reveal impacts of climate change on kids, pregnant women in Indian cities

2025-05-24T19:30:50-04:00Tags: |

The studies reveal how climate change, air pollution, and inadequate public spaces disproportionately affect young children, caregivers, and pregnant women. Research conducted across 18 Indian cities including Delhi, Gandhinagar, and Kharagpur from January 2022 to December 2023 highlights that these vulnerabilities have long-term impacts on children’s development. Women, as primary caregivers and expectant mothers, face greater challenges due to exposure to harmful pollutants and extreme heat, particularly in urban areas. The findings underscore the need for child-friendly public spaces that offer safe environments for early childhood development (ECD) and accommodate the specific needs of children, caregivers and pregnant women. The studies aim to inform policymakers on designing accessible, supportive urban environments that address these gendered and age-specific vulnerabilities, shaping future urban planning.

2 01, 2024

‘This is a real look into our lives’: The Maasai women photographing their people

2025-03-09T23:50:26-04:00Tags: |

Two Maasai photographers, Claire Metito and Irene Naneu, document the increasing burden on pastoralist women in Kenya as the climate crisis intensifies their daily struggles. The women, including 69-year-old Pilale Rikoiyan and farmer Lenoi Mayiempe, face the harsh realities of prolonged drought and immense care work, which have become harder as climate change exacerbates poverty and resource scarcity. Despite these challenges, women in Maasai communities often lack control over resources like land, which remains in the hands of men. The photographers, who are part of a program by Lensational that trains women from underrepresented backgrounds, capture intimate glimpses into these women’s lives, emphasizing their resilience amidst adversity. They hope that their work will raise awareness about these struggles and advocate for solutions such as better infrastructure and social safety nets for women impacted by climate change.

10 10, 2023

Climate crisis is ‘not gender neutral’: UN calls for more policy focus on women

2025-03-27T13:30:36-04:00Tags: |

Despite its importance, only one-third of nations have included sexual and reproductive health as part of their plans to combat climate change. Of the 119 national plans published, only 38 include access to contraception and maternal and newborn health, while just 15 make any reference to gender-based violence. Increasing temperatures result in poorer maternal health and pregnancy complications, such as earlier deliveries and stillbirths. Intensified natural disasters damage health facilities, disrupt care, spread waterborne diseases, and increase the risk of violence and child marriage. Of the countries with published plans, only Paraguay, Seychelles, and Benin specified needed to build climate-resilient health systems, and only Dominica mentioned the need for contraception. Vietnam is the sole country to identify economic instability as a drier of child marriage. Climate change impacts demographics differently, and its unique harm towards women must be addressed in policy in order to reach a just future.

3 07, 2023

How India’s Women Adapt to A Hotter World

2025-03-27T16:21:03-04:00Tags: |

Women-run initiatives are leading the way in mitigating the impacts of extreme heat on India’s most vulnerable. Godavari Dange has worked for over 20 years with women farmers on sustainable climate initiatives through the nonprofit Swayam Shikshan Prayog. Women farmers are the most at risk of high temperatures, so they have developed an alternative farming model. Dange and her team devised a plan to encourage women farmers to grow seasonal, climate change-resilient crops rather than water-intensive cash crops and to avoid daytime farming, encouraging dawn and twilight work instead. In slums, cool roofs are helping in areas that experience temperatures of up to six degrees Celsius higher than surrounding neighborhoods. Bharti Ben, a slum resident, has seen her house temperature soar to 45 degrees Celsius, making her home unbearable. Mahila House Trust, a local nonprofit, painted Ben's roof with a white reflective paint which cooled her home by five to seven degrees Celsius. This is a relatively affordable solution, costing 33 euros per coat of paint. Heat deaths go largely unnoticed in India, so the work by these nonprofits are essential.

28 06, 2023

Climate crisis linked to rising domestic violence in South Asia, study finds

2025-03-27T13:39:26-04:00Tags: , , , |

Heat waves are on the rise and, according to a new study, so is domestic violence against women and girls. The research shows that for every 1°C increase in average annual temperature, there was a rise of more than 6.3% in physical and sexual domestic violence incidents in India, Pakistan, and Nepal. The study tracked almost 200,000 girls and women aged 15-49 for eight years, reporting on their experiences with emotional, physical, and sexual violence. The data overlaid temperature fluctuations over the same period. Excessive heat may lead to failing crops, collapsing infrastructure, crashing economies, and may render individuals unable to work, keeping them at home. The study also showed that while all income groups experienced an increase in heat-related violence, lower-income rural households faced the largest increase.

23 06, 2023

Why Women Are Especially Vulnerable During India’s Deadly Heat Waves

2024-02-23T13:20:50-05:00Tags: |

Extreme heat costs women like Bhanu ben Javad their health and livelihoods. Javad, who earns  the equivalent of 30 USD a month by threading beads into elaborate necklaces in her slum settlement of Vasant Nagar in the city of Ahmedabad, found it impossible to work as temperatures soared to 46°C (114°F). Working in this heat, Javad experiences intense headaches, nausea, vomiting, and reduced work capacity. Women like Javad make up 65% of the world’s home-based workforce, and there are 42 million home-based workers in India bearing the brunt of deadly South Asian heat waves. A report found that 43% of women faced a loss of income and increased caregiving duties as a result of extreme heat exposure. Experts warn that prolonged extreme temperatures could halt India’s work in reducing gender equality as it may exacerbate poverty. Ronita Bardhan, who co-authored a 2023 Cambridge study, found that since April 2022, 90% of India has been at increased risk from hunger, loss of income, or premature death due to the increasing days of extreme heat. She also notes that women are less likely to take protective measures from the heat, putting them at further risk. In response to the increase in extreme heat days, Ahmedabad became the first city to implement a Heat Action Plan in 2013, which has reduced the number of heat-related deaths by more than 1,000 annually. Additionally, several local collectives, such as the Self-Employed Women’s Association and Mahila Housing Trust, are trialing parametric solutions to provide workers with payouts on extreme heat days to compensate for lost incomes. Photo Credit: Santosh Kumar—Hindustan Times/Getty Images

21 06, 2023

‘Women bear the biggest brunt of climate change,’ says climate scientist Susan Chomba

2025-03-27T16:25:36-04:00Tags: |

Susan Chomba is the director of the food, land, and water programs in Africa through the World Resources Institute. She stands alone. Around 12% of the world’s top climate scientists are women, and less than one percent are from Africa – a continent that is continuously berated by climate change. Chomba advocates hard for those most often overlooked: farmers, elders, and women. Climate science has taken on a masculine perspective – focusing heavily on new technologies and innovation, ignoring the perspectives of others; of women and of communities. Chomba notes there is an urgent need for community-driven innovation and specificity in climate plans, citing the Kenyan President’s plan to plant 15 billion trees by 2032, which fails to mention where, which species, for what purpose, and who will maintain them. Chomba’s background in poverty informs everything she does, how she leads her division, and how she practices climate science. Her hard work and underrepresented perspectives demonstrate why it is so important for women and diverse communities to be involved in climate leadership.

17 06, 2023

Guest Article: Climate Response for Drylands Must Include Women | SDG Knowledge Hub | IISD

2025-02-14T12:51:28-05:00Tags: , |

The drylands, holding 40% of the world’s population, are feeling the force of climate change—and women are being hit the hardest. Dryland landscapes and communities are suffering immensely from more frequent and extended drought conditions. In these already water stricken regions, women typically bear the brunt of food and water related work, including gathering and distributing. Under drier conditions, women need to walk farther for water. These changes are resulting in decreased time for livelihood generation and education, increasing their future economic vulnerability and excluding them from resources. Despite their essential contributions, land laws, social norms, and local policies have barred women from decision making and land owning, diminishing their ability to access and control natural resources. In the Middle East and North Africa Region, for example, women make up just 10% of environmental ministers. When women’s voices are excluded, their conditions are erased and they are put in more danger when disaster comes. Thus, increasing women’s involvement in decision making around dryland forests and pastoral regions creates more informed, gender responsive, and effective policies. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has teamed up with WeCaN, a platform of women’s organizations working together to bring change to the dryland regions, to share these stories and uplift women in climate policy.

9 06, 2023

In New York City, Sepia-Toned Days Drive Home Climate Change Realities

2025-03-30T23:24:24-04:00Tags: |

In New York City, author Candice Helfand-Rogers sheds light on the disproportionate impacts of climate change on women and children. She describes how she, as a mother, witnessed the effects of smoky air and poor air quality on herself and her son due to wildfires hundreds of miles away. By recounting her son's questions and their confinement at home, she illustrates the immediate and tangible impacts of climate change on their daily lives. Through personal experiences and observations, she highlights the effects of the air pollution caused by the fires, emphasizing the challenges faced by women and children. The article explores the disruption of education and childcare during climate-related events and recognizes women’s resilience in navigating these situations. It acknowledges that women often bear a greater burden of responsibilities, such as childcare, and are disproportionately affected by issues like food and water scarcity and lack of shelter during extreme weather events. Helfand-Rogers also touches on the issue of environmental racism, where marginalized communities face heightened dangers from climate change. The article emphasizes the need for women’s involvement in decision-making and action calls for collective responsibility in addressing climate change.

29 05, 2023

India: How Is Climate Change Impacting Menstrual Health?

2025-03-06T00:48:17-05:00Tags: |

Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of natural disasters globally, leading to mass displacements. In India, floods and cyclones are driving communities out of their homes to seek refuge in camps. In 2020, Super Cyclone Amphan struck India’s coast, forcing around 800 people into a camp. 28-year old Suchitra Jana was one of the individuals staying at this camp, where she would have to queue for hours to use the bathroom or access water. Due to a lack of access to water or sanitary products, women like Jana had to use pieces of cloth as a substitute for days on end with no place to wash or dry the material. For Jana, this led to the development of a painful vaginal infection that lasted around 7 months. These ordeals transcend the campsites, as Mamu Das, a resident of the Assam area which was heavily impacted by floods in 2022, explains. After the flood wreaked havoc on her family’s livelihoods, she became unable to afford sanitary napkins and had to borrow them from shopkeepers to be repaid later. Sobhan Mukherjee, a menstrual health activist, explains that because chronic diseases are prioritized at camps in the wake of a natural disaster, women often suffer in silence when it comes to menstrual health. Even when women do speak up, they often need to travel long distances to the state’s capital in order to receive adequate treatment.

24 05, 2023

[Book Review] A deep dive into the imbalances of climate justice in India

2025-03-27T16:14:46-04:00Tags: |

Climate Justice in India is a 288-page collection of articles covering various topics, such as intersectionality, environment, social justice, and women’s rights, focusing on the question: “Who is impacted the most by climate upheavals and why?”. The book highlights that the nexus of climate change and socioeconomic inequities underscore climate injustices. The most impacted populations are the poor, women, caste oppressed communities, and other marginalized groups. While 75 million people have been pushed further into poverty since COVID-19, India has also declared 55 new billionaires. Renewable energy, a focus of India’s energy expansion, is favoring private industry while its policies are ignoring marginalized groups, including women, in its distribution goals. India’s climate action policy fails to address climate injustices and increasing inequalities. Women have long advocated for water and fuel accessibility as the current distribution is incredibly inequitable; as water and forest biomass availability decrease due to climate change, women will be hit even harder. Dalit women and menstruating women are denied access to “pure” water sources. Dalit women often reuse wastewater or are subjected to sexual and physical violence while attempting to collect water. Climate justice in India must address existing social injustices to avoid further entrenching them.

7 05, 2023

In Coastal Bangladesh, Climate Change Devastates Women’s Reproductive Health

2025-03-06T00:45:04-05:00Tags: |

Satkhira is a southwestern region of Bangladesh in which the majority of residents rely on local rivers to survive. However, these crucial freshwaters are being contaminated by salt water from the nearby Bay of Bengal as a consequence of rising sea levels and increasing occurrences of natural disasters like floods and cyclones. While the entire community relies on rivers and ponds for drinking, eating, and bathing, the increased exposure to salt water is disproportionately impacting women and exacerbating pre-existing gender inequalities. Fatima Idris Eva, a local medical professional, reports witnessing these impacts firsthand, noting a growing number of women suffering from reproductive health issues—particularly those working long hours fishing and cleaning in wet conditions. Asma Akhter is one of these many women, having needed a hysterectomy following the birth of her child due to issues which doctors have attributed to salt water exposure. According to local midwife Shefali Bibi, Akhter is not alone in this, with countless women experiencing pregnancy complications and requiring abortions for the same reason. If action is not taken, scientists estimate that almost 20% of Bangladesh may be submerged by 2050, with women impacted first and worst by the consequences of this. 

4 04, 2023

The Sustainable Climate Future Belongs To Women

2025-03-06T00:47:00-05:00Tags: , |

Zainab Salbi, co-founder of the environmental nonprofit organization Daughters for Earth, is bringing attention to the lack of acknowledgement and financial support received by women-led organizations, where incredible work and innovations are being held back by lack of funding. Women making practical changes behind the scenes continually go unnoticed. They are neglected in philanthropic donations, with the majority of this money going to the 20 largest, predominantly male-led, organizations. With numerous large technology-based projects in motion, attention must finally be given to crucial smaller-scale projects such as Filha do Sol—a women-led effort to restore degraded mangrove forests in Northwest Brazil. With adequate funding, this project could prevent the release of 42,177,836 tons of carbon into the atmosphere, as well as improve the livelihoods of local communities who depend on these forests for their food and income. To help scale-up and maximize the impact of projects like this, Daughters for Earth is raising and deploying $100 million to women-led environmental projects across the globe.

13 03, 2023

Strengthening climate justice in Somaliland: The role of ADR centres

2025-03-27T14:50:20-04:00Tags: |

Somaliland is facing extreme climate risk and confronts challenges such as periods of extended drought, flash floods, erratic rainfall, disruption to the monsoon seasons, cyclones, sandstorms, and dust storms. The women of Somaliland are unduly impacted by these events and their associated externalities. Droughts, especially recent droughts, displace women from their communities, pushing them into internally displaced persons camps in urban areas which tend to be overcrowded, have high disease risk, and are low on resources. Women in these camps are also more likely to face gender-based violence and more likely to be forced into sex work. Water scarcity places a further burden on women as they may have to travel great distances on foot to gather water for the household. Climate change also increases the rates of malnutrition, impacting pregnant and breastfeeding mothers due to food scarcity caused by a loss of livestock. In addition, the impacts of climate change often cause the deterioration of small women-owned businesses as they deplete their cash reserves, if they have any, to pay for necessities in times of crisis. This makes it more difficult for them to achieve financial stability or independence and causing them to be reliant on others, increasing their vulnerability. Women in Somaliland are at extreme risk and are the first to be displaced and affected as they do not have the resources to respond adequately to the crisis.

13 02, 2023

Sudan’s Water Crisis And The Women Fighting Back

2025-04-19T00:18:47-04:00Tags: |

In White Nile State, Sudan, rainfall is an unpredictable and increasingly rare occurrence. Nima Elmassad, a farmer in the Um Naam Um village, has seen first-hand the impacts of increasing aridity from climate change, conflict, and heightened water consumption from intensive agriculture. Having to travel longer distances to reach water has resulted in all but one of her children being forced to leave school to support the farm, the harvest of which is half what it was ten years ago. However, in 2018, the village established a development committee tasked with understanding the local impacts of climate change and brainstorming possible mitigation and adaptation methods. The committee was required to have at least 30% of the board represented by women. Projects were carried out to engage local women, including constructing a water reservoir to store rainfall in the wet season, planting drought-resistant seeds, and planting shady fruit trees. The women involved have expanded this work organically by spreading awareness of alternative methods of farming and drought-resistant seeds throughout the locality.

31 01, 2023

Women Are On The Frontlines Of Climate Change But Not At The Negotiation Table

2025-03-06T00:50:11-05:00Tags: |

Women are continually being underrepresented in climate change discussions, with only seven of the 110 officials leading discussions at COP27 being female. This exclusion of women reflects a failure to commit to achieving gender equality at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, where men occupied 61% of membership positions involved in decision-making. At COP27, women accounted for only 35.6% of participation, marking a decline from recent years, in spite of many of these organisations claiming to recognise the crucial role of women in addressing climate change. Women are currently bearing the worst of the impacts of climate change and their representation is vital in climate discussions. Findings show that when women and marginalised groups are included in decision-making, better climate policy and social equity is achieved. Furthermore, data from McKinsey states that organisations with greater gender diversity on executive teams are 25% more likely to have higher profitability. It is therefore imperative for social and climate justice that women are properly represented at the negotiation table.

3 01, 2023

Climate Change Puts More Women At Risk For Domestic Violence

2025-03-06T00:51:50-05:00Tags: |

Multiple studies have established a clear link between climate change and violence against women, with a global review of over 40 studies published in The Lancet revealing a rise in gender-based violence during or after extreme weather events. However, Nitya Rao, a professor of gender and development at University of East Anglia, highlights that this has been hard to capture in statistics due to the complex factors involved, and thus not given adequate weight. However, recent research established that there had been a 60% increase in domestic violence in Kenya during extreme weather. Scientists find that rather than directly causing violence, extreme weather exacerbates other drivers of violence by increasing existing pressures or making violence easier to carry out. The authors of this article shed light on the stories of numerous women across the globe who have experienced increases in abuse as a result of climate change. These women explain how natural disasters have put them in dangerous domestic situations which required many of them to flee their homes.

6 10, 2022

Deep-Rooted Gender Inequities Make Women More Vulnerable During Climate Disasters

2023-12-04T16:22:25-05:00Tags: |

Nabila Feroz critically examines the social and economic conditions that impact women and historically underserved groups during disasters. She informs policy makers and communities in understanding the necessity for disaster response and prevention. Feroz found that in the event of disaster, the likelihood of fatal casualties occuring is 14 times higher for women and children than for men. Taking the floods in Pakistan as an example, she lists the social determinants of health and wellbeing that place women at increased risk in disaster situations. These factors include limited access to resources such as education, healthcare, economic circumstances, and cultural barriers. Women in Pakistan were not fully equipped with skills such as navigation, self-defense, or swimming which made it much harder for them to successfully evacuate. Many women in Pakistan are also not able to leave their homes without a male companion or permission from elders, so they have limited experience navigating dilemmas outside of the home. In camps, they are subjected to violence and lack health care that meets their needs, such as menstrual resources and infrastructure for birth. These are only some of the compounding and intersectional challenges that women and children face. Policy makers must take special care to include womens’ concerns in their solutions. Photo Credit: Asianet-Pakistan/Shutterstock

3 10, 2022

African Women Unite On Frontlines Of Climate Crisis

2023-07-30T13:08:43-04:00Tags: |

The West and Central African Women’s Climate Assembly met in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria in October 2022. The assembly brought together women from across the continent to bring forth solutions and to build solidarity for the unique challenges they face. Participants included women across movements: forestry, oil and mining resistance, fisheries, energy and infrastructure, and more. Africa, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, has contributed minimally to the climate crisis, but has faced the most environmental destruction in its wake. Along with increasing temperatures, disease levels, and food insecurity, an estimated 86 million Africans will have to migrate within their countries to evade climate disasters by 2050. African women are particularly vulnerable to these changes as they are primarily responsible for food, water, household needs, general domestic care, and caring for those who are sick. Their needs are often being overlooked by the enforcement of oil, gas, and other detrimental projects. These women are coming together and fighting for African government officials and the global community, particularly the Global North, to recognize and reconcile the effects of their projects on the developing world. Photo credit: EnviroNews Nigeria

23 08, 2022

South Sudanese Women Are Going Beyond Gender Norms To Cope With Multiple Crises

2025-03-06T00:59:26-05:00Tags: |

South Sudan is facing a number of crises including civil conflict, natural disasters, and gender violence, with women being disproportionately impacted by this. The United Nations Refugee Agency has estimated that 83% of South Sudanese refugees displaced by conflict and climate disasters are women and children. War and conflict have allowed sexual violence to increase, while climate change and crop failures have left women highly vulnerable to food insecurity as their caregiving roles lead them to be low priority when it comes to food portioning. Additionally, cultural factors such as male dominance in decision-making and finances create further challenges for women in coping with these crises. Marisa O. Ensor attests to how these women are taking action to combat the issues the country is facing despite the constraints of gender norms in the region. Women are supporting each other, particularly victims of sexual and gender-based violence, through therapy, community support, and livelihood schemes. In order to do this, they have begun seeking typically masculine jobs such as fishing which provide the income needed for women to support themselves and their community. In addition, South Sudanese women have actively pushed to be included in efforts to combat civil unrest. Female negotiators were central to producing the 2018 peace agreement and enacting a quota ensuring that 35% of government representatives are women, creating roles for female employment in this sector. South Sudanese women have continued to take strides towards improving their country, pushing for new establishments to increase government accountability and help bring justice to survivors.

8 08, 2022

Advocating for women-led climate justice in Nepal

2025-10-17T17:20:04-04:00Tags: |

Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis. In Nepal, where the climate crisis actively threatens the economy and society, women, girls, and Indigenous communities are particularly vulnerable. Gender inequality is deeply ingrained in Nepalese society. These circumstances worsen as access to health facilities and resources such as clean water are increasingly difficult to come by. During periods of drought or heavy rains when crops are destroyed, women have to go into the jungle to get water which puts them at higher risk of gender-based violence. They also have less access to health and safety resources when disasters hit. To combat this, it is necessary to include women in community preparation and support their leadership. This is a necessary step not only for protecting their rights and wellbeing, but also for creating sustainable pathways and communities for future generations.

28 02, 2022

Gender-Based Violence And The Climate Crisis: An Obstacle To Climate-Resilient Communities

2025-03-06T00:56:14-05:00Tags: |

Climate change poses a grave threat to human rights due to its tendency to exacerbate already present inequalities globally. A significant inequality that receives relatively little attention is the impacts of climate change on women, particularly in terms of gender-based violence. Climate disasters Furthermore, these women often do not have access to the economic resources needed to stay afloat if their jobs are impacted by a climate disaster. This often leads to women having to seek illegal, and often environmentally-damaging, work such as logging, illicit crop cultivation, and wildlife trafficking. Research shows that involvement in such activities also increases cases of sexual exploitation particularly for women. Alternatively, women may seek refuge in camps which also have a tendency to make women vulnerable to gender-based violence. Finally, in many of these communities there is a reliance on women to provide food for their families, and when climate change impacts this, the resulting stress and frustration can exacerbate domestic violence. Research also shows that gender-based violence has been used to intimidate and prevent women from making land claims which creates further environmental consequences by making the region less resilient to future climate disasters. This article highlights how the effects of climate change on women constitute a negative feedback loop where its impacts drive further environmentally detrimental practices and harm women.

14 01, 2022

Selina Leem, 18 year old from Marshall Islands, speaks at final COP21 plenary

2022-05-14T15:58:09-04:00Tags: |

Selina Leem, an 18-year-old woman from the Marshall Islands, gives a captivating speech about the impacts of climate change on her native coastal lands during the closing ceremony of the COP21 climate change talks in Paris in 2015. This young leader shares the symbolism of the coconut leaf in the tradition of her ancestors and how she hopes to be able to pass this down to her children and grandchildren in the future. Leem calls for this to be a global turning point where leaders take responsibility for climate change and strive to create a sustainable world. Video credit: 350.org

2 12, 2021

What It’s Like When a Climate Disaster Permanently Alters Your Life

2025-03-27T14:35:58-04:00Tags: |

Climate disasters quickly leave the news cycles after the immediate threat is gone, but the story doesn’t stop there. While national attention might leave the affected areas, citizens must deal with ongoing emotional, physical, and financial issues—usually without government and corporate assistance. Amdynn Isbrid (he/she/they) from Portland, Oregon, lived through the West Coast fires in September 2020. Despite working outside with the Air Quality Index (AQI) measuring up to 477 micrograms per cubic millimeter, neither Isbrid nor their coworkers received any PPE. In the wake of the fires, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) denied 70% of claims from Oregon residents and 86% of claims by Californians. The automated, complex FEMA application process, designed to protect against fraudulent claims, prevented people from accessing needed aid. Gina (she/her) from Chico, California, lost everything in the Camp Fire that tore through Northern California in November 2018. Eighty-six people in Paradise, California perished. While Gina was a homeowner and received an insurance settlement, renters or those without insurance coverage were not so lucky. Macy Callais (she/her) is from Lockport, Louisiana. Hurricane Ida destroyed her home. Initially, Callais thought she would be eligible for FEMA assistance, but FEMA denied her claim because she was a renter. Orville Black (any pronouns), from River Falls, Wisconsin, experienced intense rainstorms on their family farm. Water washed away car-sized hay bales and pigs, and waterlogged tractors and farm equipment. Because the farm is in a flood zone, Black and their family constantly worry about the possibility of another extreme weather event. Gabriela Ramos-Tavárez (she/her) is from Atlanta, GA. Ramos-Tavárez’s room flooded through her closed window because of Hurricane Maria’s intense winds. The heat and humidity in Ramos-Tavárez’s caused mold to grow over her entire bedroom. Despite Ramos-Tavárez’s father’s preparedness, they lack enough batteries, cash, food, and gasoline. The indifference from the national government cost Puerto Rico greatly. The local government mismanaged any funds it did receive.

2 12, 2021

How Bangladesh Is Beating The Odds On Climate Disaster Deaths

2025-03-06T00:57:44-05:00Tags: |

Bangladesh has faced numerous climate disasters over the years, such as cyclones, droughts, and floods. Disasters like the 1970 Cyclone Bhola caused up to 500,000 deaths. However, Bangladesh has since reduced cyclone-related mortality by over 100 fold.  This article outlines a research initiative to discover how high-risk countries like Bangladesh are able to mitigate disaster-related deaths. One finding was that Bangladesh sets aside a greater portion of its money for the purpose of responding to climate-related issues compared to other developing countries, with over 7% of the country’s national budget being designated for climate change from 2021-2022. Another key effort made by Bangladesh has been increasing monitoring efforts, now having over 50 weather stations and radars, as well as communication efforts with effective targeted text messages and disaster alerts to allow preparation for these disasters. Deaths have been further reduced by an increasing number of female volunteers who aid in evacuation and sheltering procedures. Improvements and creation of new shelters have also reduced mortality by 75% between 1990 and 2015, with these shelters accommodating separate female and male areas as well as areas for animals. However, climate change continues to drastically impact Bangladesh through destroying livelihoods in terms of displacement, economic losses and crop failures which will require additional efforts to prevent and mitigate.

5 11, 2021

Female Equality Is Key to A Sustainable Future

2022-05-14T16:44:54-04:00Tags: |

Since women across Asia and Africa are often responsible for supplying their households with water, food and fuel, the path towards a sustainable world requires, in part, full gender equality. But the effects of climate change, in conjunction with natural disasters, make women’s lives that much harder. For instance, when Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines, a result was the increased sexual exploitation of women and girls. After Hurricane Katrina struck the United States, violence against women increased by a factor of four in Mississippi and remained high years later. Women are however continuing to pursue the ideal of a sustainable world. In Kenya, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai initiated a massive tree-planting effort that became known as the Greenbelt Movement. More than 5,000 village women in Andra Pradesh, working with the Deccan Development Society, transitioned to organic farming, greatly reducing the carbon impact of agriculture. It is clear that empowering women is key to tackling climate change. Photo credit: Adam Jones

23 09, 2021

Caste and Climate Change

2025-03-27T16:37:46-04:00Tags: , , , , |

Caste-oppressed women in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal suffer from the silent violence of segregation and discrimination, putting them at extreme risk from the climate crisis. Dalits, members of the most oppressed caste, are more vulnerable to climate-related impacts because of their marginalized social position, the locations of their home in the periphery of communities, being historically limited to hazardous occupations, and lack of land rights. Dalit women are even more vulnerable. They are systematically excluded and oppressed, lagging in many human development markers, and lacking equal resources putting them at a higher chance of being subjected to multiple forms of violence. More than 15 Dalit women and girls are raped and sexually assaulted every day, as of what is reported. A woman’s caste position increases her risk of mortality due to a lack of sanitation and water. Dalit women die, on average, 14.6 years before dominant caste women. Climate change is exacerbating these existing vulnerabilities as resources, such as water, become scarce. In rural areas, the dominant castes are not allowing Dalit women to use government-provided hand pumps to access water, assaulting those who do amid a water crisis. Dalit women furthermore lack legal and community protection, making them extremely vulnerable to climate stressors.

6 07, 2021

Intersectionality: A Tool for Gender and Economic Justice

2021-07-06T17:19:22-04:00Tags: |

Intersectionality is an analytical tool for studying, understanding and responding to the ways in which gender intersects with other identities and how these intersections contribute to unique experiences of oppression and privilege. It also helps in understanding how different identities impact on access to rights and opportunities and also links the grounds of discrimination (e.g. race, gender, etc.) to the social, economic, political and legal environment that contributes to discrimination. Most importantly, it highlights how globalization and economic change are impacting different people in different ways.

6 07, 2021

How Indoor Pollution Affects Women & Children

2021-07-06T17:01:25-04:00Tags: |

Indoor air quality and pollutants are today recognised as a potential source of health risks, with women and children being the main victims. While children’s physical characteristics make them more vulnerable to the effects of indoor health pollution with immediate and long-term health consequences, women in countries like India do all the cooking (with their children) and spend more time indoors. It is important to create awareness by educating people about the serious threat indoor pollution poses to health and well-being, in order to reduce exposure with better kitchen management and efforts to protect children. Photo credit: Chinky Shukla/ CSE

6 07, 2021

Small-Scale Women Seaweed Farmers Ride the Rough Tides of Climate Change

2021-07-06T15:01:13-04:00Tags: |

On the Philippine island of Palawan, traditionally, fishing has been the means of support for most inhabitants. Over the last twenty years, because of climate change and a variety of other factors, fish are no longer as abundant as they once were. Local women, who were previously largely homemakers, have responded to this difficult situation by taking up seaweed farming. The revenue offered by this endeavor has been a welcome addition to household incomes. But climate change is also already affecting the viability of seaweed farms. The women farmers are rising to the challenge by improving seaweed harvesting and drying methods, using better tools and developing early warning systems for typhoons. Photo credit: Mongabay

3 03, 2021

Making Women’s Voices Count – Addressing Gender Issues In Disaster Risk Management In East Asia And The Pacific

2021-03-03T19:51:19-05:00Tags: |

This guidance note, aimed at world bank staff, clients and development partners active in gender and disaster risk management, provides an overview of the links between gender and disaster risk management. Natural disasters in the East Asia and the Pacific (EAP) region reveal gender inequalities in higher mortality rates for women rather than men. Gender-blind policies and responses perpetuate and increase inequalities for the female population and other vulnerable groups. Therefore, the guidance offers gender-sensitive strategies, recommendations and resources for the design and implementation of gender perspectives across a spectrum of disaster risk management policies, including plans and decision-making processes, recovery strategies, education and training. The gender-sensitive strategy is three-fold: use appropriate gender terminology; ensure equal gender representation in planning and consultation processes; train gender champions and female leaders to mainstream gender-equal institutional initiatives.

16 02, 2021

Get To The Bricks: The Experiences Of Black Women Foom New Orleans Public Housing After Hurricane Katrina

2021-02-16T20:43:53-05:00Tags: |

The report explores the experiences of almost 200 black women who were living in “The Big Four”- four large housing projects within the city of New Orleans - when Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005. They were displaced from their prior homes due to the hurricane and the closure and demolition of the public housing units. This case shows that the experiences of black women in public housing were not taken into consideration when developing a plan for post-Katrina recovery. U.S. policies were implemented in a manner that took away opportunities, supports, and infrastructures from low-income women and their families most in need of a reliable safety net as they sought to recover from a catastrophic set of disasters and endure the Great Recession. Including the various experiences and voices of these women in the policy discussion going forward will ensure that future disasters do not perpetuate the marginalization of the most disadvantaged members of our communities.

8 09, 2020

California Wildfires: Intersecting Crises & How To Respond

2020-09-09T22:23:23-04:00Tags: |

During a public health crisis centered around a respiratory disease, the last thing we need is more pollution that worsens respiratory problems and deepens already disproportionately higher risks of COVID-19 for Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities. While getting real about the root issues is urgently important, millions of Californians are being forced to deal with the immediate task of safety and survival. Greenpeace created a California Wildfire Crisis Emergency Response Guide to help communities stay safe and healthy during these uncertain times. Photo Credit: David McNew / Greenpeace

4 07, 2020

Climate Justice In The Time Of COVID-19: 5 Lessons From Women And Girls Leading The Fight

2020-09-08T22:13:16-04:00Tags: |

During the World Skull Forum, an intergenerational and intercultural panel of women climate activists hosted a webinar on the lessons we can learn during the COVID-19 crisis in order to pave the way for a green recovery and a just transition. Notwithstanding its drastic negative impacts, the current pandemic has also proven the capability of the global community for changing behaviour quickly and profoundly in the face of a serious crisis. Therefore, the panelists urged for the climate crisis to be taken just as seriously, underlining the importance of science and traditional knowledge, human behaviour and collaboration. Photo Credit: Skoll Foundation & Rockefeller Foundation

22 06, 2020

Heat and Racism Threaten Birth Outcomes for Women of Color

2025-03-27T14:44:07-04:00Tags: |

Climate change-induced heat disproportionately affects pregnant women. Those who work outside, can’t access air conditioning, or who are Black or Hispanic are at greater risk of harm as these women tend to face long and unmitigated exposure to intense temperatures. In communities of color, heat drives high rates of premature deliveries and stillbirths. Black women are three to four times as likely to die from a pregnancy-related complication than White women. Indigenous women are twice as likely to die than White women. Racism, rather than race, is the risk factor in pregnancy complications. Coupled with climate change-induced heat, the risk of chronic disease, obesity, maternal mortality, and low birth rates increases. In California, for every 10-degree temperature increase, preterm deliveries increased by 8.6%, with a higher rate in communities of color. Pregnant women who are unable to avoid the heat may face severe cases of dehydration. Public health and environmental justice initiatives must understand these risk factors to protect communities.

9 06, 2020

For People On The Front Lines Of Climate Change And Conflict, COVID-19 Is A New Challenge

2020-09-18T18:05:46-04:00Tags: |

The United Nations (UN) is conducting a pilot project in Al Rahad, Sudan as part of the Joint Programme for Women Natural Resources, Climate, and Peace. The community in Al Rahad has been arduously facing climate change induced environmental degradation, such as severe droughts, that has given rise to natural resource conflicts. The Programme aims at tackling those issues through three main initiatives. Firstly, strengthening the role of women in local governance and decision making. Secondly, promoting the integration of women in the resolution of natural resource conflicts. Lastly, addressing women’s economic empowerment by ensuring climate resilient livelihoods. The UN led programme has had notable success. Since its introduction, the perception among the Al Rahad community of the importance of the role of women in decision-making has doubled, and women are significantly more involved in conflict resolution processes. Furthermore, nearly 90% of the women participants experienced an increase in their income.

14 04, 2020

Female-led, Island-based Solutions To Climate Change

2020-12-02T21:46:27-05:00Tags: |

Women in different Small Island Development States are taking action to prevent and tackle the impacts of climate change and the resultant vulnerability to natural disasters on their coast. Since most of them depend on the incomes from agriculture and fishery, they are leading community-based initiatives associated primarily with securing water supply and coastline protection, as well as environmental education and social support. Photo credit: Manuth Buth/UNDP Cambodia

30 01, 2019

How To Break Down Discrimination Barriers For Women In Agriculture

2019-04-13T16:19:28-04:00Tags: |

New research is finding that gender discrimination across Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa, and Americas, is being felt by at least half of the women farmers in agriculture. The survey involved 4000 women working in seventeen high-, medium-, and low-income countries in a range of roles and types of farming businesses. It aimed to understand the experience of women farmers today, their lives and their concerns, in order to establish a foundation from which to evaluate future growth. In order to break down the discrimination obstacles for women in agriculture, the results of the survey pointed to training female farmers to use new technologies, dismantling financial obstacles, improving academic education (in contrary to narrowly focussed training), and raising public awareness of the key role women play in agriculture, specifically as key actors in their communities and families in providing food and nutrition. Photo credit: Corteva Agriscience

11 01, 2019

Air Pollution ‘As Bad As Smoking In Increasing Risk of Miscarriage’

2020-09-02T20:51:19-04:00Tags: |

A recent study, the first to focus on the effects of short-term exposure to pollution by women in urban areas, has found that air pollution is just as bad as smoking for pregnant women when it comes to increasing their risk of miscarriage. The findings of the study mention that air pollution is already known to harm foetuses by increasing the risk of premature birth and low birth weight. But this recent research found pollution particles in placentas. Rising levels of nitrogen dioxide emissions around the world has increased the risk of losing a pregnancy by 16%. Researchers compare it to how the increased risk of tobacco smoke in a woman’s first trimester can result in pregnancy loss. They recommend the best course of action is to cut the overall levels of pollution in urban areas. While they also recommend pregnant women to avoid exertion on polluted days and consider buying indoor filters, they recognize that in the developing countries, these are luxuries many can’t afford. Photo credit: Rex/Shutterstock

21 12, 2018

Overfishing Threatens Malawi’s Blue Economy

2020-10-05T17:08:23-04:00Tags: |

Despite once providing bustling profits for fishing families, Lake Malawi — one of Africa’s largest lakes — suffers from overfishing and women in Malawi are feeling the brunt of this. The fishing industry employs close to 300,000 Malawi workers and fishers, but fish are no longer being found in abundance. Stiff competition from fishermen is drastically depleting fish levels. The fish that are now being found are smaller and priced higher, reducing the profitability of a market that used to flourish in the past. Women who used to buy fish cheaply and trade it for more, are then forced to buy from fishermen, who have also been pushed out of business, at increased prices. Moreover, they are no longer able to provide local fish as a cheap protein to their families because overfishing has left women under tight restraint. Thankfully successful community efforts have been rallied around creating bylaws that would close down the lake for a temporary amount of time to promote lake health. And it appears these laws put in place were working — a man was hit with a hefty fine for fishing on the lake when it was close. Photo credit: Mabvuto Banda

18 11, 2018

Violence against women rooted in conflict over land

2025-03-27T16:51:12-04:00Tags: |

[TW: Sexual violence]. For the first time, on February 26, 2016, a Guatemalan court convicted two military officers of wartime sexual violence and the sexual slavery of 15 Maya Q’eqchi women 30 years prior. A report by ECAP presented the story of the women’s struggle in Sepur Zarco Guatemala in a book titled Clamor for Justice: Sexual Violence, Armed Conflict, and Land Dispossion. The report provided the background for the legal investigation that allowed the affected women and feminist groups to push forward. At its core, the political violence in the 1980s and 1990s was about land and inequalities. Currently, only 2% of landowners own half of all Guatemalan land. 45% of landowners own 3% of land, and women only own 16% of that 3% – a very small percentage demonstrating their struggle for land rights. In a military base near Sepur Zarco, troops committed countless murders and rapes, burned property, and forced women into both domestic and sexual slavery, leaving behind trauma and social stigma. Brave women pushed past the stigma and brought their case to the court. Through their efforts, two officers were sentenced to 120 and 240 years in prison. The work to bring justice to these women and their families continues. The courage shown by those women has propelled other women in other Latin American countries to come forward and fight for justice.

15 10, 2018

The Power of Rural Women To Reduce Global Food Insecurity And Cut Emissions

2020-11-20T17:58:24-05:00Tags: |

Santona Rani, President of the Rajpur Women’s Federation, is working to increase climate and community resilience in her flood-prone area of Tajpur, Lalmonirhat in northern Bangladesh. Climate change is increasing the detrimental effects on crops and productivity. Her organisation is made up of twenty groups that work to assist 500 vulnerable and marginalized women. It works alongside ActionAid’s Promoting Opportunities for Women Empowerment and Rights (POWER) to boost independence through sustainable agriculture that fosters climate resilience. They also work to address the unjust gender roles that exist within the society; aiming to increase income and recognise the amount of work women do, provide training around leadership, women’s rights, financial aspects, sustainable farming and communication skills, as well as endeavour to prevent violence against women. Their work is community based, and involves interactive theatre shows, informative leaflets, and a seed bank and grain store that protects against the damages of flooding or natural disasters. Photo credit: ActionAid.

26 08, 2018

From The Ground Up: An Exploration Of Energy Empowerment

2018-08-26T15:20:07-04:00Tags: |

Across the world, most notably in developing Asian countries and sub-Saharan Africa, roughly 1.2 billion people do not have access to reliable energy. A lack of energy sources is directly related to global poverty, and it has been estimated that 70 percent of the world’s poorest are female. Because women, particularly in Asia and Africa, are tasked with feeding and caring for their families, experts maintain that energy access and poverty must be examined through a gendered lens. Indeed, when energy sources are not readily available, women are often tasked with either walking miles to find wood or purchasing cheap kerosene lamps despite their documented health and safety risks. The links become clearer still once energy and health care are considered. Across the world, an estimated 800 women die every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Ninety-nine percent of these deaths occur in developing countries, and a lack of energy access only exacerbates the problem. Several entrepreneurial groups led by women, such as Solar Sisters, have been bringing light and empowerment to some of Tanzania’s most rural villages and becoming community leaders in the process. Photo credit: Various Pressures & Simon Black

4 08, 2018

Environmental Toxins Are Seen As Posing Risks During Pregnancy

2020-12-02T21:37:25-05:00Tags: |

In recent years, maternal-fetal medicine has responded to the risk that environmental toxins pose to pregnancy, calling for action to identify and reduce exposure to toxic environmental agents while addressing the consequences of such exposure. However, despite increasing awareness, a recent survey suggests that most doctors don’t discuss exposure to pollutants with their pregnant patients. While chemicals are virtually impossible to avoid completely, people can reduce contact with some of the most harmful and common toxins to prevent harmful consequences on fetal development, a critical window of human development. Initiatives like Project TENDR, Toxic Matters and SafetyNest, offer practical recommendations to prevent exposure. Photo credit: iStock

3 08, 2018

The State of Funding for Women’s Environmental Action

2024-09-16T09:25:21-04:00Tags: |

Women are at the forefront of addressing the climate crisis, however a report by Global Greengrants Fund and Prospera International Network of Women’s Funds reveals that only 0.2% of all foundation funding focuses explicitly on women and the environment. The study found that most founders currently supporting women and the environment show limited engagement with less than one-third of funders awarding more than one grant and only eight giving more than $1 million dollars. Agriculture and food security issue areas received the highest amount of support. This study serves as a call to action for increased investment in women and the environment by getting resources to those most affected by environmental damage and those on the front lines of climate change mitigation. Funding cannot be gender blind.

13 05, 2018

Fodder Seeds: Empowering Women And Closing Gaps In Afghanistan

2018-08-26T13:50:06-04:00Tags: |

The International Center for Agriculture Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA), CSIRO and Murdoch University, organized a week-long workshop for small-scale crop and livestock production farmers from the water-scarce regions of Afghanistan, in Amman, Jordan. The workshop focused on training female farmers in plant propagation, forage seed production, nursery management, and enterprise development. The participants included gender knowledge facilitators, women farmers, members of cooperatives, women savings groups from Baghlan province of Afghanistan, and members from Agha Khan Foundation. The participants visited a nursery run by Jordanian women which encouraged them to go back, promote and share the technical knowledge they received during the workshop to their fellow Afghan farmers and are planning on establishing their own nursery run completely by women. The participants were keen on developing equal opportunities for women especially in the forage value chains, which is largely dominated by male farmers.  Photo Credit:  Mounir Louhaichi

7 05, 2018

Hurricane Maria Made Me a Climate Refugee

2025-03-27T16:56:47-04:00Tags: |

Agnes M. Torres Rivera was one of thousands of Puerto Ricans who were displaced by Hurricane Maria in 2017. She is now displaced in Connecticut, USA alongside 2,200 other Puerto Ricans. As a graduate student, Torres Rivera couldn’t rely on the electricity or internet to assist her in her degree, and the island is facing extreme economic turmoil. Climate change has torn apart her life and the lives of so many others, including Yara Vazquez, a mother of three, and Merelys Torres who had to climb to the second story of her mother’s home to escape the flooding that eviscerated her neighborhood. Increased frequency and intensity of hurricanes is not the only signifier that climate change has arrived. Puerto Rican fishermen report that fish have become scarcer each year. Torres Rivera blames the Trump Administration and the former EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt, for putting Puerto Ricans and Americans at further risk of climate change impacts due to their consistent roll backs and disinterest in environmental protections. Six months after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico continued to suffer from the second largest power outage in the world on record, which caused $90 billion in damages, a lack of safe water, and thousands displaced.

2 05, 2018

75% Of World’s Seeds Are Preserved By Small Farmers, Mostly Women

2019-04-13T16:23:35-04:00Tags: |

Lim Li Ching’s new report on agroecology highlights the crucial role small women farmers play in preserving indigenous varieties or landraces of main food crops. However, their role expands beyond the preservation of indigenous seeds, and women also process, distribute, and market food, as well as act as key holders of knowledge around seeds, agricultural biodiversity, and agroecology technologies. Parul Begum knew that indigenous strains of rice would result in higher yields in West Bengal and Manisha in Haryana’s Nidana village in Jind used carnivorous pests, as opposed to a chemical alternative, to handle the crop destruction caused by harmful pests. These women play a significant role in smallholder systems which also provide over half of the planet’s food calories. Despite their valuable role, women face issues in legal ownership of land and access to resources such as land, seeds, or technologies, due to the gender bias that exists in agriculture. Lim Li Ching argues that empowering women, especially with regards to land ownership which consequently opens access to government schemes and resources, can lead to improved food security and health. Photo credit: Vikas Choudhary

1 05, 2018

Climate Solutions: #LeadingWomen – Alaska & Global Warming: Climate Genocide

2019-02-09T19:48:09-05:00Tags: |

Faith Gemmill sees the effects of climate chaos firsthand, and has the solutions: she is executive director of Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands (REDOIL), a grassroots Indigenous environmental network fighting to protect Indigenous land and culture in Alaska. Gemmill, Pit River/Wintu and Neets’aiiGwish’in Athabascan, lives a land-based, subsistence lifestyle in an Alaskan village next to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 110 miles above the Arctic circle. Her community’s livelihood depends on the Porcupine Caribou Herd -- but oil companies directly target this sacred birthplace and nursery, and rising temperatures have already caused many climate refugees to relocate. REDOIL provides knowledge and resources to build resilience in this vulnerable region. Because Gemmill’s community lives in intimate interdependence with the “biological heart” of the Arctic Refuge, they have been fighting for human rights for decades, with no sign of stopping. Photo Credit: MrsGreensWorld

1 05, 2018

Where Women Lead On Climate Change

2019-01-14T18:06:24-05:00Tags: |

Most of the Guatemalan population financially depends on farming. Facing destructive landslides, strong winds and volcanic peaks, the women of Guatemala came forward to find the coping strategies for water and forest conservation. Eulia de Leon Juarez, founder of a women’s rights group in Guatemala’s western highlands, says that climate change has changed the pattern of seasons. To address these micro problems at a macro level, women’s non-profit organizations like Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA) are working rigorously to develop women’s leadership. Climate change has amplified the inevitable process of migration, increasing the number of female-headed households in rural areas as more men move to cities. Solange Bandiaky-Badji, Africa program director for Rights and Resources Initiative, sees this as an opportunity for more women to take greater responsibility in their communities. Therefore, women should be seen as active participant preventing and coping with climate change and not merely as victim of it. Photo Credit: Sara Schonhardt

25 04, 2018

Climate Change Is Destroying Women’s Lives In Alwar

2020-09-02T21:10:11-04:00Tags: |

Alwar, a semi-arid region in between the Capital of India and Capital of Rajasthan, is facing a severe water crisis especially in the villages of Ramgarh and Bheror blocks. Raziya Begum, a woman farmer of Ramgarh Block, is telling researchers about the kind of discrimination women face, and how climate change is further adding to gender disparity in rural areas. Similarly, Shima ji of the same block pointed to the extra burden on women due to their household and agricultural labor. More women work in agriculture, yet many lack the knowledge of farming techniques that are resistant to climate change. Additionally, women work longer hours than men, sometimes waking up at 3 am to wait for their turn to gather water from a well. Low rainfall and the depletion of groundwater for agriculture has made  water a scarce resource, adding to the stressors already placed on women. Cultural norms legitimize this gender inequality in India, putting women on the receiving end of violence and negative impact of climate change. Photo Credit: Koushik Hore

25 04, 2018

‘Climate Change Is Making Us Stronger’ — Resilient Bolivian Women Adapt To Global Warming

2023-03-29T11:32:21-04:00Tags: |

Climate change is affecting the lives and livelihoods of Bolivian indigenous women. One such affected community, located in Cochabamba Valley, has traditionally grown potatoes for sustenance. Rising temperatures, shortening of the rainy season, drought, decreasing predictability of the weather and more extreme weather events have led to a dwindling potato crop of lesser quality. The women have responded to this problem by diversifying the crops planted. Some peasant women are also joining labor unions, which provides greater economic independence, mutual aid and a means of voicing their concerns. The Bolivian Institute for Empowerment of Farmer Communities is also a key player, providing education concerning ecological fertilizers and leadership training for women. Photo credit: Sanne Derks

13 04, 2018

Taking Our Power Back: Women and Girls Are Key To Food Security During Conflict

2020-12-02T21:58:31-05:00Tags: |

Saiyara Khan writes about the fundamental role that women and girls play in ensuring food security during times of conflict. Often, gender inequalities and societal norms restrict their participation in the management and decision-making processes over key resources such as land or livestock. However, given that they are involved in key processes such as food production and water collection for the household, women’s empowerment is a fundamental determinant in whether communities have access to food. Photo credit: UN Women

3 04, 2018

A More Just Migration: Empowering Women On The Front Lines Of Climate Displacement

2020-09-02T21:07:22-04:00Tags: |

Migration is one way women may be forced to adapt to climate change, but this displacement also puts women at greater risk for violence, a group of women leaders explained at a Wilson Center event. Eleanor Bornstorm, Program Director for the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), noted that because women are often in caretaking roles, they are also expected to volunteer and shield their communities from harm. Yet structural inequalities put women disproportionately at risk to violence during climate displacement. Carrying forward the former statement, Justine Calma, Grist environmental justice reporting fellow, vocalized the violence faced by women and young girls during climate displacement. For example, during the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, young girls were sexually exploited, sold and trafficked for food and other resources. Poor or uneducated women, women of color and migrant women are vulnerable to intersectional forms of discrimination, and their needs are often more urgent. Because of these structural inequalities, empowering women and enhancing their leadership may be the best strategy to address climate change, rather than mitigating its effects. WEDO is assessing factors impacting women during climate displacement, filling in the gaps unaddressed at the national and international level. Photo Credit: Agata Grzybowska.

30 03, 2018

Women Human Right Defender’s In Thailand

2020-09-02T23:48:59-04:00Tags: |

Even after 20 years of “UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders”, women human rights defenders (HRD) face systematic structural violence for raising awareness of political and environmental issues affecting their daily lives. To highlight the stories of these women,  the Canadian Embassy in Bangkok launched a project “Her Life, Her Diary: Side by Side WHRDs 2018 - Diary of Hope and Dreams" featuring 20 women defenders and their everyday struggle against social injustice. Photo Credit: Luke Duggleby

23 03, 2018

Impunity For Violence Against Women Defenders Of Territory, Common Goods, And Nature In Latin America

2020-10-23T23:16:06-04:00Tags: |

This report by Urgent Action Fund of Latin America and the Caribbean (UAF-LAC) analyzes the condition of women who defend environmental rights in Latin American countries. By analyzing the case studies of thirteen women defenders, a clear continuum of structural violence against the women emerges. On the one end, women defenders are subject to the criminalization of their activities and to harassment from various actors such as companies, the police, and the media. At the most extreme end of this violence continuum, women defenders are assassinated or “disappeared.” In cases such as these, the state, if it is not actively colluding with the perpetrators, often remains silent. UAF-LAC, then, calls for the state to protect women defenders by eliminating the impunity perpetrators currently enjoy, by eliminating the criminalization of defenders’ work and by creating a safe environment for them to work in. Specifically, the state must financially, politically, legally and psycho-socially support women defenders. Photo credit: UAF-LAC

8 03, 2018

3 Women On What Climate Justice Means To Them

2020-10-23T23:36:25-04:00Tags: |

Climate change impacts more severely on women and is a significant impetus for female empowerment in the climate justice movement. This piece portrays women whose courage, inspiration and shared vulnerabilities in forms of resistance underscore their activism. By changing the narrative and creating herstory, these stories offer a symbol of strength, such as Joanna Sustento, the warrior of the storm, who is the sole survivor of the storm Haiyan that killed her family. With local female leaders, she heads community mobilisation for climate justice. Desiree Llanos Dee, campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, uses the power of storytelling to humanise climate justice issues and build more conscious communities with more people who care. Hettie Geenen, captain of the Rainbow Warrior Greenpeace ship, gives an international platform to the people and the planet through her tours. These are the women on the frontlines of the local, national and global climate justice movement. Photo Credit: Greenpeace

8 03, 2018

Climate Change ‘Impacts Women More Than Men’

2023-04-16T15:12:42-04:00Tags: |

The impacts of climate change exacerbate existing gender inequality. This article draws examples from the disproportionate burden placed on women during the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia and the 2005 Hurricane Katrina in the U.S., where the number of surviving men outnumbered women.According to the UN, while 80% of women are displaced due to climate change, only 30% of women are represented in the global climate negotiating bodies. In this backdrop, Diana Liverman, an environmental scientist at the University of Arizona and an author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that, being half the world, more women must partake in climate decision making. Photo credit: Getty Images 

8 03, 2018

Climate Change ‘Impacts Women More Than Men’

2020-09-03T02:30:20-04:00Tags: |

This article demonstrates the overarching ways women are more affected by climate change than men. For example, after Hurricane Katrina black women were the most affected by flooding in Louisiana. Women are reliant on interdependent community networks for their everyday survival and resources. Displacement erodes these networks and increases the changes of violence and sexual assault against women. According to UN Data, 80 percent of people displaced due to climate change are women. Despite this women are seldom at the decision making table, says Diana Liverman, an environmental scientist at the University of Arizona. As an author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) she is internally paving the way for women to participate in major decisions. Photo Credit: Getty Images 

22 02, 2018

Indigenous Women Cope With Climate Change

2020-11-07T17:51:11-05:00Tags: |

Bolivian women are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change as it is one of the poorest countries in Latin America and suffers from one of the worst patterns of gender inequality.  Women in indigenous farmer communities are one of the hardest hit from climate change as agricultural production is put under peril leading to lower food security and higher food prices. As food supply becomes volatile, women, who are responsible for the provision of food to their family, are challenged to prepare enough nutritious food. Furthermore, men are pushed to migrate to find work in rural areas or coca plantations leaving women behind to raise children.  The government and NGOs, such as INCCA, have been taking initiative in empowering women and teaching communities how to mitigate the effects of climate change. These initiatives started ten years ago with NGOs such as INCCA and Solidagro who implement conservation and food security programs. Photo Credit: Sanne Derks/Al Jazeera  

19 02, 2018

Gendered Experiences Of Adaptation To Drought: Patterns Of Change In El Sauce, Nicaragua

2020-09-03T01:47:41-04:00Tags: |

Nicaragua, the largest country in Central America is considered one of the most at risk countries by World Risk Report 2016. Natural disasters and poor socio-economic conditions increase the vulnerability of Nicaragua citizens. To analyze the gender dimension of such vulnerability, Lisa Segnestam, researcher from Stockholm Environmental Institute wrote a paper that explores the socio-economic and environmental factors contributing to gender inequality. Her research findings unveiled that lack of control and poor access resources has increased the gender gap which further impacts the ways Nicaraguans respond to climate change. Photo Credit: Lisa Segnestam.

14 02, 2018

The Woman Going After Big Energy for the Typhoon That Killed Her Family

2025-03-27T14:39:38-04:00Tags: |

In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan killed 6,300 - including Joanna Sustento’s mother, father, brother, sister,  and nephew - and destroyed the city of Tacloban. The Typhoon ranked 8.1, on an intensity scale that only goes up to 8. Sustento blames climate change for the storm, and blames 47 of the world’s largest polluters for causing climate change. Sustento is on a journey to hold them morally and legally responsible. A human rights commission in the Philippines has held public hearings to determine if these companies should be held accountable, however, it cannot make legal rulings. Despite this, the outcome could set an important precedent. Legal recognition of climate change’s impacts is important for spurring further action and giving tangible points of accountability. None of the 47 companies participated in the Philippines investigation, and none of their representatives heard Sustento speak on the impacts of climate change and the direct actions of corporations on the lives of her family. The commission is holding hearings across the Philippines throughout 2018. An official report is expected in 2019.

13 02, 2018

Cord Blood, Blood And Hair Tests Show Mercury Exposure In Grassy Narrows

2020-10-05T20:34:41-04:00Tags: |

Decades after a paper mill in Northern Ontario dumped 10 ton of mercury into an Ontario river, residents of Grassy Narrows First Nation and Wabaseemoong (Whitedog) First Nation are only beginning to get answers. From 1970 to 1992, Health Canada collected umbilical blood and hair samples from the communities that were potentially exposed to the harmful substance. The results, however, have remained closed in boxes until only recently. Now, residents such as Chrissy Swain and Alana Pahpasy are finally getting the results, only to find out that they’ve been living with dangerously high mercury levels for years. Despite the fact that a Mercury Disability Board was set up, it has been criticized as inadequate and has turned the majority of applicants away. It is suspected that the high levels are now impacting the next generation of these communities. The health impacts of mercury poisoning include heart problems, learning disabilities, and motor skills deficits. Women and other members of the community are speaking out against the government, outraged at this wrongful neglect. Photo credit: David Sone/Earthroots

9 02, 2018

Women’s Needs Must Be Accommodated In Disaster Relief Measures For Puerto Rico

2020-04-24T16:21:51-04:00Tags: |

Puerto Rico is in need of disaster relief that adequately addresses the disproportional impacts Hurricane Irma and Maria have had on Puerto Rican women. Women across the world are already more likely to experience higher rates of sexual violence, familial responsibilities, and restricted access to reproductive healthcare in the aftermath of climate disasters. Puerto Rican women in particular are at very high risk for intimate partner violence in the world without stressors such as natural emergencies. Given these statistics and the causal relationship between poverty and violence toward women, upcoming policies such as the new year budget must support women appropriately. Photo Credit: Mario Tama  

2 02, 2018

Why Climate Deniers Target Women

2021-01-15T17:17:19-05:00Tags: |

Women who work on climate science, policy, journalism, or advocacy continue to face harassment from climate change deniers, often in the form of sexist and dismissive labels. Although patriarchy and gender inequality pervade many social spaces, research shows that men who value hierarchy are more inclined to hold sexist views and deny the climate crisis. While the research draws no firm conclusions, it illustrates the power imbalances that enable both sexism and climate denial and the need for intersectional climate narratives that demand justice across movements. Photo Credit: Katharine Hayhoe

20 01, 2018

Climate Change Eroding Women’s Status in Zanzibar

2018-03-02T20:05:14-05:00Tags: |

Women seaweed farms on Zanzibar’s coast are at the frontlines of climate change, as warming sea temperatures are causing massive die offs, and rural women are losing their main source of income. While most other jobs in this community are male dominated, seaweed farming is predominately female, with more than 80 percent of seaweed farmers being women. With the production of the major seaweed species Cottonnii down by nearly 94%, the financial independence and social status seaweed farming has provided women has been threatened. To defy these odds, Dr. Flower Msuya has, with the help of local women farmers, pioneered a new technology to adapt the shallow farming technique to deeper waters. Photo credit: Haley Joelle Ott

2 01, 2018

2025-03-27T17:04:01-04:00Tags: |

A new study claims that women in rural communities possess particular necessary knowledge and skills to address climate change risks. This study assessed the role of individual women in dealing with climatic risk, looking specifically at agriculture, energy, and nutrition in flood and drought prone areas of eastern India. The study found that women’s participation was high in farm-related tasks and that women tended to exchange knowledge and resources in the absence of government interventions. Many women had unique mechanisms to stave off hunger and preserve nutrition during months with known food scarcity issues. Women in particularly arid areas also had vast knowledge of non-agricultural food sources, such as leaves and stems of year round plants. These informal networks, that exist all over the world, can be used as channels for targeting climate adaptation policies and programs. The study suggests that if women’s groups become the focal points of knowledge and resource dissemination in situations impacted and exacerbated by climate change, there is a high chance the resources will be shared more openly.

27 12, 2017

Women’s Declaration Against Kinder Morgan Man Camps

2017-12-27T18:03:27-05:00Tags: |

Representatives of the Secwepemc Nation composed and delivered a Historic 'Women’s Declaration Against Kinder Morgan Man Camps' to the CEO of Kinder Morgan in Vancouver, Canada in Winter of 2017. The Declaration, which had been signed by over 2,800 international organizations and individuals, attests that the Secwepemc people never have and never will give their free, prior and informed consent to oil extraction in their territories, and specifically to the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline Project and the Kinder Morgan Man Camps. Speaking out as Indigenous women, the Declaration authors describe how women have borne the brunt of the impacts of colonial resource extraction. They speak to the horrors of the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) - and how this intensifying attack has risen in connection with growth of oil extraction economies in Indigenous territories. In response, they present the movement for land protection being led by the women of the Tiny House Warriors. Photo credit: Secwepemcul’ecw Assembly/Linda Roy of Irevaphotography

2 12, 2017

The WISE Women Of Nigeria Sparking Change

2019-02-09T19:52:58-05:00Tags: |

Olanike Olubunmi Olugboji empowers other women in Nigeria to build sustainable, safe and equitable alternatives to dangerous ways of life. She is the founder and director of the Women Initiative for Sustainable Environment (WISE), formerly known as Environmental Management and Protection Network (EMPRONET), based in Kaduna, Nigeria. Holding degrees in urban and regional planning, Olugboji urges more women to be involved in the development and management of natural resources. WISE trains and educates women to be proactive against the mounting challenges posed by climate change and deforestation. For example, the Women’s Clean Cookstove Training and Entrepreneurship Program educates women about the health risks of woodstoves and gives them alternatives that are not only environmentally sustainable but financially viable as well. Nearly 10,000 women have participated in WISE programs already, and Olugboji hopes to open up a Women’s Eco Learning and Resource Center to reach even more women.  Photo Credit: Stephen Obodomechine

26 11, 2017

‘Absolutely Shocking’: Niger Delta Oil Spills Linked With Infant Deaths In Nigeria

2017-12-26T16:40:03-05:00Tags: |

According to a new research, Nigerian babies are two times more likely to die in their first months of life if their mothers were living next to an oil spill before conceiving. In addition, the neonatal mortality is higher the nearer the mother was located to the oil spill. The study is framed in the context of conditions in country where an estimated 240,000 barrels of crude oil are spilled every year. Photo-credit: George Osodi/AP

23 11, 2017

5 Reasons Climate Change Is A Feminist Issue

2018-01-23T18:01:33-05:00Tags: |

Climate change isn’t only increasing the greenhouse effect, it is also creating an increase in the inequity of global power dynamics. With women representing 70% of the global poor, women are impacted first and worse by these changes. This overview article shares more information on this statistic, and five other examples which highlight why women are disproportionately impacted by climate, and why climate action must be pursued as a central goal of feminist organizing. Photo credit: Novara Media

21 11, 2017

Global Warming Might Be Especially Dangerous For Pregnant Women

2020-04-24T16:52:12-04:00Tags: |

Women scientists are finding that climate change will likely pose significant threats to pregnant women and their embyros, a group often left out of public health concerns. Rupa Basu, chief of air and climate epidemiology at the California Environmental Protection Agency, had been researching the connection between health risks and air pollution for the past decade, and looked more into the effects of temperature. Her research found that increasing heat and humidity raise the likelihood of premature and stillbirths every year. Similar conclusions were found by Nathalie Auger at Quebec’s institute for public health, as well as by Pauline Mendola and Sandie Ha at Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Mendola and Ha’s study found that a temperature increase in the top 10 percent range of a woman’s region could mean 1,000 more stillbirths every year, much higher than the researchers expected. Pregnant women are not often considered a group vulnerable to heat, according to Sabrina McCormick, a sociologist at George Washington University, which makes these findings an urgent call to reframe public health. While these and other researchers are eager to collect more data, it’s clear that pregnancy calls for more precautions and awareness amid climate change. Photo Credit: BLEND IMAGES / PEATHEGEE INC / GETTY

17 11, 2017

Four Reasons Water And Sanitation Are A Gender Issue

2018-07-13T15:44:39-04:00Tags: |

Globally, women and girls are disproportionately impacted by poor access to safe clean water and adequate sanitary conditions. They are often responsible for collecting water for their household daily and at far distances, which significantly limits their productivity and time for schooling. Even when they do have time to attend school or work, a lack of private washrooms and clean water make it difficult to maintain hygiene during menstruation, meaning they instead stay home or drop out. Women and girls are also at increased risk of violence during their long travels for water and when using open toilets. Because they are likely tasked with cleaning children and household toilets, they are more exposed to wastewater and potential pathogens. Because of this intersection with gender, women and girls must lead and be engaged in strategies for improving water and sanitation. Photo credit: Asian Development Bank

16 11, 2017

Mind The Gap

2019-04-13T16:06:44-04:00Tags: |

Women are more vulnerable to climate change but are less represented at the U.N. Climate Negotiations.  The establishment of the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC) at the Climate Negotiations has formalized the voice of women and gender equality. At COP23, in Bonn, Germany, the WGC pushed for a new gender action plan, to help increase female participation at the U.N, increase funding for women, and ensure climate solutions uphold the rights of women and indigenous peoples. Photo Credit:  Patrik Stollarz / Getty Images

15 11, 2017

‘Red Flag’ Raised: Study Finds Possible Fracking Risk To Pregnant BC Women

2018-02-15T12:22:14-05:00Tags: |

Researchers at the Université of Montréal have found muconic acid levels in urine samples of women within close proximity of fracking sites in Northeastern British Columbia, Canada to be 3.5 times higher than amounts found in the general population. Benzene, which has been associated with reduced birth weight and increased risk of childhood leukemia and birth defects, is a contaminant that is often emitted while extracting waste gas from oil and gas sites. Nearly half of the participants tested were Indigenous, and the study concluded that muconic acid levels found in these women were 2.3 times higher than in the non-Indigenous participants and six times higher than levels found in the general population. While more research is needed to determine the source of the benzene, results are consistent with other studies on the impacts of fracking on women.  Photo credit: Ecoflight

13 11, 2017

Maldives Mangroves Forest To Be Converted To Airport

2017-12-13T12:52:18-05:00Tags: |

Women leaders of Uthema and Voice of Women speak out about plans to build an airport on Kulhudhuhfushi island in the northern region of the Maldives, which is made of over 1200 natural coral islands. The vital mangrove wetlands of Kulhudhuhfushi are some of the countries most important and biodiverse, and the airport development there threatens massive destruction of ecosystems which are the source of local economy, culture, traditions, food, environmental protection, and much more. The article and accompanying video note a particular impact on women who work work the wetlands for their livelihoods, and the inequities of an airport for just some people displacing a place of local support for countless. Photo credit: SixDegrees News

24 10, 2017

Why Women Are More Likely Than Men To Die In Natural Disasters

2018-01-24T11:25:22-05:00Tags: |

According to several case studies, more women die in environmental disasters than men, due to the fact that they often face gendered challenges during natural disasters and emergencies. For instance, women may face domestic violence due to lack of safe spaces in relief centers. In developing countries, women are often the ones responsible for providing water for their families, a task that becomes strained during disasters. This article also examines how women’s voices are absent in modern patriarchal disaster-response societies, and the need for gender-sensitive data collection and women’s inclusion in leadership and decision-making regarding disaster management.

24 10, 2017

Ugandan Women Didn’t Cause Climate Change, But They’re Adapting to It

2018-01-24T11:19:42-05:00Tags: |

Constance Okollet is among the first women of Uganda taking bold action to fight climate change impact, through the formation of the Osukuru United Women Network. Over time, the network has evolved into an education platform about climate change, mitigation and adaptation strategies. Irene Barbara Amayo, another powerful woman, is the chairperson of a group in the Network which has taken action including creating a sustainable poultry operation and a small tree nursery. Even though the Network faces multiple infrastructural challenges which constitute barriers and challenges, the women involved in the project continue to be optimistic and stand for their beliefs. This article highlights that even though these women are not the ones responsible for climate change and massive global pollution, they are nonetheless rising as heroes to build solutions.  Photo credit: Edward Echwalu

15 10, 2017

Women Of Porter Ranch On Resilience: The Power Of Community

2018-02-15T13:03:40-05:00Tags: |

As part of ‘The Story We Want’ video series, which follows the efforts of women across the United States who are coming together to confront fossil fuel industries and a culture of extraction, the Climate Listening Project and Mom’s Clean Air Force speak with women from Porter Ranch, California who were affected by the Alison Canyon methane blow out. The blow out released more than 100,000 tons of toxic methane gas over four months. Two mothers recount the health impacts felt by their families, and the local organizing efforts that have emerged to counter the danger in their community.  Photo credit: Moms Clean Air Force

6 10, 2017

A Future Detoxified

2017-12-06T14:23:18-05:00Tags: |

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reports on pushing for gendered considerations in hazardous chemicals and waste management, through the Gender Action Plan of the Stockholm Basel and Rotterdam International Conventions. The report includes thoughts from Stella Mojekwu, Chief Environmental Scientist at the Federal Ministry of Environment in Nigeria on the dangers posed to women exposed to oil-based, toxic PCB through cooking and handeling of cosmetics and chemical products. Resources are included to learn more about international and United Nations policy efforts and conventions to address this issue through improvement of  gender mainstreaming mechanisms. Photo credit: WECF

2 10, 2017

Post-Hurricane Recovery Efforts Must Include Women’s Voices

2020-09-02T21:41:29-04:00Tags: |

In this article, Dr. Heidi Hartmann and Geanine Wester center the lived experiences of low-income black women impacted by post-Katrina recovery in New Orleans twelve years ago as a lesson for policy planning and development post-Irma and post-Harvey. They outline how women are more likely to live in poverty—especially women of color—and represent more of the elderly population, which make them more vulnerable to climate disasters and gender-based violence both before and after disasters. For the women in public housing prior to Hurricane Katrina, they faced recovery policies that effectively eliminated their homes to make way for mixed-income developments, dispersed and curtailed public services for low-income families, and devastated key community support networks. These stories underline the importance of including women, particularly poor women and women of color, in the process of rebuilding whole communities post-disaster.

23 09, 2017

As Water Vanishes In Sri Lanka, Baths – And Snakes – Present New Risks

2018-01-23T19:56:57-05:00Tags: |

Sri Lanka’s worst drought in over 40 years has been putting pressure on communities across the country. Achini Dinesha, a mother of two living in village of Kiriyankale in the north western province of Sri Lanka must now trek five miles each day to collect water, following the drying of her backyard well and the failure of the monsoon. Women and other community members are recounting many challenges faced , including struggling to find privacy and safety for caring for their personal hygiene.

20 09, 2017

Open Letter To The Women Of Congress From Climate Change Activists, Actors, & Average Moms

2018-03-02T14:08:11-05:00Tags: |

Women across the United States have presented an open letter to the women in Congress following the Trump Administration’s exit from the Paris Agreement and proposed 31 percent budget cut to the Environmental Protection Act (EPA). Hollywood elite, CEOs, advocates, and thousands of community activists have banded together to tell Congress, “Not on our watch!” In their letter, co-signers urge women of Congress to start getting serious about climate change. They point to the water crisis in Flint, fires in California, hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and air pollution in Utah as they plead for policy change that will protect the country’s children. As women, they say, the connection between climate change and gender is lived every day. They end their letter by urging Congress to provide full funding to the EPA in an effort to protect the constituents they are meant to serve. Photo credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images News/Getty Images

15 09, 2017

In Riau, Indonesia, Women Organise For Environmental Justice

2018-02-15T12:16:42-05:00Tags: |

Women in Sungai Berbari, a village in Riau, Indonesia, have been organizing for representation in land use planning. Ever since the Indonesian government began opening local forests for agricultural operations, women without equal access to planning processes have been disproportionately impacted by the resulting environmental impacts. When companies burn carbon-rich peatland to develop plantations, for example, the resulting crisis-level haze becomes particularly burdensome for the women tasked with domestic duties and caring for their families. Women Research Institute has provided local women with access to forest change data and training on public speaking in order to develop advocacy strategies. Photo credit: Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)

13 09, 2017

Impact Of Climate Change On Women’s Livelihood In The Maldives

2017-12-13T12:49:59-05:00Tags: |

A short video by Uthema Maldives presents the story of Aminath Moosa, woman farmer from Vaadhoo, Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, who has been struggling for the last 3-4 years with problems with her land and crops, which she attributes to climate change impacts on the island, which has affected seasonal and rainfall patterns. Photo credit: Uthema Maldives

1 09, 2017

South Asia’s Women Face The Weight Of Climate Migration

2017-11-01T23:54:05-04:00Tags: |

With increasing natural disasters especially in coastal areas, homes and crop fields are swept away by tides, forcing people to migrate in search of work to urban places. The report Climate Change Knows no Borders, prepared by ActionAid, Climate Action Network South Asia and Bread for the World (Brot Fuer Die Welt) explores the gendered implications of natural disasters and compels national policymakers to urgently address the policy gap. Gender mainstreaming is required at all levels, especially in climate laws, policies and programs, to address the needs and priorities of both genders such as in access to resources, information, and credit. Photo credit: Manipadma Jena

27 08, 2017

Gender Remains One Of Climate Change’s Great Inequalities

2017-10-27T15:40:54-04:00Tags: |

In this article, Isabella Lövin, Sweden’s deputy prime minister, discusses women’s physical and economic vulnerability to climate change as well as their critical role in a just transition despite often limited power and access to resources in decision-making spaces. She advocates that gender equality in low-carbon development and climate change adaptation is essential not just for the means of female empowerment but for true transformative change. To illustrate this impact, she discusses two clean energy projects in East Africa and Mongolia funded by the Green Climate Fund that center female entrepreneurship and women’s quality of life.  Photo credit: Ashden

26 08, 2017

In South Asian Slums, Women Face The Consequences Of Climate Change

2017-10-26T00:14:41-04:00Tags: |

Research by the Urban Institute quantifies how poor women in South Asia feel the impacts of climate change. Torrential rain and poor drainage contribute to the proliferation of disease, overwhelming women with more domestic work and sleep deprivation; not only that, but floods prevented women and men from working, leading to economic insecurity, alcoholism and domestic abuse. Climate change affects different aspects of women’s lives: their financial security, their marriage, and their physical well-being. Photo credit: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images.

2 08, 2017

Fiji’s Climate Champion Speaks Up For Women In The Wake Of Cyclones

2017-11-02T00:11:14-04:00Tags: |

Eta Tuvuki is a single mother who saw her house dismantled in seconds by the powerful cyclone Archipelago. The mental trauma of losing her safe shelter didn’t deter her, however; rather it made her strong and inspired her to do something concrete for her fellow women facing the same situation. Today, as a rural leader for the Fiji-based NGO FemlinkPacific, Tuvuki acts as intermediary between her village and other government representatives. Apart from that, she shares the stories of women on the radio, helping and training women to restore the farms knocked out by cyclones and to be prepared for any kind of weather disaster. Photo credit: Sonia Narang

27 07, 2017

Study Reveals The Gender Gap In Tanzania, Uganda Climate Policies

2017-10-27T11:13:36-04:00Tags: |

Although Uganda and Tanzania have seen visible changes in the lives of women via legal and constitutional means, their current climate policy fails to acknowledge gender and social glass ceilings faced by women in social matrices where their roles, priorities, opportunities are different from men’s. Ignoring the gender gap in fields like agriculture impacts the economy of country negatively. This study reveals that closing the gender gap in agriculture would increase Tanzania’s GDP by $105 million and Uganda’s by $67 million. Though the governments of Uganda and Tanzania are trying to close this gender gap, a lot still needs to be done at the local, national and international levels in regard to better allocation of resources and including women not as beneficiaries, but rather as an equal partners in the development process.

13 07, 2017

Haitian Women Needed At The Forefront Of Disaster Risk Management

2017-10-25T22:56:41-04:00Tags: |

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Management is calling attention to the disproportionate impact of natural disasters on women and girls. For example, Haiti’s Hurricane Matthew not only devastated the country’s economy, but also put women in particularly difficult positions as family caretakers and stewards of natural resources. This article argues for gender mainstreaming in disaster risk management to center women’s knowledge and agency in disaster response and reconstruction efforts. Photo credit: UN Photo/Logan Abassi

2 07, 2017

Landless And Widowed Women In South India Bear Brunt Of Drought

2017-11-02T00:09:36-04:00Tags: |

Kavita, a landless widowed woman in rural southern India, works tirelessly to overcome the debt her husband left unpaid. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have land of her own, which makes her ineligible for government aids or loans. Such limited access to the land she works on not only limits her economic empowerment and ownership, but also hinders her ability to stand up against gender-based violence as well. The percentage of women who own land in rural India is just about 13%. Photo credit: Reuters

1 07, 2017

In The Philippines, Rural Women Bear The Brunt Of Both Climate Change And Conflict

2017-11-01T23:47:27-04:00Tags: |

Rural women of the Philippines are fighting for their survival in face of the triple threat of violent conflict, poverty and changing climate conditions. Particular groups of women, such as female farmers, widows and Indigenous women, are the first to feel the effects of extreme weather. Low crop production and food insecurity, as well as armed conflict, cause many to migrate to large cities within their country and abroad, where human trafficking, sexual abuse and other gendered violations are becoming increasingly common under mounting climate pressures. Photo credit : PWRDF, CC BY-SA

27 06, 2017

Gender Equality For Successful National Climate Action

2017-10-23T22:02:44-04:00Tags: |

In this blogpost, Verania Chao, a Policy Specialist for Environment and Climate Change within the Gender Team at the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support at UNDP, argues for centering gender in climate change policy. The gendered barriers women face to not only add to women’s daily labor, but also increase the cost of managing the impacts of climate change.The dearth of gender-specific approaches and limited gender disaggregated data in major climate policies is one of the main obstacles to overcome to implement sound and just climate policy. Photo credit: Shashank Jayaprasad

26 06, 2017

Why Women Are More Likely Than Men To Die In Natural Disasters

2017-12-26T16:35:53-05:00Tags: |

Natural catastrophes affect men and women in different manners. According to research, women are more likely to face multiple challenges based on their gender due to several causes, such as the lack of safe spaces in relief centers. In addition, reports document how in countries where the socioeconomic status is low, more women die in natural disasters than men.  Photo-credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images, NOAA

26 06, 2017

Life On The Front Line Of Climate Change For Fiji’s Women And Girls

2017-12-26T16:33:16-05:00Tags: |

In this article, several powerful women from Fiji describe the negative impacts of climate change on there communities, where high-intensity cyclones and flooding are becoming increasingly common. Marica Kepa explains that women are more likely to become victims of gender-based violence during cyclones due to lack of privacy and proper lighting. Fijian women farmers speak on how storms have wiped out their farms and created severe losses. Finally, Sesarina Naliku speaks on how women vendors are trying to fight against climate change impacts through savings which will be used in the case of upcoming disasters. Photo-credit: Sonia Narang

25 06, 2017

Forced From Their Forests, Cameroon’s Female Pygmies Bear Brunt Of Alcohol Abuse

2017-10-25T22:46:11-04:00Tags: |

The Baka Pygmies of Eastern Cameroon know all too well how development projects can be used to destroy the livelihoods, homes and cultures. The nomadic-hunter gatherers have been pushed off their ancestral lands by mining and logging companies, as well as by conservation groups trying to save elephants and gorillas. Pushed into the territories of forest-dwelling ethnic groups, the result has been further conflict and a turn to alcohol as a way to deal with the myriad of problems facing them. Baku women are bearing the greatest brunt of the growing alcoholism, often facing brutal violence from their husbands and other male members of the community, in addition to the stress of having to find food and generate income. Photo credit: Josiane Kougheu/Thomson Reuters

11 06, 2017

‘Absolutely shocking’: Niger Delta Oil Spills Linked With Infant Deaths 

2023-04-16T15:09:53-04:00Tags: |

While oil spills are more commonly known for their environmental damage, a study conducted by Professor Roland Hodler and Anna Bruederle reveal linkages between oil related environmental pollution to neonatal mortality in the Niger Delta. Their findings highlight that oil spills within ten kilometers of a mother’s residence pre-conception double the neonatal mortality rates and impaired the health of her surviving children. While the Nigerian government remains silent on this matter, activists like Debbie Ariyo of the charity Africans Unite Against Child Abuse, continue to speak up on tragedies resulting from oils spills. Photo credit: George Osodi/AP 

6 06, 2017

Policy Brief: Gender Equality In Climate Change Adaptation In Vietnam

2017-10-23T22:07:21-04:00Tags: |

Vietnam has a long history of women’s organizing through various groups such as the Vietnam Women’s Union, and has passed robust laws to fight gender inequalities. Within the context of its high vulnerability to climate change due to increased flooding, typhoons and extended drought, it is imperative that the solutions crafted are responsive to the ways in which asymmetries of power between men and women play out. Photo credit: WECAN International

30 05, 2017

Climate Change Drives Domestic Violence in Fiji

2017-10-30T03:37:08-04:00Tags: |

Shamina Ali is the leader of the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and has been fighting domestic violence for more than three decades. In 2017, thanks to the Crisis Centre’s efforts, the Fijian government launched its first helpline for victims of domestic violence. More than 60% of Fijian women will suffer from domestic abuse in their lifetime, a figure exacerbated by climate change. One of the consequences of natural catastrophes is the displacement of thousands of families to shelters, where men and women are cramped together in close quarters without protection from sexual harassment and violence. Shaireen Mohammed and Verenaisi Naitu, also part of the Crisis Centre, explain more about climate change-related cases of violence against women and how they offer free counseling and support to the victims not only psychologically, but also in official and lawful matters. Photo credit: Sonia Narang

12 05, 2017

Celebrating Strong Mothers: A Photo Essay Of Mothers Affected By Climate Change

2017-10-25T22:36:13-04:00Tags: |

Climate change is ushering in an era of droughts, which exacerbate famine and armed conflict in eastern Africa. Mothers are now struggling to keep themselves and their children alive. In this photo essay, Oxfam celebrates a few of these incredible survivors, but also exposes the day-to-day battles they must face. Striking photography and compelling narratives give us a glimpse into the lives of these mothers. Photo credit: Petterik Wiggers/Oxfam

2 05, 2017

Climate Change Has Created A New Generation Of Sex-Trafficking Victims

2017-11-01T13:23:22-04:00Tags: |

Climate change is igniting a rise in human trafficking, as natural disasters put women and children in post-catastrophe situations that traffickers exploit. Emma Porio, a professor of sociology at Ateneo de Manila University, explains how natural phenomena like Typhoon Haiyan displace women and girls, making them vulnerable to sex traffickers. The Renew Foundation is helping bar girls and sex workers transition out of dependency and into new careers and new lives. Photo credit: Hannah Reyes Morales

29 04, 2017

Indonesian Women Risk Health To Supply Palm Oil To The West

2017-11-01T23:22:17-04:00Tags: |

Companies like Kellogg and Nestlé, who use palm oil for ice cream and chocolate products, buy their oil from suppliers that employ women. Women working in the fields are often assigned to spray pesticides and insecticides without any wearing any safety equipment. Minah, a worker at palm oil plantation in Riau, said a lot of the pesticide hits her face during spraying, suffering from respiratory and vision problems. NGO Sawit Watch and Amnesty International in Indonesia have unveiled many such stories, including instances when women are deprived of the two days of menstrual leave entitle to them by Indonesia’s law. Photo Credit: Wudan Yan

25 04, 2017

Bangladesh’s Water Crisis: A Story Of Gender

2017-08-26T13:52:56-04:00Tags: |

In the last 35 years, Bangladesh has witnessed an increase in groundwater salinity by about 26%. Most activities related to water use and fetching are women’s work Bangladesh, and with water sources either drying up or becoming saline due to climate change, the already back-breaking work of looking for water by women continues to increase. Women and children on Bangladesh’s coast are increasingly contracting water-borne diseases, in addition to suffering from pregnancy-related conditions such as preeclampsia and hypertension, resulting from higher levels of salty water intake. Khadija Rahman, who lives on Bangladesh’s southwest coast, tells her story. Photo credit: Neha Thirani Bagri

24 04, 2017

Climate Threats Drive India’s ‘Tiger Widows’ Toward Open Jaws

2018-01-24T11:33:28-05:00Tags: |

Geeta Mridha is a widow whose husband was killed by a tiger while fishing in the backwaters of Sundarbans National Park, India. His death was part of an increase in incidents with tigers and other animals as a result of erosion and loss of the coastal mangroves and lands due to climate change. Women like Geeta are blamed by society for the increasing hardships, poverty and land loss of their families across the region.

1 04, 2017

Photographer Acacia Johnson Documents Life In The Arctic, The Inuit And The Impact Of Climate Change

2017-10-25T22:40:08-04:00Tags: |

In breathtaking photographs, Acacia Johnson takes us through the wonders of life in the Arctic by documenting Inuit women, their culture and everyday lives, as well as showing the impact of climate change in the Canadian North on the livelihoods of not just its people, but also its animals and landscape. Melting Arctic sea ice is endangering many species whose lives depend on the cold temperatures of a bygone era. Photo credit: Acacia Johnson

30 03, 2017

Climate Change And Conflict: Manipuri Women Are Fighting For Survival On Two Fronts

2017-11-01T05:07:58-04:00Tags: |

The territory of Manipur has been turbulent since British colonization of India, leaving thousands of women widows and survivors of armed violence. Manipuri women have a long history of confronting injustices, sexual violence and power, despite their vulnerable situation living in a militarised and climate change affected area with multiple losses to many small farmers. Groups such as the Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network and the Rural Women’s Upliftment Society fight against such vulnerability by offering counseling and support, and also by teaching Indigenous women such as Lalzamien how to use ecological and biodiverse farming methods as a way of reversing climate change. Not only that, but many Indigenous women’s groups, and activists such as Mary Beth Sanate and Shangnaidar Tontang fight for seats and female representatives in various decision-making, peacebuilding and negotiation forums. Photo credit: Rucha Chitnis

27 03, 2017

Global Warming Is A Matter Of Survival For Pacific Islander Women

2017-10-31T15:32:55-04:00Tags: |

Facing cyclones, floods, rising sea levels, and everything in between, women of the Pacific Islands, including Viva Tatawaqa and Helen Hakena, are speaking out. Bringing their message to international forums and media, these women are making links between climate change, the gender gap, sexual and reproductive rights, and global justice.

22 03, 2017

Carry On: The Power Of Not Being Silenced

2020-11-07T18:15:33-05:00Tags: |

In southwest Pennsylvania, the „Moms‘ Clean Air Force“ is pushing back against the development of further fracking wells in their area, particularly because many are planned close to schools. The numerous wells, pipelines and compressor stations that are already situated on the ground have led to a toxicologically confirmed exposure to benzene in children, which can have long-term negative health impacts. Photo Credit: Video Screenshot

10 03, 2017

Six Years After Fukushima, Women And Children Still Suffer Most

2017-11-05T12:25:40-05:00Tags: |

Women and children are still the most affected by the earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima Daiichi power plant meltdown of six years ago—because of not only injustices right after the events, but also the government’s current intention to resettle residents in areas close to the power plant, which are still contaminated, according to Greenpeace. There are threats to withdraw financial support from evacuees and housing support from those who chose to evacuate outside of the state’s evacuation order area. Kendra Ulrich, Global Energy Campaigner with Greenpeace Japan, states how problematic it is to force people to go back to contaminated areas and that this economic coercion is a violation of rights. Single mothers are the most affected and the most dependent on the financial compensation—many  mothers evacuated with their children, divorcing partners who chose to continue working in contaminated areas. Many mothers question the government’s decontamination of only certain areas, which leaves inhabitants still surrounded by contamination and not free to walk around. Noriko Kubota of Iwaki Meisei University notes the impacts of this confinement on children’s development. Thousands of mothers are fighting the withdrawal of support and have filed a class action lawsuit against the government to protect their choices. Photo Credit: Greenpeace/N. Hayashi

8 03, 2017

Seventy-Six Women On A Glacier Are Changing The World

2017-10-05T17:44:21-04:00Tags: |

Seventy-six women scientists focusing on climate change made their way to Antarctica for a year-long women’s leadership program called Homeward Bound in 2017.  The program’s aim is to groom future women leaders in STEM who will also be able to lead public policy. Heidi Steltzer, a polar ecologist, and Katharine Hayhoe, director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University, concur that women’s participation in high levels of science research and policy could be improved. After seeing the melting of Antarctica, the women returned to their jobs with a renewed desire to advocate for swift action on climate change. Photo credit: Anne Christianson

8 03, 2017

How Women Farmers Are Battling Climate Change In Zimbabwe

2020-10-05T16:45:16-04:00Tags: |

In Chiware, Zimbabwe, farmer Chengetai Zonke has been forced to reduce her maize crop due to the climate change induced natural disasters creating unpredictable weather patterns. Like many other women in Zimbabwe, Zonke’s household’s livelihood depends on her farming and household work. Farmers across Zimbabwe have been forced to reevaluate their crop growing methods. Zonke has begun cultivating small-grain seeds to grow crops that are easier to care for and pay more, but she is still apprehensive about the future of women farmers amidst climate change. Photo Credit: Tonderayi Mukeredzi/IRIN

5 03, 2017

Indian Women Worst Hit By Water Crisis

2017-09-03T20:40:54-04:00Tags: |

Rising population, pollution and the intense competition between water users has resulted in a water crisis in many parts of India. As primary stakeholders in water resource management, women make up the majority of the 330 million people bearing the brunt of severe drought, acute water shortages and agricultural distress. In the face of many threats however, Dr. Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research, a New Delhi-based think tank argues that efforts to bolster women’s rights and access to information and training continue to provide hope. Photo Credit: Neeta Lal/IPS

1 03, 2017

Women Under Threat Of Dzud In Mongolia

2017-11-01T23:43:43-04:00Tags: |

Mongolia was struck by harsh weather conditions in the winter of 2017, raising risks for pastoral and nomadic communities. The situation has caused particular concern for women and girls, who are experiencing limited access to sexual and reproductive health supplies and care as well as increased vulnerability to gender-based violence. Many report that with families struggling to cope, women’s health and hygiene needs have taken a back seat. Photo credit: UNFPA Mongolia/Bayartsogt Shagdarsuren

25 01, 2017

Our Warming World On Her Shoulders

2017-10-25T23:14:04-04:00Tags: |

Exploring issues from domestic violence to conflict zone poverty affecting women, this article from the Natural Resources Defense Council offers the reader a window into the challenges and hurdles women confront everyday. This piece also highlights how women can be the major force for change even as they fight through great adversity. A telling article on the role of women as leaders in the fight against climate change. Photo credit: Nazario Graziano

19 01, 2017

Why We March Against Trump: Violence Against Women And The Earth Is Linked

2017-11-01T13:27:55-04:00Tags: |

WECAN (Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network) cofounder and director Osprey Orielle Lake details how and why women of the United States march against their incoming President, Donald Trump. With the seriousness of the incoming president’s beliefs on minorities, immigrants, women and the environment, the Women’s March is important in voicing the people’s true beliefs which are not in line with those of Trump. A call for action is made for all to join in to support social and ecological justice in the nation. Photo credit: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

16 01, 2017

Women Bearing The Strain Of Climate-Forced Migration

2017-11-01T13:45:16-04:00Tags: |

Discover the efforts and work of ActionAid, Climate Action Network South Asia and Bread for the World in their vital recent report, “Climate Change Knows No Borders,” which documents and shares vital analysis on the impact of climate induced migration on women in South Asia. Photo credit: Manipadma Jena/thethirdpole.net

10 01, 2017

Women Bear The Brunt Of Climate-Forced Migration

2017-11-01T13:17:20-04:00Tags: |

ActionAid International, the Climate Action Network South Asia, and Bread for the World have prepared a new report, “Climate Change Knows No Borders,” warning of the devastating and increasing impact of climate change on migration in South Asia and calling on national policy makers to especially address the impacts on women. The International Organisation for Migration explains that migrant women and men have different vulnerabilities, priorities, responsibilities, and opportunities. Photo credit: Mangala

3 01, 2017

Women In Lesotho Fight Drought With Keyhole Gardens

2017-07-12T19:20:04-04:00Tags: |

Maleloko Fokotsale is the chief of her small village, a title not held by many women in Lesotho. She is also one of many women who bear the double burden of domestic chores and full-time farm work during a years-long drought in the area. Maleloko tends to a sustainable “keyhole” garden on her land, which requires up to 70% less water to produce vegetables than traditional gardens, saving women like Maleloko from walking miles each day to collect water. Photo credit: Ryan Lenora Brown

20 12, 2016

Mothers, Babies Of Navajo Nation Exposed To High Levels Of Uranium

2017-11-01T13:39:05-04:00Tags: |

Researchers with the Navajo Birth Cohort Study are taking ongoing action to expose the harms to mothers and babies posed by the brutal legacy of uranium mining on Diné lands in the Four Corners Region of the United States. Despite an end to intensive uranium mining many decades ago, insufficient clean up efforts, historical injustices, and violation of Indigenous rights have left 500+ open abandoned uranium mines which continue to threaten the lives and futures of residents every day. Photo credit: Kristy Blackhorse/Malcolm Benally

12 12, 2016

For Indigenous Women, Land Access Essential To Eradicating Gender-Based Violence

2017-07-16T13:34:59-04:00Tags: |

In this interview, Myrna Cunnigham, a Miskita feminist, Indigenous rights activist and president of the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) in Nicaragua explains why the gender-based violence Indigenous women and girls experience within their communities cannot be separated from colonisation or traditional territorial governance systems. As climate change and land grabs threaten Indigenous women’s role as traditional protectors of Mother Earth, Cunningham invites people worldwide to mobilise against gender-based violence, as it is also a matter of collective rights. Photo credit: Intercontinental Cry

27 11, 2016

Women Move From Victims Of Climate Change To Climate Leaders

2017-10-27T02:27:14-04:00Tags: |

Women around the world are uniting to demand the opportunity to be part of the solution for climate justice. Coverage of a Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network event at the COP22 climate talks shares the struggles and triumphs of women fighting for climate justice, from the Navajo Nation to the camp at Standing Rock to Morocco. Women are leading work to defend food, seeds, water and land, and are driving real climate solutions. Photo credit: Rodrigo Buendia/AFP/Getty Images

15 11, 2016

Women And Girls Coping With Drought And Climate Change In Mozambique

2017-11-01T13:42:28-04:00Tags: |

Climate change has been fueling extreme drought in Mozambique, and the women and girls of the country are bearing the brunt of the harsh conditions. Out of sheer desperation to provide for their families, more women are turning to “survival sex” and other forms of sexual labor in exchange for money and food. There also seems to be an increase in child marriage, as families attempt to reduce the number of dependents in their family. We stand with our sisters and raise our voices to highlight the unique and dire ways in which climate change is already impacting women and girls around the world. Photo credit: CARE

1 11, 2016

The WECAN Women’s Climate Action Agenda

2017-11-01T10:01:24-04:00Tags: |

Drawing from the input and calls to action of over 100 global women leaders united by the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network, the comprehensive ‘Women’s Climate Action Agenda’  and ‘Women’s Climate Declaration’ set forth a strong analysis of how women are most impacted by climate change; and the solutions which they are calling forth and building - from eco-cities to international policy and trade; from seeds and farming, to oceans - from reconnecting with Nature, to the just transition for 100% renewable energy. Photo credit: Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network

1 11, 2016

How Do You Decide To Have A Baby When Climate Change Is Remaking Life On Earth

2017-11-01T01:25:06-04:00Tags: |

Madeline Ostrander, an environmentalist journalist, ponders having children in a world with climate change. Elaborating on Paul and Anne Ehrlich’s theory about how the population boom and lack of resources would have terrible consequences for the world, she writes about the struggles that people such as herself, aware of the world’s reality, face when dealing with this personal, though with common, choice. She also writes about Meghan Kallman and Josephine Ferorelli, and their project Conceivable Future, through which they want to open a place for compassionate discussion regarding bearing kids in an era of climate change. Photo credit: Karl-Raphael Blanchard

30 10, 2016

Indigenous Sexual Assault Survivors Plead For United Nations Action Against Canadian Mining Giant

2017-10-31T15:34:03-04:00Tags: |

Barrick Gold, the Canadian mining giant and the world’s largest gold producer, is infamous for human rights abuses and ecocide. Nearly 120 sexual assault survivors from Papua New Guinea have taken their case to the United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva, demanding justice for the sexual and domestic violence that they and many more have faced over the years at the hands of mine security personnel working at Barrick Gold’s Porgera mine.

27 10, 2016

Challenging Corporate Power: Struggles For Women’s Rights, Economic And Gender Justice

2017-10-27T01:46:50-04:00Tags: |

This is a joint report produced by AWID and the Solidarity Report, a result of studies conducted in early 2016 in São Paulo, Brazil. It includes an analysis of the effects that corporate power has on the lives of women, including women from the LGBTQI community, Indigenous and black women, human rights defenders, and female workers. The struggles of these women in defying big corporations is portrayed in the report, and the recommendations at the end mention the need to seek collective power through various social movements. Photo credit: AWID

26 10, 2016

The Link Between Oil Pipelines And Sexual Assault

2017-10-31T19:30:44-04:00Tags: |

Force: Upsetting Rape Culture, a survivor-led art and activism group, has created an infographic to demonstrate that Native women are at greater risk of sexual assault where oil pipelines are being built. The infographic details in particular the dangers for women of the Standing Rock Sioux. The state of North Dakota, which produces more oil than any other state, obtains most of this oil from tribal lands. To do so, areas known as “man camps” are set up to house oil workers in close proximity to Native communities, which facilitates an increase in sexual violence that cannot be prosecuted by Native Nations. Building the Dakota Access Pipeline has impinged on not only water safety but also women’s safety. Photo credit: Paulann Egelhoff

26 10, 2016

Driven To Dhaka By Climate Change Disasters, Bangladeshi Girls Harassed Into Marriage

2017-10-26T00:12:38-04:00Tags: |

Driven into cities after losing land, farms and crops due to climate change disasters, poor Bangladeshi families, in fear of sexual harassment, bad reputation and loss of honor for the family, marry off their girls at an early age, explains Shahana Siddiqui, a gender specialist at Dhaka’s BRAC University. This short documentary approaches two 14-year-old girls, originally from villages in Jamalpur, whose families had to migrate to the capital after they lost their farms to natural disasters. Watch the film to know more about Brishti and Razia, one already married and divorced and the other trying to postpone her marriage as much as she can, despite her father’s wishes. Photo credit: Thomson Reuters Foundation

25 10, 2016

Silver Power: Swiss Grannies Challenge Government’s Weak Climate Policies

2017-10-19T22:59:29-04:00Tags: |

Klima Seniorinnen (Senior Women for Climate Protection) are holding the Swiss government accountable for its climate inaction by submitting a legal petition to demand that their government take stronger action on climate change. The group is comprised of women above the age of 65 and with an increase of heat-waves across Europe, they are at a higher risk of suffering from cardiac arrest, respiratory and circulatory problems, heatstroke and dehydration. This is as much a fight for their wellbeing as it is for the future of the young of Europe. Photo credit: Huffington Post

6 10, 2016

Violence On The Land, Violence On Our Bodies: Building an Indigenous Response to Environmental Violence

2017-12-06T14:21:18-05:00Tags: |

This report by the Women’s Earth Alliance and Native Youth Sexual Health Network examines case studies from across Indigenous lands of the United States and Canada, including the Dine/Navajo Nation, Lubicon Lake Nation, Grassy Narrows First Nation, Ohkey Owingeh Pueblo, the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation, and others - asking why and how Indigenous women in frontline communities are being impacted by intense environmental racism, and sexual and gendered violence due to expansion of extractive and toxic industries in their homelands. It also examines community-based strategies being implemented to resist impacts to health, safety and the land. Photo credit: WEA  

1 10, 2016

Where Women Are Economically Empowered, There Are Fewer Disaster Victims

2017-11-01T23:45:51-04:00Tags: |

Kelly F. Austin of Lehigh University and Laura A. McKinney of Tulane University used data from 85 less developed nations for their study entitled “Disaster Devastation in Poor Nations: The Direct and Indirect Effects of Gender Equality, Ecological Losses, and Development.” The study aims to quantitatively assess the drivers of suffering from disasters across less developed nations reveals that women who are economically empowered have a disproportionately positive impact on disaster outcomes. The researchers found that advancing the economic status of women reduces the proportion of people affected by disasters directly, because economically empowered women are able to better prepare for and respond to disasters and indirectly, as they enhance health resources in the community that help reduce harm and prevent death.

8 09, 2016

Supporting Mali’s Women Farmers To Adapt To Climate Change

2017-07-19T20:49:35-04:00Tags: |

Women farmers in Mali are seeing their crops suffer from drought linked to climate change. In response, Fatoumata Diarra, a member of the women’s cooperative in the village of Massantola, explains how women in her community are using water-efficient agroecological practices to produce vegetables for consumption and sale. Part of the profits are reinvested into the maintenance of both a solar-powered well and mill that grinds grain into flour, freeing women's time for other endeavors. Photo credit: Imen Meliane/UNDP Climate Adaptation Mali

29 08, 2016

Small Grants Help Women Farmers In South Africa

2017-07-18T00:24:15-04:00Tags: |

Florah Maswanganyi is a small-scale farmer who began by raising chickens. Due to a chronic drought as a result of climate change, Florah’s chickens could not bear the heat and perished. Losing livestock and money each day, Florah decided to apply for a land access application. Florah was successful in obtaining two hectares of land that she has cleared and cultivated on her own, now farming vegetables like butternut squash and beetroot. Photo credit: UN Women/Helen Sullivan

13 06, 2016

Women As A Force Of Disaster And Climate Resilience: Bangladesh Perspective

2017-11-01T12:31:29-04:00Tags: |

Palash Mondal, Team Leader of the Building Resilience of the Urban Poor (BRUP) Project at CARE Bangladesh, discusses the contributions of women in the face of climate resilience. The CARE initiative in Bangladesh sees women playing a transformational role on the forefront of social, economic and environmental hardships. CARE implements actionable resilience towards climate and disaster risk management in Bangladesh, thus playing a paramount role in the management, conservation and utilisation of natural resources. Photo credit: CARE

1 06, 2016

One Third Of Women And Girls Worldwide Don’t Have Toilets: Here’s Why That’s A Feminist And Environmental Issue

2017-11-01T01:37:48-04:00Tags: |

One third of women and girls across the world, primarily in developing countries, don’t have toilets at home, which makes them vulnerable to sexual violence. According to UNICEF, one in ten girls either drops out or skips school during their monthly cycle in developing countries. Lydia Zigomo, WaterAid’s head of region for East Africa, argued we need to look at deeper questions like 24/7 water supply to the toilet in densely populated settlements. Photo credit: AP/Channi Anand

14 05, 2016

Mariana Da Silva Morais Of Alto Alegre On Pollution Of The Environment

2018-02-14T22:22:13-05:00Tags: |

Mariana da Silva Morais, a sixteen-year-old student from the town of Alto Alegre in Brazil’s Maranhão, shares a self-produced video story about the severe living conditions her community has had to face over the past six years, demanding that public authorities take responsibility. Mariana describes how the Tapuio River is central to her community’s culture and livelihood, but is suffering from intense pollution from a nearby dump which has taken a toll on environmental and human health. Photo credit: Comundos

13 05, 2016

Air Pollution And Impacts On Women’s And Children’s Health And Climate Change

2017-11-01T12:38:00-04:00Tags: |

Dr. Margaret Chan of the World Health Organization shares an analysis on the impacts of air pollution on women and children globally, and provides pointed statistical data as well as alternative measures in effecting the reduction of air pollution—through global coalitions, participatory state involvement in environmental affairs and other strategies to reduce the harsh effects of air pollution on a globalised scale.

12 05, 2016

Women’s Wisdom Crucial To Beating Climate Change, Researcher Says

2017-10-14T16:03:43-04:00Tags: |

Researcher Virginie Le Mason, of the Overseas Development Institute, says involving women in decision-making is sometimes viewed as slowing down and complicating processes, but their views are crucial to dealing with climate change. Photo credits: Atlantis Images/Shutterstock.com

28 04, 2016

Pelenise Alofa On Losing Paradise

2017-10-25T22:33:33-04:00Tags: |

Climate activist Pelenise Alofa talks about the human impact of climate change and how it is affecting her homeland in Kiribati. Her unique background as a Banaban brings to light that history repeats itself. For Kiribati, the tone of migration could mean the difference between surviving and thriving. Photo credit: CGTN America

24 04, 2016

How One Woman Is Helping Climate Refugees Face The Realities Of Relocation

2017-10-31T20:33:15-04:00Tags: |

Dr. Robin Bronen is an international expert in the forced migrations of people. Her research explores the permanent disappearance of land due to climate change, and the impacts of warming on populations and migration.  Using her experience as an immigration attorney and her knowledge of the law, Bronen developed a legal “relocation” framework for people and countries facing climate-induced displacement to advocate for the rights of those impacted by “climigration,” now a term in the climate change lexicon.

22 04, 2016

Women Face Increased Risk Of Violence Due To Climate Change

2017-07-20T17:03:10-04:00Tags: |

Tess Vistro speaks on behalf of the National Federation of Peasant Women about the violence women in the Philippines face as a result of climate change, and the lack of inclusion of women in natural disaster preparation. Photo credit: Tess Vistro/Amihan, National Federation of Peasant Women  

21 04, 2016

U.S. Women Leaders Reflect On Health And Climate Change: What Is At Stake, What Can Be Done?

2017-11-01T13:51:39-04:00Tags: |

During a session of online U.S. Women’s Climate Justice Initiative Education and Advocacy trainings presented by the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network, women leaders Dr. Sylvia Hood Washington, Cherri Foytlin, Pramilla Malick and Dr. Perry Sheffield share their experiences as frontline community leaders and professionals working with issues of environmental pollution and human health impacts from climate change. Dr. Sylvia Hood Washington, Co-Advisor on the Environmental Justice Advisory Board of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, shares on industrial pollution in Illinois and disproportionate impacts on communities of color; Indigenous leader Cherri Foytlin speaks on environmental racism and impacts of fossil fuels in Louisiana; Pramilla Malick of Protect Orange County and Stop the Minisink Compressor Station speaks on her community investigation to expose health impacts of fracking and gas infrastructure; and Dr. Sheffied, Environmental Pediatrician, presents on how toxic exposure and environmental degradation affects children’s health. Photo credit: Emily Arasim/WECAN

4 04, 2016

Women’s Rights Undercut By Bangladesh Water Crisis

2017-07-12T19:42:35-04:00Tags: |

Chandrika Banarjee is the director of the Bengali NGO Women’s Uplifting Organisation, which focuses on the health and environmental rights of women in southern Bangladesh. She discusses how the coastal water crisis in her country impacts women's health and economic opportunities. Photo credit: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP

8 03, 2016

Why Climate Change Is A Gender Equality Issue

2017-07-20T17:09:10-04:00Tags: |

Around the world, women are disproportionately impacted by climate change, as they make up three quarters of the global poor and face the most immediate consequences of gender-based social and economic inequality. But women offer powerful solutions to climate change, such as in rural communities across Africa where women are selling solar lamps that provide clean, safe energy and bring in revenue. Photo credit: Greenpeace

23 02, 2016

PFPI: Women Of The Shore

2017-09-21T18:25:22-04:00Tags: |

The abundant marine resources of the Verde Island Passage, a conservation corridor, are the source of food and livelihood for the fishing communities of Oriental Mindoro. Women from these communities share how climate change reduces their livelihood opportunities. Their stories underline the need for integrated solutions that encompass key elements, including population and environmental health, needed to build climate-resilient communities. Photo credit: PATH Foundation Philippines, Inc.

3 02, 2016

Zika: A Perfect Storm Of Climate Change, Disease And Reproductive Rights

2017-07-20T17:11:57-04:00Tags: |

Zika virus has spread rapidly across 23 countries and regions in the Americas. Along with dengue, malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases, the spread of Zika virus is interlinked with the effects of climate change. The virus has also highlighted the challenges to maintaining women’s sexual and reproductive health in the region. Photo credit: Felipe Dana/Associated Press  

17 12, 2015

Empowering Ugandan Girls As Environmental Change Agents

2017-10-08T22:36:43-04:00Tags: |

In Uganda and throughout the Global South, the toxic fumes that firewood stoves emit are resulting in respiratory diseases that take the lives of up to 4 million people a year. Since women are primarily responsible for cooking, they are most impacted. In addition, rainforests are being chopped down for firewood without any reforestations efforts. In response, the Girl Up Initiative Uganda is guiding a project that tackles this problem by providing clay cookstoves that are less harmful for women’s health and the environment. The project is also also providing women the possibility to earn an income through producing charcoal briquettes. Photo credit: GUIU

14 12, 2015

Rising Sea, Rising Strength

2017-11-01T12:51:47-04:00Tags: |

Marina Parvin, a researcher using feminist participatory-action methodologies, collaborated with women including Aneema Rani Muda to investigate climate change adaptation strategies and policy responses among the Munda Indigenous people of Shyamnagar, Bangladesh. These Indigenous communities, especially women, are suffering the most due to dependence on natural resources. Bangladesh emits 44 times less carbon dioxide than the United States, yet is feeling the brunt of climate impacts such as erosion and sea level rise. To fight climate change, these women are adapting strategies such as rainwater harvesting and hanging gardens, and to generate a source of income, they have started crab farm. One of the Munda women, Rajkumari Munda, was even selected as a member of the Village Policing Committee. Photo credit: Asia Pacific Forum on Women and Development

12 12, 2015

Women, Work and Climate Justice In The Philippines

2017-09-24T18:19:18-04:00Tags: |

This documentary, produced by the Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development (APWLD) and the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTHUR) as part of the Climate Justice Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR), focuses on poor women impacted by climate change in the urban area of Metro Manila, Philippines. These women tell their struggles due to results of climate change such as the Typhoon Ondoy in 2009 and constant heat waves. Another result is the increased vulnerability of Filipino women working in extremely low-paying jobs with no security regarding their future, while having to take care of their home and children. These women have been acting on the issues at hand by mobilizing their communities through a climate justice movement. Photo credit: APWLD

1 12, 2015

Women Hold The Solutions To Rebuild After Disaster

2017-07-20T17:25:14-04:00Tags: |

Women remain more likely than men to die because of natural disasters and climate change-related events. Despite offering creative and local solution to climate change issues, women are still often excluded from decision-making and lack legal assets, rights and the resources to rebuild their lives after natural disasters. Photo credit: Jose Miguel Gomez/Reuters

25 11, 2015

Reproductive Rights In Native America

2018-02-22T20:10:09-05:00Tags: |

Indigenous peoples around the world are experiencing dire impacts from colonization, fossil fuel, mining and other extractive industries - and Indigenous women are additionally facing major violations and challenges to their bodies and health. Indigenous women face disproportionately high levels of sexual violence, and are often restricted in their access to reproductive health care. However many Indigenous-women led groups are pushing for change. The Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Centre (NAWHERC) on the Yankton Sioux Reservation, South Dakota, and young leaders in the Diné (Navajo) Nation, Keioshiah Peter and Jake Skeets who have created the #RezCondomTour to promote safe sex and expression in Dinétah. By connecting the campaign to Diné culture and philosophy, as well as the decolonization and climate justice movements, they have attracted many young followers. Photo credit: Medium

9 11, 2015

Land Collective Empowers Bolivian Women

2017-07-17T16:47:43-04:00Tags: |

The women-led community of María Auxiliadora, on the outskirts of Cochabamba, promotes women’s land rights and offers women a safe place and economic independence. María Eugenia, current President of the community, came here with her son to escape her violent ex-husband and build a new life. Photo credit: Carey Averbrook  

2 11, 2015

The Future Of Work: Consider The Changing Climate

2019-01-21T19:59:03-05:00Tags: |

Juliet B. Schor, sociology professor at Boston College, wants to talk more about how climate change, and not just new technologies, will affect the future of work. Her research has found that countries with fewer work hours also have lower carbon emissions: more leisure, rather than production, is maximized. She outlines her vision of a short-hours, high satisfaction economy in the book “Plenitude”. Long hours not only degrade an employee base but also the environment. These key findings provide insight into how to lower emissions and boost economic and social well-being. Photo Credit: Tatiana Grozetskaya/Shutterstock

27 10, 2015

Policy Brief: Gender Equality In Climate Change Adaptation In Vietnam

2017-10-27T02:07:54-04:00Tags: |

Vietnam has a long history of women’s organizing through various groups such as the Vietnam Women’s Union, and has passed robust laws to fight gender inequalities. Within the context of its high vulnerability to climate change due to increased flooding, typhoons and extended drought, it is imperative that the solutions crafted are responsive to the ways in which asymmetries of power between men and women play out.

25 10, 2015

The Impact of Hazardous Chemicals on Women

2017-10-25T22:54:21-04:00Tags: |

Although there is a depth of information about the health impacts of specific chemicals on women, there still remains a dearth of research and knowledge on the topic of women and chemicals in general. This report by Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF) attempts to fill this gap as well as push for better recognition and legislation by policymakers of women’s health, rights and autonomy. They highlight the disproportionate impacts of hazardous chemicals on women and the socio-political and economic power relations at play. Photo credit: Women in Europe for a Common Future

25 10, 2015

Gold Mining And Women’s Struggle To Survive In Kalsaka

2017-10-25T22:51:28-04:00Tags: |

The Kalsaka area of Burkina Faso is famous for its gold production and for a long time, artisanal mining and family-based agricultural production co-existed. But with the entry of industrial gold-mining supported by the state, companies like Cluff Mining and Amara Mining took over large tracts of fertile land and also employed security personnel to deny local artisanal miners access to the gold fields. This has completely altered the livelihoods of these communities and more so for the women who took part in both farming and artisanal mining. Not only has the industrial production of gold contaminated and taken away their land, it has also led to the militarization of their community and the effective erasure of their age-old role in the artisanal gold production and trade.

25 10, 2015

Extractivism’s Impacts On Women’s Bodies, Sexuality And Autonomy

2017-10-25T22:48:56-04:00Tags: |

This collection of six papers produced by the WoMin alliance focuses on the environmental, social and economic impacts of industrial mining to working class, poor and peasant women in Sub-Saharan Africa. The papers deal with the realities of sex work associated with the mining industry, sexual and reproductive health rights of the women working in mines and in proximity to mining areas, migration issues, the toxic masculinities witnessed within mining communities and the violence which women in these spaces often endure. This collection serves as a reminder of the myriad of problems that extractivist projects bring with them and specifically the gendered nature of these issues, which our movements must constantly analyze and work to dismantle.

6 10, 2015

New Research Shows How Climate Change Will Influence Infant Health

2017-10-31T20:11:45-04:00Tags: |

Researchers from the University of Utah, led by Kathryn Grace, spent two years examining the relationship between fetal development and pregnant women’s exposure to low precipitation and very hot days. They studied data from 19 African countries and found a strong link between reduced rainfall and high heat and low infant birth weight. Low birth weight is a worldwide public health problem, associated with numerous health issues and resulting in economic burdens.

30 09, 2015

Four Ways Climate Change Affects Women More Than Men

2017-07-12T21:34:26-04:00Tags: |

Women and girls in communities from Mozambique to Bolivia are more vulnerable than their male counterparts to the impacts of climate change in many aspects, from food security to health and education. However, women are also taking action to combat climate change, benefiting from initiatives such as a water access campaign launched by the Self Employed Women’s Association in Gujarat, India, and farming associations in Mozambique that place collective responsibility on finding solutions to climate disasters, such as planting drought-resistant species of rice, corn, and cassava. Photo credit: Elisa Walton/USAID

15 09, 2015

After The Floods Come Human Traffickers

2017-07-20T17:17:32-04:00Tags: |

The combined effects of climate change and extreme poverty in places such as the Sundarban region of India have made it easier to lure women and children into forced prostitution, marriage and labor. But through education, women and their communities are fighting back. Once forced to leave school earn money after floods destroyed her family home, 15-year-old Ronja Khatun completed her education and works with a local charity to educate her peers about human trafficking. Photo credit: Sam Eaton

28 08, 2015

5 Ways That Black Women Suffered Due To Katrina

2019-03-04T01:23:31-05:00Tags: |

A report published by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWRP) reveals the ways black women, especially those in public housing, struggled and suffered because of Hurricane Katrina. After interviewing 184 black women in public housing, the institute came away with five major insights dispelling myths about hurricane recovery. While some black women did find better lives in other cities, most of the black women interviewed wanted to come back to New Orleans. But, the report found, this transition was made very difficult because of poor recovery practices that often exacerbated existing inequalities. The report found that most women did not have enough housing to return to; the new housing situation also brought insecurities and a sense of not belonging to one place; and the vouchers provided aren’t covering their daily needs. Further, the public transportation infrastructure makes it even more difficult to get to work, and social safety nets were disrupted, making black women more vulnerable to various kinds of violence. Among IWRP’s recommendations were: improve communication among service providers, expand tenant vouchers, diversify policies for women and inclusion of low income women, and prioritize the voices of low-income women in planning decisions. Photo Credit: REUTERS/Lee Celano

12 08, 2015

Climate Change Is Giving Child Marriage A Boost

2017-07-11T17:42:41-04:00Tags: |

A report by Human Rights Watch shows that in some areas affected by climate change, young girls are feeling social pressure to marry for security. For example, floods and cyclones increase the salinity of soils in coastal agricultural areas like Bangladesh's fragile Sundarbans mangrove forest, which depresses crop production and leads to malnutrition, poverty and out-migration. Young girls like Sultan are encouraged to marry young, "before their houses are swept away." Photo credit: Reuters  

7 08, 2015

Women Workshop The Gendered Impacts Of Mining

2017-10-31T15:12:16-04:00Tags: |

As part of the International People’s Conference on Mining, held in the Philippines, a workshop was held addressing the gender-specific impacts of mining and the role of women and human rights defenders. This article outlines the action points and resolutions agreed upon to support women in mobilizing their communities and forming resistance movements.

29 06, 2015

Women Leaders Speak Out To Change The Narrative On Health And Climate

2017-10-31T15:13:14-04:00Tags: |

As part of a Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network online training, women climate leaders Susan E. Pacheco M.D of the University of Texas; Pandora Thomas of EarthSeed Consulting LLC and the Black Permaculture Network; Angela Monti Fox of The Mothers Project; and Hannah Vogel with Climate Nexus shared experiences and calls to action as women working on the intersection of climate change and human health impacts. Dr. Pacheco discusses children as the “silent” climate change victims and details threats to maternal and children’s health from air and water pollution, as well as mental and emotional stress. Pandora Thomas discusses the connection between environmental racism, health impacts, climate vulnerability, economic insecurity crime and violence - and provides suggestions of strategies for engaging diverse communities in their own healing and liberation. Angela Monti Fox explores the expansion of fracking and natural gas exploitation in New York and Pennsylvania, and movements to expose and combat dangerous impacts. Hannah Vogel speaks on climate change as the largest human health challenge of the century, dependent on fundamental shifts in our energy production and consumption systems.

29 06, 2015

Women Address Health And Climate Change For Our Children And All Generations

2017-10-29T01:25:54-04:00Tags: |

Children, elders, and women are impacted with disproportionate severity by environmental pollution – and low-income communities are often marginalized and placed directly in the path of toxic sites and extreme weather events. As part of a Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network online training, three women leaders from different parts of the U.S. share their voices to expose and counter these dire impacts and injustices. Sheila Bushkin-Bedient, M.D. of the Institute for Health and the Environment presents on air pollution, and impacts including asthma, allergies, cardiac and pulmonary disease, lung and heart related hospitalizations, diminished lung function, and premature deaths. Journalist, blogger, mother, and grassroots community organizer, Pramilla Malick of Protect Orange County and Stop the Minisink Compressor Station speaks on damages caused by fracking and gas infrastructure in her community in upstate New York. Cherri Foytlin of Southern Louisiana speaks on the dual threat experienced by communities of color in her region, who face health and other hazards from oil extraction and refining, and again as climate disasters such as hurricanes hit their homes.

24 06, 2015

Why Climate Change Is A Women’s Rights Issue

2017-07-20T16:55:47-04:00Tags: |

Eleanor Blomstrom, Programme Director at the Women’s Environment and Development Organization, argues that sustainable development cannot be achieved without gender equality. Understanding the link between climate change and women’s rights is essential to fighting inequality and mitigating climate impacts. Photo credit: Shutterstock

16 06, 2015

DDT Chemical Linked To Fourfold Increase In Breast Cancer Risk

2017-06-25T21:06:00-04:00Tags: |

Epidemiologist Barbara Cohn led a study which revealed that women exposed in the womb to DDT, a powerful pesticide, face a quadrupled risk of developing breast cancer. The pesticide is still used sub-Saharan Africa to kill mosquitos and fight malaria epidemics. Photo credit: John Stanmeyer, National Geographic Creative

1 05, 2015

Book Review by Sehin Teferra: The Remaking Of Social Contracts: Feminists In A Fierce New World

2017-11-01T12:59:39-04:00Tags: |

With the special focus on “gender power” in the global south, the new book The Remaking of Social Contracts: Feminists in a Fierce New World raises the question of structural inequalities both in governmental approaches and non-governmental methods towards empowering women. Connecting the dots between climate change and consumption habits, Sefin Teferra, a PhD Candidate in Gender Studies at SOAS, University of London and a writer for Development Alternatives for Women in a New Era (DAWN), is highly critical of neo-liberal state where common natural resources like water and food get privatized and women’s unpaid work is not recognized. Finally, Teferra highlights the absence of women’s groups demanding climate justice and urges the reader to see women as active participants of development, not as victims.

30 04, 2015

Climate Equality: Women On The Front Lines

2017-09-13T11:09:09-04:00Tags: |

Women affected by climate change in areas such as the Carteret Islanders (in Papua New Guinea), Central Vietnam, Nepal, and Bangladesh are being recognized on this article for their protagonism and resilience in the fight against climate disasters. These women's work ranges from giving first-aid classes to advocating for the creation of drinking water facilities, and governments in these locations are working with local women groups to create policies for climate change adaptation. The Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law, and Development used the Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) to increase women leadership in developing policies on climate. One of the protagonist groups in these efforts is the Mugal Indigenous Women's Upliftment Institute, which focuses on the adaptation of farming practices for extreme weather conditions due to climate change. The Mugal women have also been leading efforts to create climate policies in Nepal, working with the government to include traditional knowledge in initiatives against climate change. In Bangladesh, women's groups are also working with government officials to draft new environmental policies, especially on alternative crop productions. A female leader of one of these movements was elected as a member of the Village Committee in the southwest of Bangladesh, near the Sundarban mangrove forests. Photo credit: The Huffington Post

3 04, 2015

Canadian Mining Firm Compensates Papua New Guinea Women After Alleged Rapes

2017-06-26T07:53:22-04:00Tags: |

The Barrick Gold Corporation, a Canadian-based gold mining company, agreed to pay compensation to a group of local Enga women and girls, some as young as 14, after they spoke out about rape and assault by police and security staff at the company's mines in Papua New Guinea. EarthRights International defending the women in United States court and secured reparations, while supporting women to make their stories public. Photo credits: Borja Sanchez-Trillo/ Getty Images

17 03, 2015

Climate Change And Natural Disasters Affecting Women, Peace And Security

2017-06-26T07:56:41-04:00Tags: |

A full report by the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development highlights the link between climate change and international security. The report outlines the importance of acknowledging the connections between climate change, conflict and poverty as factors affecting women, peace and security. Photo credit: Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development  

8 03, 2015

Lured By Marriage Promises, Climate Victims Fall Into Trafficking Trap

2017-06-25T21:27:18-04:00Tags: |

Young girls, such as 13-year-old Sunetra, are increasingly becoming the victims of sex trafficking after poverty and desperation force them into marriage at a young age. Areas worst affected by the impacts of climate change, such as the Sundarban region of southern India, are hotspots for traffickers. Photo credit: tuschman.wordpress.com

7 03, 2015

Facing Violence, Resistance Is Survival For Indigenous Women

2017-10-06T19:31:52-04:00Tags: |

Throughout North, Central and South America, Indigenous women are fighting battles against fossil fuel extraction, mining and the sexual violence that accompanies these projects. For example, women elders from the Klabona Keepers are leading non-violent blockades to protect the Sacred Headwaters in British Columbia from mining contamination, while their peers participate in the Unist’ot’en blockade against fracked gas pipelines. In Panama, the first-ever woman chief of the Ngäbe Buglé people successfully led a grassroots resistance to halt the construction of the Barro Blanco hydroelectric project. In Ecuador and Peru, women are key leaders in blocking the construction of gold, silver and copper mega-mine projects. Photo credit: 15MBcn_Int/ mtmundo.org

31 12, 2014

ASIA Indigenous Peoples Pact Foundation Report On Indigenous Women And Climate Change

2017-09-22T22:52:48-04:00Tags: |

This report, commissioned by the ASIA Indigenous Peoples Pact Foundation, details the relationships between on Indigenous women and climate change. Indigenous women are suffering from triple discrimination: for being women, being Indigenous, and economically marginalized. Subsequently, many Indigenous women are often obstructed from exercising their individual and collective rights. In Asian countries such as Thailand, Indigenous women are restricted from asserting their ecological knowledges in local areas.

2 11, 2014

Mapping Gender-Based Violence And Mining Infrastructure In Mongolian Mining Communities

2017-11-02T00:13:20-04:00Tags: |

Dr. Isabel Cane conducted research in South Gobi, Mongolia, on the extent of gender-based violence that women face in communities closest to the expanding mining industries in this area. Her findings suggest that social and cultural changes including family breakups, domestic violence, and prostitution are increasing around large-scale mining operations. She has prepared recommendations for policy makers to address violence in mining-adjacent communities.

30 10, 2014

Nalini Singh Of Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women At COP20

2017-10-30T21:06:01-04:00Tags: |

In this interview from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP20 meeting in Lima, Peru, Nalini Singh of the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW) discusses the how climate change is negatively impacting women’s sexual reproductive health and human rights. For example, she shares how women often have more children than desired because they lack options or information on family planning. Photo credit: Climate Home

27 10, 2014

Those Who Own Little, Live On Little Carry Highest Burden Of Climate Change

2017-10-31T16:22:47-04:00Tags: |

Alina Saba, a Limbu Indigenous woman from Nepal, was one of four candidates selected by United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service to speak at the UN Climate Summit in 2014. She was surprised to see kind of disparity between the developed world and developing world as soon as she entered New York City. Unfortunately, women comprise 70% of the world’s poor and contribute the least to climate change, yet they are facing the brunt of climate impacts. Even so, Saba has hope that locally-driven equitable systems for creating sustainable world (which require funding from stakeholders) can promote gender equality. Photo credit: Alina Saba

25 10, 2014

Identifying Opportunities For Action On Climate Change And Sexual Health

2017-10-25T23:03:29-04:00Tags: |

This study released by Arrow, a women’s sexual and reproductive rights group, provides guidance for addressing gender equality as well as sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in the context of climate change. This study reveals that gender equality objectives are being mainstreamed and incorporated in national level adaptation plans and policies. However, the degree to which these gender equality objectives are being operationalised, through appropriate and sustained allocation of human and financial resources along with political leadership and commitment, remains uncertain. Arrow offers solutions such as continuing the collecting of data and information, building and adapting on existing progress, and supporting women seeking support in these matters.

16 10, 2014

Climate Change Is About Women: Sowing Resilience In Peri-Urban Bolivia

2017-10-16T23:01:40-04:00Tags: |

This profile of the women-lead Maria Auxiliadora community in Cocabamba, Bolivia, highlights the innovative leadership of local women to fight both patriarchy and climate change. For example, Doña Irene Cardozo farms her own land and keeps her own home, finding support in this community after escaping a violent household. Doña Rosa Angulo speaks about learning community and solidarity via collectively dehydrating vegetables for consumption and sale.  Photo credit: Carey Averbook

26 09, 2014

Mugal Women On What Climate Change Means For Indigenous People

2017-07-17T17:46:37-04:00Tags: |

The impacts of climate change, from melting glaciers to changing monsoons, have damaged crops and added to the daily work burdens of the Indigenous Mugal women of Nepal. Alina Saba of the Mugal Indigenous Women Upliftment Institute has worked for several years to document the impacts of climate change on Indigenous women through participatory action research, which facilitates women’s empowerment in both local and international advocacy for climate adaptation in their communities. Photo credit: Toma Lama

24 07, 2014

Study Shows Link Between Extractive Industries, Domestic Abuse

2017-10-31T19:19:12-04:00Tags: |

New research suggests that resource extraction industries are linked with an increase in domestic and sexual violence against women. The Ending Violence Association of British Columbia (EVA BC) explains that factors such as a largely transient and male work force, increases in drug and other substance usage, and income disparity between sexes associated with such industries contribute to an increase in violence against women. In response, EVA BC is working to produce new training protocol aimed at incoming employees involved in resource extraction. Photo credit: Deborah Baic/The Globe and Mail

1 07, 2014

Women, E-Waste, And Technological Solutions To Climate Change

2017-11-01T13:09:45-04:00Tags: |

Researchers Lucy McAllister, Amanda Magee, and Benjamin Hale have published a study suggesting that technological solutions to climate change may disproportionately and adversely impact some populations over others. Many of the most attractive technological solutions, such as solar energy and electric car batteries, will likely add to the growing stream of electronic waste (“e-waste”). The accumulation of such waste is burdens women disproportionately, affecting their mortality/morbidity and fertility, as well as the development of their children. As such, greater inclusion and recognition of women waste workers and other disenfranchised groups is necessary for ensuring climate justice in policy solutions.

2 06, 2014

Gender Inequality And Urban Informality

2017-11-01T12:25:20-04:00Tags: |

Charlotte Scott from SouthSouthNorth, an environmental NGO based in Cape Town, writes about issues related to African urbanisation and informal settlements. Scott states that an understanding of climate resilience within these contexts should be assessed alongside with the impacts of climate change on women. Scott describes the challenges of women face in developing countries, where 44 percent of households are women-headed and women and girls are vulnerable to gender-based violence (using Bihar India’s “sanitation-related rape” as an example). Scott encourages a solution-based framework established on the statistical data of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific,  and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and the contributions of local government and policymakers in tackling the wideset issues pertinent within gender inequality and the reduction of risk in communities and nations. Photo credit: Meena Kadri

8 05, 2014

Why Effective Climate Policy Needs Women

2017-10-16T23:39:50-04:00Tags: |

One of the most dangerous outcomes of climate change is the way in which it rapidly exacerbates the already existing inequalities and entrenching of toxic power relations especially between men and women. While it is laudable that the UNFCCC negotiations have integrated gender equity principles within the agreements, it is important that a robust understanding of women’s experiences in their totality in addition to rejecting essentialist tropes over their lives is the foundation for any meaningful outcome. The common ‘add and stir’ approach to gender justice work must be rejected. Photo credit: UN Photos/Martine Perret

23 04, 2014

Climate Change Is Threatening My Connectivity

2017-10-26T21:16:36-04:00Tags: |

In this article, Sandra Gaitan Tabuyo illuminates the impact that climate change, via rainstorms and flooding, is having on internet access for Patagonians. She explains how these challenges infringe on the ability of women, in particular, to seek knowledge, tell their stories, cultivate networks, and share their visions for the future. Photo credit: World Pulse

1 04, 2014

Brazil’s Fisherwomen Blighted By Industrial Pollution

2017-11-01T23:59:50-04:00Tags: |

Edinilda de Ponto dos Carvalhos, a marisqueira fisherwoman from Brazil, is one of many women severely impacted by odorless chemical released by industrial development in the Pernambuco state of Brazil. The mud mixed in oil and waste causes itching, echoes Valeria Maria de Alcántara. Due to water pollution, these women have had to take other part time jobs to sustain their families. Photo credit: Felipe Ferreira/Getty Images

20 02, 2014

Study On Impact Of Climate Change: Ahmedabad’s Urban Poor Hit Hard By Heat Waves, With Women On The Frontlines

2017-11-01T12:13:34-04:00Tags: |

Zahra Shaik, a researcher at the Indian Institute of Public Health - Gandhinagar (IIPH), discusses the impacts of climatic heat waves on women situated in Ahmedabad, India. The impacts from heat waves mostly affect vulnerable women in the poverty-stricken urban areas of Ahmedabad. The heatwaves are found to contribute to the increase in mortality and resultantly spur the need for climate adaptation measures and mitigation within local government (Ahmedabad’s Municipal Council) and a coalition of partners within the IIPH(G) and the Natural Resource Defence Council (NRDC). A Heat Action Plan was implemented, including Shaik’s Health Impact Assessment. Both documents establish frameworks upon which the implications of health, the vulnerability of urban Indian communities and the establishment of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures can be encouraged within Ahmedabad. Photo credit: Zahra Shaik

1 01, 2014

Gender, Climate Change And Health

2017-11-01T12:20:49-04:00Tags: |

This collaborative research document was conducted between the Department of Gender, Women and Health (GWH), and the Department of Public Health and Environment (PHE) of the World Health Organization (WHO). The piece discusses systematic gender inequality in matters of climate change and health. The conflation between climate change, health and gender paradigms are reviewed and conveyed through documented evidence of the implications of climate change on aspects of health as a result of gender differences. The document includes adaption and mitigation measures to assist in the protection and promotion of health.

30 10, 2013

Lee Maracle: Connection Between Violence Against the Earth And Violence Against Women

2017-10-30T20:15:03-04:00Tags: |

In this talk, writer, activist and performer Lee Maracle, from the Stó:l? Nation in what is now known as British Columbia, analyses the direct correlation between violence against the earth and violence against women. She explains that we must act against violence as it is among our responsibilities towards First Nations. Photo credit: Intercontinental Cry

29 10, 2013

Women At CSW 57 Confronting Unsustainable Development

2017-10-29T01:12:29-04:00Tags: |

During the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, feminists from all over the world raised their concerns about environmental degradation due to unsustainable production and consumption. For instance, in Guatemala, according to Norma Maldonado from NGO Tierra Verde, Indigenous women are deprived of their basic right to enjoy life because they have to walk long hours in order to get the drinking water primarily because extractive/mining industries are using their water recklessly. Isis Alvarez, young environmentalist from the Global Forest Coalition in Colombia, raised the issue of growing agro fuels in Latin America, which is impacting rural and Indigenous women. Similarly, Elina Doszhanova, a Kazakh woman from the NGO Social-EcoFun, observed that the nuclear arms race is poisoning the land of Kazakhstan in context of radiation and uranium mining. Lastly, Noelene Nabulivou of Development Alternatives for a New Era (DAWN) and DIVA for Equality in Fiji called for strong action against unsustainable development and violence against women in every form impacting women of the world.

25 10, 2013

Climate Change: What’s Gender Got To Do With It?

2017-10-25T23:06:26-04:00Tags: |

This short video by Pachamama Alliance on their Speaker Series featuring representatives of the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network gives us a glimpse into the various ways women feel the impacts of climate change, in addition to providing world useful links to follow in order to learn more. A plentiful of resources to grow our knowledge and change on impact on the Earth. Photo credit: Pachamama Alliance

15 10, 2013

Women In The World: Interview With Rosemary Enie

2017-10-16T23:42:30-04:00Tags: |

Rosemary Enie is a Cameroonian geologist and director of Women’s Environment Climate Action Network (WECAN), based in Tanzania. Enie works to make the connections between economic, socio-cultural rights and ecological justice, and for her, just like countless other women environmental activists, there is no climate justice without gender justice. As an African woman living on the continent, she sees firsthand the devastation that climate change is leaving and the growing need for a global solidarity of women committed to robust and holistic ideas of justice that not only center women’s lives and experiences but that also put them in the driver’s seat of these solutions. Photo credit: 1 Million Women

25 09, 2013

How Environmental Toxins Harm Women’s Reproductive Health

2017-10-25T23:51:32-04:00Tags: |

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, two leading groups of doctors and researchers, have found that environmental contaminants can adversely affect reproductive health. Their findings suggest that toxins in the environment are harming women’s ability to have children, as well as threatening the health of mother and child during pregnancy. The joint committee has issued a call for domestic policy changes, and are urging greater action by physicians to help prevent chemical exposure during pregnancy. Photo credit: Diego Vito Cervo/Dreamstime

25 09, 2013

Women And Climate Change: Supporting And Uplifting Women In Africa

2017-10-25T23:10:33-04:00Tags: |

In this compelling interview, Thom Hartmann, Osprey Orielle Lake and Rosemary Enie of Women’s Earth and Climate Action discuss the impact of climate change on women in Africa after the International Women's Earth and Climate Summit (2013). Women bare the brunt of the work when it comes to food and agriculture, as well as water and the growing cases of environmental changes, such as desertification, only increase the risks women face on a daily basis. Lake and Enie call for women to be seen as agents of change, rather than being seen as victims. Photo credit: The Big Picture RT

19 07, 2013

Women’s Work: Adapting To Climate Change In Manus, Papua New Guinea

2017-09-21T17:39:40-04:00Tags: |

As rising sea levels threaten livelihoods on the island of Manus, local women have taken matters into their own hands and formed the Women in Conservation (WIC) group to fight for the environment and food security. Their activities, including mangrove rehabilitation and backyard/atoll farming, help women cope with the effects of climate change on food production. Image credit: Climate & Community

11 03, 2013

Climate Change And The Potential Effects On Maternal And Pregnancy Outcomes

2017-10-31T19:21:40-04:00Tags: |

While climate change affects human health across the board, pregnant women, the developing fetus, and young children have increased sensitivity to the effects of climate change. The Lancet Commission’s assessment of published literature in the field of environmental health suggests that climate change will increase the risk of infant and maternal mortality, birth complications, and poorer reproductive health, especially in tropical, developing countries.

27 11, 2012

The Gender Dimensions Of Food And Nutrition Security In The Context Of Climate Change

2017-11-01T12:46:53-04:00Tags: |

Scovia Nambeiza and Rose Namuddu are among the many women farmers in Uganda who have to achieve a daily balance of household work, crop and livestock farming, and feeding their families. Because of their exhaustive roles, women are particularly vulnerable to climate impacts on food security and often limited in their access to tools and resources. Gender mainstreaming is important to engage both men and women in community climate solutions to account for inequities in social dynamics. Photo credit: Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice

19 10, 2012

Women At The Frontline Of Climate Change: Gender Risks And Hopes

2017-10-19T23:06:31-04:00Tags: |

An analysis of power relations is key to understanding just how women in the various spaces they occupy are both disproportionately affected by climate change but are also actively defying the gendered stereotype of ‘victimhood’ by providing leadership over this crisis in ways that subvert both patriarchy and capitalist economies. Photo credit: GRID Arendal

1 09, 2012

Experts Emphasize Women’s Role in Domestic Water Conservation

2025-01-25T11:39:23-05:00Tags: |

Simi Kamal, chairperson of the Hisaar Foundation and Karachi Water Partnership, is an expert on water conservation and its intersections with women’s rights. Under her leadership, a series of workshops and events have been arranged so that housewives in Karachi can better understand the need for conservation as well as learn appropriate conservation techniques. Another water leader, Farzana Saleem, also highlights how water management has traditionally been considered “women’s work” and so women are still the main, albeit informal, water managers in Pakistan. But their voice in these matters has also traditionally been neglected. Thus, the importance of organizations like South Asia Women and Water Network cannot be stressed enough. This organization provides a platform for women across South Asia so that their inputs concerning water management and conservation can be heard by the larger community. 

31 08, 2012

Women Spend 40 Billion Hours Collecting Water

2017-10-31T19:25:53-04:00Tags: |

According to the U.N. Development Programme, women in sub-Saharan Africa collectively spend an average of 200 million hours per day and 40 billion hours per year collecting water. Although women perform most water-related tasks, their participation in decision-making processes on water and food management remains very low. Lakshmi Puri, deputy executive director of U.N. Women, discusses projects in sub-Saharan Africa and other areas aimed at reducing women’s water-carrying burdens and expanding their participation in policy making.

29 05, 2012

Spotlight on gender and food security in Burkina Faso

2019-04-13T15:45:36-04:00Tags: |

Women play a large roll in the agricultural labor force of Burkina Faso. They are involved with sowing seeds, collecting water and wood, harvesting crops, processing grain, and preserving and processing non-timber. Despite doing so, they have limited knowledge on how to access resources and extension services such as micro-credits, land rights, access to technology and know-how. Additionally, they are also responsible for their children’s education, hygiene, and sanitation around the house. As the increasing effects of climate change loom ahead, there’s concern that women in Burkina Faso need to do more to find water and wood, with little regard for their responsibilities at home as a productive family member. Women are more likely to come in direct contact with the land as they are present from production to the processing of products. Given their relationship with agriculture, women have a more nuanced understanding of the impacts of climate change on land and community. Climate-proofed food security can only be achieved if gendered-approaches to climate adaptation are taken. In Burkina Faso, the challenge lies in lifting certain social barriers, which are rooted in tradition, religion, and culture. Photo Credit:  N. Palmer (CIAT)

25 05, 2012

Violence Against Papuan Women: The Resource Extraction Link

2017-10-25T23:49:18-04:00Tags: |

A new report by the International Center for Transitional Justice makes clear the links between natural resource extraction and violence against Papuan women. The report, titled Enough is Enough!, is the result of an initiative begun in 2009 to document incidences of violence against women and human rights abuses in Papua over the past four decades. The report also includes sections on the growth of women’s organisations, on domestic violence and on equality in the context of Papuan Indigenous institutions. Photo credit: International Center for Transitional Justice

2 11, 2011

Rural Women’s Adaptation Strategies In Indonesia

2017-11-02T00:21:11-04:00Tags: |

The participatory action research conducted by Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development explores some of the most important adaptation strategies rural fisherwomen in Cilincing, North Jakarta are using to cope with climate change. The report notes that these fisherwomen lack the control over resources due to prevalent social-cultural traditions, which often pushes them to opt for adaptation strategies like lowering family nutrition, collecting garbage, selling belongings and borrowing credit. Photo credit: Use Default

29 10, 2011

Women In The Philippines’ Cordillera Region Respond To Climate Change, Mining Threats

2017-10-29T01:22:13-04:00Tags: |

This report by the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development explores how Indigenous women farmers in the mountainous Cordillera region of the Philippines are feeling the impacts of climate change and extractive industries. Their livelihoods are threatened by typhoons, soil erosion and sea level rise, in addition to nearby extractive industries: 60% of the Cordillera region is occupied by gold-bearing ore and copper mining operations. However, women have mobilized to prevent the use of destructive fishing practices and promote reforestation, multi-cropping, crop diversification, and the community pooling of labor.

29 10, 2011

Rural Women’s Adaptation Strategies In India

2017-10-29T01:18:19-04:00Tags: |

Participatory-action research conducted by the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development  reveals that the widespread failure of agriculture, linked to climate-related drought, deeply impacts the lives of Dalit and Irular women in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. To cope with extreme weather changes, these women are seeking alternate employment in floriculture and wage labor, often bringing new health challenges. Further, they are adopting strategies such as collective farming and rainwater harvesting.

27 10, 2010

Women From Mining Affected Communities Speak Out: Defending Land, Life And Dignity

2017-10-27T01:59:49-04:00Tags: |

In this book, the International Women and Mining Network/Red Internacional Mujeres y Mineria (RIMM) is the voice for the millions of women affected by mining activities worldwide. It is a compilation of informative and inspiring case studies from different campaigns put together through the hard work and dedication of Sunita Dubey and Tanya Roberts-Davis. The book is divided into four regions: Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas with a list of resources for action. Photo credit: International Women and Mining Network/Red Internacional Mujeres y Mineria

30 10, 2009

Women And Climate Change: Vulnerabilities And Adaptive Capacities

2017-10-30T21:11:11-04:00Tags: |

In this article, International Union for the Conservation of Nature gender adviser Lorena Aguilar describes how climate change impacts are unevenly distributed across gender lines, and how women are key agents of change. Grassroots women are important drivers of community revitalization, natural resource management, forest preservation, and sustainable agricultural practices. The Global Gender and Climate Alliance aims to better integrate a gender-responsive framework in global, regional, and local climate discussions and decision-making.

24 09, 2009

Women, Gender Equality And Climate Change

2017-09-24T18:36:59-04:00Tags: |

UN WomenWatch is getting the facts right with this gender and climate change information sheet. Acting as a digital gateway for issues of women’s empowerment and gender equality, UN WomenWatch educates about how gender justice is dependent on climate justice. They advocate for the necessity of gender focused solutions to the impacts of climate change, especially in the domains of agriculture, food security, biodiversity, human settlements, and migration patterns — all arenas where global warming hits women the hardest. Women as drivers and leaders of energy and new technology and adaptation are fundamental in closing the gap between these climate and gender-related inequalities. Photo credit: UN WomenWatch

14 12, 2008

Environmental Disasters In The Asia-Pacific: What About Reproductive Health In Emergencies?

2018-02-14T22:04:43-05:00Tags: |

The Asia-Pacific is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change induced disasters, which pose a serious threat to maternal and infant health. Such was the case in Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis in 2008, where women in the Ayeyarwady Delta women were affected by the destruction of homes and roads, as well as the death of midwives, which increased the risks associated with childbirth. In 2004 in post-tsunami Indonesia, the interruption of access to reproductive health services, particularly contraceptives, impacted women on Aceh and Nias Islands. These examples and others emphasise the importance of a gendered approach to disaster management, and responses that recognize the two-way relationship between reproductive health and women’s empowerment.

19 10, 2008

Gender Perspectives: Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction Into Climate Change Adaptation

2017-10-19T23:23:59-04:00Tags: |

This reports highlights two main issues: the ways in which women in the developing world and on the frontlines of the climate crisis feel the impacts of climate change, and the positive change these women are  making in their communities. The report challenges the stereotypes that permanently place women as victims without agency, and emphasizes the importance of crafting and resourcing disaster risk reduction policies that put women firmly as solution providers. Photo credit: WECAN International

25 01, 2008

The Gendered Nature Of Natural Disasters: The Impact Of Catastrophic Events On The Gender Gap In Life Expectancy, 1981–2002

2017-10-25T23:53:52-04:00Tags: |

New research conducted by the Association of American Geographers addresses the specific vulnerability of girls and women to harm and even mortality from natural disasters. The study analyzes the causal impacts of disaster strength, life expectancy and women’s socioeconomic status on their vulnerability to disasters in 141 countries. The results show that women’s socially constructed vulnerability results in higher female disaster mortality rates compared to men.

8 03, 2007

Climate Change Will Affect Women More Severely Than Men

2017-10-31T19:27:38-04:00Tags: |

To celebrate International Women’s Day, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released a report entitled “Gender and Climate Change” that explores how women will be disproportionately impacted by climate change. The report explores how natural disasters and weather changes exacerbate extant inequalities in race, social class or political power. The report advocates for centering women’s voices in policy-making and disaster preparedness, as well as in all aspects of governance.

6 05, 2005

Tsunami Prompts Women’s Swimming Lessons

2025-01-25T11:39:44-05:00Tags: |

Opportunities for women to learn to swim were almost non-existent in Sri Lanka. Culture in Sri Lanka prevents mixed gender bathing in public pools that do exist and requires women to swim in the sea in full clothing. The 2005 Indian Ocean Tsunami took many lives of women and children that could have been saved had they known how to swim. After the tsunami, Christine Fonfe felt that it was time to shift cultural narratives around swimming. Girlie Ganage is among a group of women learning to swim and notes that, before the tsunami, women swimming would have been almost unthinkable. Now, there are groups aiming to make swimming lessons a part of the national school curriculum.  Photo credit: Tom Parker

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