Eighty-Five Percent Of Climate Change Commentators Are Men

An analysis by Media Matters point to the gender gap in the media portrayal of people affected by climate change. Around 86 percent of the people praised by the media platforms on the issue are men. The former president of the Sierra Club, Allison Chin, stated that the inequality women face regarding climate change is already extremely large in terms of the effects of environmental disasters, and the fact that the media makes the gender imbalance even larger is not helping to achieve gender equality. Senior policy analyst at the Center for American Progress and an expert in global climate policy Rebecca Lefton highlighted the importance of having women’s perspectives while Christiana Figueres, the previous Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, discussed the issue of women suffering the harsh impacts of climate disasters. Two recognized female scientists on climate, Heidi Cullen and Katherine Hayhoe, admit to sensing the gender disparity in their work for being women. Photo credit: Media Matters