E Q UA L I T Y I N C L I M AT E AC T I O N
New research has revealed the challenges facing gender equality in the age of climate change, and highlighted the need for allies to the cause Writer: Jack Salter
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ustainability and gender equality can no longer be viewed in isolation. Climate change affects us all, but its impacts are felt disproportionately around the world. Those living in poverty are hardest hit, but the problem stems further than that. The truth is that climate change also disproportionately affects women, with a staggering 80 percent of people displaced by the global phenomenon being female. Given that women constitute the majority of the world’s poor, and are more dependent on the natural resources most threatened by climate change, it’s clear to see why this is the case. In the Asia-Pacific region 14 | APAC Outlook issue 56
specifically, women represent two thirds of the poor, and their economic insecurity is part of a disadvantageous cycle often caused by employment and land ownership discrimination, along with limited access to resources. Gender inequality in the region is becoming even more apparent as a result of rapid urbanisation, the region’s high vulnerability to climate change and disasters, as well as environmental challenges such as pollution and ecosystem degradation. Due to household responsibilities, women also suffer greater exposure to indoor air pollution. In Asia-Pacific, women earn a fraction of what men earn for the same work, are often informally employed, and are more
likely to die during disasters that are only being exacerbated by climate change. The Asia-Pacific region is particularly prone to disasters, which have compounded the impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, further increasing poverty, magnifying inequalities, and worsening the vulnerability of women and girls as well as other marginalised groups. Livelihoods across Asia-Pacific are at risk due both to climate change and the pandemic, as is the fulfilment and enjoyment of human rights – especially those of women. It has been widely reported that the COVID-19 pandemic has placed additional burdens on women, who were already suffering
