International Women&rsquo;s Day (March 1) reminds us this year that gender equality is not only a basic human right, but is also foundational for building a world where peace, prosperity, and environmental sustainability prevail. As the most complex challenge of our era, climate change requires coordination and a comprehensive, preemptive response. Evidence suggests that gender equality can lead to the adoption of fairer, more sustainable, and more effective solutions to the climate crisis. It is therefore vital to take gender into account when designing and implementing climate adaptation strategies (United Nations Development Program [UNDP], 2013).&nbsp;
<h3>The impact of climate change on women</h3>
According to the UNDP, the impacts of climate change are not gender neutral, and so strategies to address it can similarly not be neutral. The areas where the impact of climate change on women is most visible include:&nbsp;
Public health: some research has found a strong correlation between climate-related natural disasters and female mortality. Women and children, both girls and boys, are 14 times more likely to die in such disasters than men, whether directly due to a lack of skills and knowledge or indirectly in events subsequent to disasters (Bradshaw &amp; Fordham, 2013). In Bangladesh, women felt the impact of the 1991 storms and floods more keenly than men. The mortality rate among women ages 20&ndash;44 was 71/1,000, compared to 15/1,000 for men (Aguilar, 2009).&nbsp;
All over the world women are disproportionately affected by energy poverty due to the cumulative impact of the health and safety hazards associated with ineffective lighting, home air pollution, and polluting cooking fuel (Wedeman &amp; Petruney, 2019). Climate change may also increase the spread of communicable diseases to which women are particularly vulnerable, such as malaria (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights [OHCHR], 2019).&nbsp;
Food security: climate change leads to the deterioration of land and other natural resources and declining agricultural production all over the world, harming the poorest people in particular. Women often suffer from food insecurity due to their nutritional needs during pregnancy, nursing, and birth. The lack of food is also a factor for the spread of anemia among women, with anemia among women of reproductive age increasing from 30.3% globally in 2012 to 32.8% in 2016 (OHCHR, 2019). Data from India shows that natural disasters &mdash; typically floods, drought, and heat waves &mdash; result in less food for girls compared to boys (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO], 2018).&nbsp;&nbsp;
Livelihoods and decent work: the impacts of climate change can lead to resource attrition and the destruction of infrastructure, fueling unemployment and heightening gender imbalances in employment, where women face greater obstacles. Female-headed households, for example, may find it difficult to obtain humanitarian assistance or to benefit from post-disaster programs targeting the head of the household, often assumed to be a man (OHCHR, 2019).&nbsp;&nbsp;
Gender-based violence: as an indirect result of climate-associated natural disasters and gradual climate shifts, gender-based domestic violence has increased in developing countries due to stress, tension, and the disruption of social security networks (FAO, 2018).&nbsp;&nbsp;
Economic pressure arising from natural disasters and climate change can also lead to an increase in child marriage, early marriage, and forced marriage as a coping strategy. It is currently estimated that more than 1.5 million girls marry early as a direct result of climate change (Trevelyan, 2021).&nbsp;&nbsp;
The UN estimates that in 2018, 80% of people displaced due to climate change were women (Aguilar, 2009). Women&rsquo;s vulnerability to gender-based violence also increases during and after natural disasters due to the absence of social protection systems and food insecurity coupled with impunity for perpetrators of violence and the weakness of law enforcement institutions.&nbsp;&nbsp;
<h3>Why are women most harmed by climate change?</h3>
There is a strong link between gender inequality and climate change. Inequality increases the risks of climate change for women while at the same time, the pressures of climate change itself can exacerbate gender inequality (Roy, 2020). There are several factors that make the impacts of climate change more visible on women:&nbsp;&nbsp;
Limited opportunities for women: on average, women constitute 43% of the agricultural workforce in developing countries (FAO, 2011), but women own less than 15% of the world&rsquo;s land. Without an official deed to land, women are unable to obtain the funding necessary to absorb climate shocks and take advantage of climate-smart agricultural innovations (Trevelyan, 2021). In many areas, women have only limited opportunities to obtain agricultural extension services and climate information. In 2011 in 97 states, only 5% of such services were directed at women and only 15% of extension workers were women (FAO, 2011).&nbsp;&nbsp;
Weak opportunities to participate in decision-making: compared to men, women face major challenges in accessing all political levels and decision-making circles. In turn, women do not have an equal opportunity to influence and make policies that consider gender disparities and their own particular needs. A 2015 survey in 65 states found that only 35% of environmental ministries have an official responsible for integrating gender into ministry policies (Wedeman &amp; Petruney, 2019).&nbsp;&nbsp;
Poverty: poverty and climate change are closely linked, and since women make up 70% of the world&rsquo;s poor, they are more impacted by climate change (UNDP, 2013). Women also work in the informal and small enterprise sectors more than men, and these sectors are at times more vulnerable and less able to recover from the effect of natural disasters (Aguilar, 2009). Poverty is also associated with low education levels, which similarly restricts women&rsquo;s ability to access information and climate-related assistance compared to men; it also makes them less likely to respond to written early-warning announcements and guidance. Women are disproportionately represented in poor communities that rely on climate-sensitive livelihoods such as agriculture as their main source of food, income, and energy, meaning they are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change (UNDP, 2013).&nbsp;&nbsp;
Social and cultural customs: women may also be less able to access information or learn the skills needed to escape or evade hazards, such as swimming and climbing trees to escape rising floodwaters. In many societies, cultural and social customs, as well as childcare responsibilities, prevent women from migrating, seeking refuge elsewhere, or working during natural disasters (Osman-Elasha, 2012).&nbsp;&nbsp;
Insufficient international initiatives: until recently, the question of gender was neglected in international climate policy, and international initiatives devoted little attention to the social impacts of climate change on the poor, both men and women (Aguilar, 2009). According to some authors, the scant international attention given to gender inequality in the context of climate change resulted from the perceived need to focus attention and limited resources on more pressing global issues related to mitigation and adaptation policies. Typically, climate interventions prefer scientific and technological measures to &ldquo;soft&rdquo; policies that address behavior and social disparities, particularly when it comes to income and general opportunity (Lambrou &amp; Piana, 2006).&nbsp;&nbsp;
<h3>Toward women-friendly climate policies in Egypt</h3>
In order to strengthen women&rsquo;s contribution to climate response, adaptation, and mitigation efforts in Egypt, we should learn from the experiences of other developing countries that have implemented a set of important measures and mechanisms:&nbsp;&nbsp;
Laying the legal foundation to universalize the gender perspective in climate change and disaster risk management policies: in the Philippines, gender was incorporated in laws governing disaster risk management following the tropical storms of 2009, and the law was changed to provide for the inclusion of women in the administration of local committees to reduce the risk of disasters (Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, 2018). In 2019, Costa Rica launched a gender-equality action plan for its national strategy to reduce emissions resulting from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), becoming the sixth country in the world with a gender-sensitive strategic plan (UNDP, 2019).&nbsp;
Attention to educating women on the risks of climate change: the city of La Masica in Honduras suffered no deaths after Hurricane Mitch in 1998 thanks to the efforts of the disaster agency to educate the community on early warning systems and risk management months before the storm. Women and men were involved in all risk management and early-warning surveillance activities on equal footing (Aguilar, 2009).&nbsp;
Financial support for women who contribute to environmental protection: in May 2020, the government of Costa Rica initiated a program to provide financial resources and technical assistance to empower and support women&rsquo;s efforts to carry out high-impact activities in priority forests in the country. As part of the Women + Nature program, women are given loans and credit lines on easy terms for ten years and payments in exchange for environmental services, with the priority given to women who own forests and forest plantations. The only one of its kind in Latin America and the Caribbean, the program takes concrete measures to link environmental issues with gender equality and women&rsquo;s economic independence (Presidency of the Republic of Costa Rica, 2020).&nbsp;&nbsp;
Incorporating a gender perspective in climate-smart agricultural practices: a project in the Vietnamese village of My Loi adopted a gender-sensitive approach for climate-smart agricultural practices by training project facilitators and employees on participatory methodologies from the outset and universalizing gender-sensitivity in all the project&rsquo;s activities and training sessions. Membership in farmers&rsquo; unions was intentionally left open to allow spouses to participate in turns. This improved participation and the exchange of information within households on weather expectations, agricultural guidance, and the management of savings and loans, and it helped to empower women to direct the decision-making process in agriculture (Freeman, 2018).&nbsp;&nbsp;
Considering a quota to involve women in climate-related committees and projects: in Uganda, a joint program of the World Bank and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery sought to support government efforts to strengthen the financial resilience of the poorest groups in the face of natural disasters. To this end, public works projects were carried out, with the condition that women make up at least 40% of project participants (Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, 2018).&nbsp;
Plugging the knowledge gap on gender and climate change data: Mexico offers an important lesson in the provision of statistics on gender gaps in roles and expertise. For example, its Gender Atlas includes data on population, education, health, labor, decision making, time use, poverty, empowerment, violence, and indigenous peoples, all organized by gender. It shows the percentages of men and women working in agriculture, fisheries, and the electricity, water, gas and mining sectors. The Agricultural Census also contains important information on land ownership by gender, as well as percentages of men and women who sit on the boards of the Agricultural Land and Forests Administration. Mexico also conducts a national time use survey that offers important tools to improve our understanding of the disparities between men and women&rsquo;s roles, whether in unpaid labor like food preparation or rural activities such as plant foraging, fishing, land management, and animal husbandry (United Nations Environment Program, 2019).&nbsp;
<hr>
References
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<li style="font-size: 10pt;" aria-level="1">Bradshaw, S., &amp; Fordham, S. (2013). Women, girls and disasters &ndash; A review for DFID l<a href="https://gsdrc.org/document-library/">ibrary</a>.</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;" aria-level="1">Food and Agriculture Organization. (2011). The state of food and agriculture 2010&ndash;2011.</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;" aria-level="1">Food and Agriculture Organization. (2018). The state of food security and nutrition in the world 2018: Building climate resilience for food security and nutrition.</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;" aria-level="1">Freeman, K. (2018). Weather forecasts for all: Improving access to weather information for women and ethnic minorities. CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security.</li>
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<li style="font-size: 10pt;" aria-level="1">Lambrou, Y., &amp; Piana, G. (2006). Gender: The missing component of the response to climate change. Food and Agriculture Organization.</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;" aria-level="1">Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2019). Analytical study on gender-responsive climate action for full and effective enjoyment of the rights of women.</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;" aria-level="1">Osman-Elasha, B. (2012). In the shadow of climate change. UN Chronicle, 46(4), 54&ndash;55.</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;" aria-level="1">Presidency of the Republic of Costa Rica. (2020). Costa Rica launches financial program for women who protect natural resources.</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;" aria-level="1">Roy, K. (2020). Gender equity and climate change have more in common than you think. World Economic Forum.</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;" aria-level="1">Trevelyan, A-M. (2021). Advancing gender equality through climate action. International Monetary Fund.</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;" aria-level="1">United Nations Development Program. (2013). Overview of linkages between gender and climate change.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;" aria-level="1">United Nations Development Program. (2019). Gender equality in national climate action: Planning for gender-responsive nationally determined contributions.</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;" aria-level="1">United Nations Environment Program. (2019). Gender and environment statistics: Unlocking information for action and measuring the SDGs.</li>
<li style="font-size: 10pt;" aria-level="1">Wedeman, N., &amp; Petruney, T. (2019). Invest in girls and women to tackle climate change and conserve the environment. Women Deliver.</li>
</ul>

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