Climate Change and Gender

In Africa it is estimated that 80 per cent of food is managed by women.

Climate change is a very serious threat to sustainable development and will endanger the attainment of the UN Millennium Development Goals. Combating climate change is directly linked with poverty eradication. Therefore, it is very important that we reach a comprehensive new agreement on climate change by the end of 2009.
Influencing climate change will require full commitment and action by both women and men. Finland draws attention to the positive role of women in the UNFCCC negotiations.

The most important measures to mitigate climate change will involve increasing the use of renewable energy, reforestation, and halting the rate of deforestation . Climate change will affect agriculture, food security and water management in rural areas, therefore, adaptation actions are needed. In developing countries, women are traditionally responsible for performing these functions; in Africa it is estimated that 80 per cent of food production is managed by women.

Women's role in relation to the climate change

• Women and girls are often responsible for collecting firewood and cooking. More efficient energy sources would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, provide better and safer access to energy. It would also provide energy for lighting that would promote educational opportunities once the sun goes down. 
• As women are responsible for growing the bulk of the food staples in developing countries, changes in climate, particularly with regard to growing seasons and precipitation, will have a profound impact on their work and on agricultural productivity. 
•  Women, as farmers, need better climate and weather information and they must be better involved in land use decision-making.
• As women play a significant role in agriculture, they could also play a major role in employing better agricultural techniques that could prevent the escape of greenhouse gases from the soil and from livestock as agriculture accounts for a large part of greenhouse gas emissions. 
• Women in rural regions could benefit from agricultural waste to energy projects.
• Furthermore, numerous studies show that the death rate for women is often up to four times higher in natural disasters compared to men. Women would benefit from disaster reduction strategies. So, to make the response to climate change effective, gender equity needs to be considered in climate-related measures, both for adaptation and mitigation. Mainstreaming gender into climate change responses is critical at the programme development and implementation level.

Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland: Climat Change and Gender (pdf 507 Kb)

Women`s Participation will be Important for Influencing Climate Change; Monrovia Call for Action (pdf 220 Kb)

Report of the International Colloquium on Womens Empowerment, Leadership Development, Peace and Security  - Monrovia, Liberia 7- 8 March 2009 (pdf 747 Kb)

Climate Change and Gender - side-event held by the Government of Finland in Poznan 2008 (pdf 426 Kb)