ENVIRONMENT | HEALTH
Re-Gendering Climate Change, Pt 2: Why Don’t We Ask the Women?
WORDS BY LAURA DARCEY | DARCEY@PROXYBYIWI.COM | 8 FEBRUARY 2024
Climate Change discussions and humanity’s response to its looming threats have long been dominated by men.
But research has clearly shown that including more women in decision-making forums
leads to better outcomes. Why are we still falling short of gender parity? And what consequences might we face if we fail to make a change?
Strolling around an international COP meeting you may feel buoyed by the level of representation displayed in the hallways. But once it’s revealed who is attending in senior positions, who has a speaking opportunity, and who is simply there as admin support – your hopes for the success of the climate negotiations may be lowered.
Simply put, greater diversity at international meetings leads to more positive outcomes. COP meetings should strive to include a range of diverse perspectives – but they are currently falling short.
At COP26, while women represented nearly half of the delegates, men were 60 percent of active speakers, and spoke for 74 percent of the time in plenary meetings. And at COP27 men represented 71 percent of senior positions within delegations. With men also occupying 90%+ of top positions in politics and business worldwide, it is clear who is currently in charge of humanity’s response to climate change.
But climate change will affect us all. Years of talks and negotiations spearheaded and dominated by men have left much to be desired. As climate change scientist David Ho tweeted upon seeing the speaker line-up for COP27: “At this point, maybe we should ask the women for help”.
The Need for Balance
Women, thanks to their stronger inclination towards collaboration, community engagement, and collective problem-solving, bring a different and vital perspective to climate negotiations.
Men are more likely to believe that our climate woes will be solved by technical innovation, data-driven analysis and economic strategies. While these efforts are important and may hold the key to combatting the climate crisis, they currently take precedence over equally important projects that emphasise community engagement and aim to mitigate vulnerabilities within human populations. These more stereotypically feminine concerns are often pushed to the wayside.
Male-dominated policy discussion may also become gender-blind, conflating ‘gender issues’ with ‘women’s issues’. When discussions are dominated by men, gender issues are downplayed and sometimes disregarded altogether, harming both men and women who are exposed to gender-specific vulnerabilities.
When women have a proportionate voice in climate discussions, better decisions are made. A study of 91 countries’ legislatures reveals that greater female representation in a national parliament leads to more stringent climate policy. Global scientists concur that inclusive, gender-sensitive governance enhances effective, sustainable adaptation, reducing vulnerabilities and climate risks.
Women play a critical role in climate policy. Their stronger ties to local networks provide valuable insights for negotiations, fostering a deeper understanding of crucial social issues. Increased female participation in climate talks enhances collective intelligence, enriching negotiating perspectives and yielding more favourable outcomes.
Gendered Vulnerabilities
The reality is, climate change will not affect us all equally, and it is vital that we work to address gendered vulnerabilities to climate change.
Women are disproportionately affected by the negative impacts of climate change, not because they are inherently more vulnerable, but because of inequalities in the political, social and economic realms. Seventy percent of the global poor are women. Climate-related disruptions increase the risk of interrupted schooling and early forced marriage for girls. Across the world, women encounter challenges recovering from climate-induced disruptions, experiencing higher rates of injury and mortality in environmental disasters. They encounter difficulties in accessing financial resources and support networks during crises, and face elevated levels of gender-based violence.
Men, too, confront gender-specific vulnerabilities to climate change, often assuming personal risks as providers for their families. Failing in traditional breadwinner roles can trigger hopelessness, heightened aggression, and insecurity, contributing to issues like violence, substance abuse, and severe stress. Climate-induced instabilities may escalate into armed conflicts, adding an additional array of gender-specific dangers for both men and women.
Barriers to Equality
So, how do we include more female voices in climate discussions? Politics, climate policy and climate science are not male-dominated because women are disinterested. In fact, women have been some of the most vocal proponents of climate change action in recent times. But access to these fields has remained out of reach for many, with barriers to entry for women and other marginalised groups.
Juggling family responsibilities and demanding careers in climate science and policy can be challenging for women, especially without sufficient support like childcare or flexible work arrangements. This challenge was exposed when some COP26 plenary meetings were held online and there was an uptick in female participation. When able to participate in international meetings remotely, women no longer experienced gendered constraints such as childcare responsibilities.
Gender stereotypes diminish the representation of women in STEM fields like climate science, and cultural biases often discourage girls from pursuing scientific careers, creating unwelcoming environments for women. Women who do decide to pursue climate science can face unequal access to education and resources, missed mentorship opportunities and can find themselves being passed over for opportunities in favour of men. Of the top 1,000 influential climate scientists measured by publication records, only 12.3 percent are women. Male scientists dominate discussions and writings, and several instances of women being uncredited, ignored, or even harassed have been reported.
Systemic sexism and ingrained misogyny perpetuate unequal opportunities and hinder the advancement of those outside the dominant demographic. Women report being overlooked in favour of men for delegation selection and leadership roles for COP negotiations. The chosen men receive more training, education and other resources, creating a cycle that leaves overlooked women less well equipped to participate actively in future climate negotiations.
Gender-parity in these fields is unlikely without the removal of barriers facing women and other marginalised groups. This involves dismantling ingrained stereotypes, implementing inclusive policies, and establishing programmes that empower and support women in pursuing careers in these fields.
The Path Ahead
Climate studies and policy cannot afford to overlook our gender-specific experiences. Few governments collect gender-disaggregated data, and discussions are dominated by a collection of prominent voices. We simply know very little about the gendered impacts of climate change.
Our sluggish strides towards gender equality no longer suffice. We’re not just delaying progress, we’re depriving ourselves of invaluable perspectives crucial to addressing these challenges effectively. With forecasts predicting 145 years to attain gender parity in politics, the urgency for change couldn’t be clearer. It’s time to stop stealing from our collective potential and start embracing the richness of diverse voices in shaping a more equitable and resilient future.
i. Nagel, 2022, Re-gendering Climate Change: Men and Masculinity in Climate Research, Policy, and Practice, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fclim.2022.856869/full
ii. UN Women, 2022, Explainer: Why women need to be at the heart of climate action, https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/explainer/2022/03/explainer-why-women-need-to-be-at-the-heart-of-climate-action
iii. Brown, 2022, Gender, Climate Change, and Security: Making the Connections, https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/gender-climate-change-and-security-making-connections
iv. Nagel
v. Mavisakalyan, 2019, Gender and climate change: Do female parliamentarians make difference?, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0176268017304500
vi. Wray et al., 2023, A call to action for gender equity in climate leadership https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10540118/pdf/ajtmh.22-0674.pdf
vii. Climate Champions, 2022, Why women’s leadership is key to climate action, https://climatechampions.unfccc.int/why-womens-leadership-is-key-to-climate-action/
viii. Climate Champions
ix. Brown
x. Our Secure Future, 2022, “Where are the men, really?”: Exploring the role of masculinities in the gender-climate change nexus, https://oursecurefuture.org/news/where-are-men-really-exploring-role-masculinities-gender-climate-change-nexus
xi. Green European Journal, 2021, Gender in Climate Governance: Telling numbers but who is listening?, https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/gender-in-climate-governance-telling-numbers-but-who-is-listening/
xii. Wray et al.
xiii. International Institute for Environment and Development, 2023, Understanding the gender imbalance at international climate negotiations, https://www.iied.org/understanding-gender-imbalance-international-climate-negotiations
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