How does Gender Disparities increase vulnerability to Climate Change?

    

Originally published: https://girlupmukti.wixsite.com/theredpartofpink/post/gender-disparities-climate-change

Globally, women and men experience life differently because of their social status. While men and women both build, live, work, and share the environment, they do it in different ways. Women and men experience life in extremely different ways due to disparities in living situations, duties, and relations, i.e., their gender differences. Access to resources, social status, and resilience are all gendered and so influence individuals differently. Climate variability affects men and women differently, and they deal in different ways with it and shifting climate patterns. In response to economic pressures, calamities, and conflicts, men and women have different motives and options for relocating. As a result, when discussing policy formulation, decision-making, and mitigation and adaptation methods, a gender-inclusive approach is critical.
Since gender equality is a human right, it is enshrined in international treaties. The majority of international government commitments on women's rights and human rights allude to equal rights, power, responsibilities, and opportunities for men and women, as well as their respective interests, needs, and priorities. Gender, age, socioeconomic status, caste, and disability are all factors that make people more vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Poor people, people with disabilities, and people from specific caste groups are acutely vulnerable to the effects of climate change since their coping techniques are constrained not just by societal norms and stigma, but also by concerns of mobility, knowledge, and money.
Climate risks and vulnerabilities overlap with gender disparities. Women are particularly vulnerable to climate change due to their historical disadvantages, which include limited access to resources, limited rights, and a lack of voice in decision-making. The nature of the susceptibility differs greatly, thus generalization is dangerous. Climate change is likely to amplify existing gender disparities. Women find it difficult to cope with the negative effects of climate change due to social and economic inequity.
However, women are not helpless victims; they are powerful change-makers, and their leadership is crucial. Women can support or hinder efforts linked to water and energy consumption, deforestation, population, economic growth, science and technology, and policymaking among other things. They also play an important part in climate change adaptation efforts, both at the home and communal levels. As a result, gender transformation is both a necessary condition for effective climate change responses and a viable end goal for poverty reduction.

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