Why do women remain the unsung heroes of climate action?

Women are disproportionately impacted by the consequences of climate change. They are least likely to be included in the research and decision making related to it – and yet they are the greatest leaders in the fight against it. For Women’s history Month, our Policy Officer, Blánaid Sheeran, discusses women’s distinct relationship with climate change.

[Note from the author: While this blog focuses on those who identify as women, this is not to suggest that other genders are not disproportionately burdened by the climate crisis or that all women experience climate change in the same way.]

Climate change is not gender neutral

Women and men contribute to and experience climate change in different ways.

Although it’s difficult to find globally representative gender-disaggregated data on emissions responsibility, research indicates that men are, in general, higher greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters than women. For example, men are disproportionately represented in carbon-intensive industries, may be more likely to spend their money in more GHG-intensive ways, and, according to several studies, more likely than women to own cars and drive long distances to work.

We also often hear about the mammoth contribution of the world’s top earners to the climate crisis. For example, Analysis by Oxfam and the Stockholm Environment Institute attributes nearly twice as much of the world’s total emissions growth between 1990 and 2015 to the richest 1% compared to the poorest 50% of the world’s population. But who are these high emitting, high earners? Well, unsurprisingly, mostly men.

Women are disproportionately impacted by climate change

For those who identify as women, experience with the impacts of climate change varies greatly and more research is needed for a fully comprehensive picture. Structural inequalities and deeply ingrained gender norms intersect with other factors to result in acute impacts for certain groups. These include ethnic minorities, older people, LGBTQIA+ people, people with disabilities, and those living in rural, remote, conflict and disaster-prone areas.

However, current research makes clear that climate change has, and continues to, impact women, in disproportionate and specific ways – especially women in climate vulnerable countries.

For example, did you know that:

• By 2050, climate change may push up to 158 million more women and girls into poverty (16 million more than the total number of men and boys), and an additional 236 million more women and girls into food insecurity (almost double the number of men and boys)?

• In the case of climate-related disasters and extreme weather events, women are less likely to survive and more likely to be injured due to pre-existing inequalities in information dissemination, access to resources, mobility, and disaster response training?

• Climate change is widening the global income gap? According to a recently released FAO report, ‘female-headed households’ in low- and middle-income countries lose significantly more of their incomes than ‘male-headed households’ when extreme weather events occur. If climate change increases by another one degree Celsius, female-headed households could lose 34% of their income compared to male-headed households.

Women aren’t always at the decision-making table

Women and men face differentiated climate impacts, yet policy frameworks generally overlook this. Much of the climate policy we see today is androcentric, often stimulating investments and employment in sectors that have historically been dominated by men, adding to or failing to consider gender-based norms and structural barriers, and generally lacking any sort of gender transformational or intersectional perspective.

A large part of this problem is that women are largely under-represented in climate science research and public decision-making bodies.

At the international level, out of 28 (soon to be 29) COP presidents, just five have been women. At COP 26, only 10 out of 140 heads of delegations were women (Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas called out this fact on X). And, of course, let’s not forget the recent backlash over the complete absence of women on Azerbaijan’s 28-person committee for COP 29 (later adding 12 women, and two additional men for good measure). For those women who are participating in negotiations, bullying and harassment has been reported.

Meanwhile at the IPCC, the key body for the scientific research underpinning global climate policy development, only 33% of core authors were women in 2021 (up from an abysmal 8% in 1990).

Women lead the way

Women’s exclusion from key research and decision-making bodies isn’t only an injustice because women make up more than half of the world’s population. It is also, frankly, stupid. Women are pushing the hardest for climate action, securing the most ambitious policies, and not receiving the praise they deserve for doing so.

A 2019 study found that national parliaments with more women pass more stringent, less carbon-intensive climate policies. And varied research demonstrates that women’s participation in climate decision making leads to more effective outcomes. Women’s leadership in the climate crisis benefits everyone, not just women.

Women leaders like Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, human rights campaigner Mary Robinson, climate activist Greta Thunberg and so many more have been pushing for ambitious, transformational change across the world. I’d highly advise reading our blog on Black women in the climate movement or taking a look at Reuters list of Trailblazing Women in Climate to learn about just some of the amazing women who are changing the world.

Which women in climate are you inspired by? Share it with us on X or LinkedIn and we’ll help to spread the word about their work.