November 09, 2020

The gender agenda in the climate change debate

topic:	Climate Change
editor:	Bob Koigi

Over the years the conversation on the adverse impacts of climate change on women has gained momentum. A body of research has equally made a strong case for the nexus between gender, the changing weather patterns and the future of our planet. And rightly so. As scholars, scientists and policymakers posit, women continue to bear the greatest brunt of the rising seas, the unprecedented floods, the prolonged droughts and the unpredictable vagaries of weather.

A big part of this has to do with what their work entails and their close interaction and contact with nature. In Sub-Saharan Africa for example, women have traditionally been at the driver’s seat of crucial duties like farming, fetching water or finding energy sources for household use.

Yet it has been an uphill task for women as they grapple with these tasks. From poor yields due to failed rains, to walking longer distances in search of water due to scarcity occasioned by prolonged dry spells, to a system that doesn’t allow them to own land which they farm, climate change has conspired against women, making them vulnerable and exposed. Indeed some of those who are frustrated due to these climate crises have turned to other jobs like sex work.

And as they battle such monumental challenges, women are still not fully empowered and informed about what climate change is, and how to adapt. African Development Bank noted that due to having limited information, women were 14 times more likely to die than men during natural disasters.

This is why the conversation, policies and their implementation should urgently move beyond boardrooms to the doorsteps of millions of ordinary women who continue to be buffeted by a phenomenon they know little about. An empowered and informed woman is the greatest warrior in the climate change fight.

Image by Goran Horvat

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