Is The World’s Climate Fight A Job For Women?

Why Fixing Climate Change is Women’s Work; Natural resource scarcity and unpredictable weather affect women first, yet they’re often the last to be heard on how to combat it. That’s slowly changing.

Kate Stringer, March 29, 2016 (Yes Magazine)

“…As climate change puts pressure on natural resources, fresh water is becoming scarcer, food prices are increasing, and infectious illnesses like the Zika virus are on the rise. Worldwide, women tend to be poorer than their male counterparts and have less representation in policymaking…Many have always walked long distances to find water, but as sources dry up, those treks are becoming more difficult. Searching remote areas for fuel and water exposes them to greater risks of violence like rape or kidnapping…U.N. Women operates several programs worldwide that increase women’s participation in policy talks and provide women entrepreneurs and farmers with access to financing, information, and time- and energy-saving technology…

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“…A 2015 Pew research study found that while the concern over climate change is equal between genders in so-called developing countries, women in wealthier nations are more likely than their male counterparts to see climate change as a real and pressing personal threat…European women use 22 percent less energy than men and are more likely to change their behavior to conserve energy…[W]omen make an average of 79 cents for every dollar made by men. That means women—especially single mothers—may be more likely to feel the effects of increased food and energy prices…And, similarly to their counterparts in poorer countries, women in developed countries are generally not in positions to be heard on climate change…” click here for more

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