Climate Change ‘Impacts Women More Than Men’

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