Climate Change

Citation:

Ararat, Melsa, and Borhan Sayedy. 2019. "Gender and Climate Change Disclosure: An Interdimensional Policy Approach." Sustainability 11.

Authors: Melsa Ararat, Borhan Sayedy

Abstract:

This paper investigates the impact of corporate boards’ gender diversity on voluntary public disclosure of climate change risks in an emerging economy context in which environmental regulations are weak and markets are ineffective. The investigation relies on data from the CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project) as a corporate sustainability reporting initiative supported by institutional investors, based on a sample of Turkish firms that were invited to disclose their climate change risks and greenhouse gas emissions over the period of 2010–2019 through the CDP platform. We report that the presence of women on board committees, as a proxy for their active involvement in corporate governance, increases the likelihood of voluntary climate change disclosure. We, on the other hand, found no evidence of a positive impact on climate change reporting with women’s overall representation in boards. These findings lend support to board reforms that aim to increase effective representation of women on boards for the better management of sustainability risks and responsiveness to stakeholder demands in countries where legislators are reluctant to introduce climate change reforms.

Keywords: climate change disclosure, boards of directors, corporate governance, gender diversity, controlled firms, Emerging economies

Topics: Economies, Environment, Climate Change, Gender Regions: MENA, Asia, Europe, Southern Europe Countries: Turkey

Year: 2019

Citation:

Ali, Essossinam, Nadège Essossolim Awade, and Tahirou Abdoulaye. 2020. "Gender and Impact of Climate Change Adaptation on Soybean Farmers' Revenue in Rural Togo, West Africa." Cogent Food & Agriculture 6 (1).

Authors: Essossinam Ali, Nadège Essossolim Awade, Tahirou Abdoulaye

Abstract:

This study assesses the impact of climate change (CC) adaptation on farm-level revenue among 500 soybean farmers randomly selected in three districts in Togo using endogenous switching regression method. The survey results indicate that only 40.37% of the women have adapted to CC against 59.62% of the men. Moreover, being member of farmer-based organization (FBO), access to credit and extension services, agricultural training of women are the main factors that increase the likelihood of adaptation. The gender-differentiated impact shows that women would earn more than men from adaptation, while losing compared to men if they do not take any adaptation actions. The loss from non-adapting to CC will increase by 0.268% of the soybean revenue. However, the heterogeneity effects suggest further assessment on the adopted technology in soybean farming in the study areas. Adaptation policy that seeks to ensure food security and enhance farmers’ welfare in subsistence agriculture should consider the gender dimension, while reviewing the financial policy in terms of affordability, access of extension services and supporting FBO will increase technologies adoption and farming revenue.

Keywords: adaptation, climate change, Gender, soybean, endogenous switching regression

Topics: Agriculture, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Security, Food Security Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Togo

Year: 2020

Citation:

Fosado Centeno, Ericka. 2020. "The Socio-Political Construction of Climate Change: Looking for Paths to Sustainability and Gender Justice." Sustainability 12 (8).

Author: Ericka Fosado Centeno

Abstract:

With the purpose of getting to know the cultural and socio-political mechanisms that shape the climate agenda, this study follows a discourse analysis method and a gender perspective, for which an analytical basis is proposed to identify the cognitive, normative, and symbolic components that give meaning and substance to climate policy. Examining the productions of international organizations responsible for generating climate policy, a corpus consisting of 47 documents (reports, communications, programs, and legal framework) was analyzed, spanning from 1994 to 2015, to identify the trend of climate agenda prior to the Paris Agreement. The results indicate that the terms in which climate change is placed as a public issue contribute to reproducing a social order based on an anthropocentric, utilitarian, virtualized, and mercantilist vision of socio-environmental relations. Control mechanisms of peripheral countries and groups whose rights have been breached by discriminatory practices can emerge in this process, with women being especially affected. Based on empirical findings that follow the first two decades of climate policy, the logic underlying the climate discourse is shown, and the challenges it poses to reach more fair and sustainable agreements are discussed. Finally, some proposals are outlined to help guide the climate agenda in that direction.

Keywords: climate change, discourse analysis, gender analysis, justice, sustainability

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Gender, International Organizations

Year: 2020

Citation:

Külcür, Rakibe, Susan Buckingham, and Nicola Ansell. 2019. "Exposing the Lack of Gender in Climate Change Campaigns: Evidence from the UK and Turkey." Dokuz Eylul University The Journal of Graduate School of Social Sciences 21 (3): 923-42.

Authors: Rakibe Külcür, Susan Buckingham, Nicola Ansell

Abstract:

Keywords: climate change, environmental non-government organizations (ENGOs), feminist research, UK, Turkey, Gender, İklim Değişikliği, Çevre Sivil Toplum Kuruluşları (ÇSTK), Feminist Araştırma, İngiltere, Türkiye, Toplumsal Cinsiyet

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Gender, NGOs Regions: MENA, Asia, Europe, Northern Europe, Southern Europe Countries: Turkey, United Kingdom

Year: 2019

Citation:

Ekholm, Sara. 2020. "Swedish Mothers' and Fathers' Worries about Climate Change: A Gendered Story." Journal of Risk Research 23 (3): 288-96.

Author: Sara Ekholm

Abstract:

The present study considers whether parenthood has an impact on the worries that women and men have about climate change for the next generation and examines whether there are differences between the worries of mothers and fathers. The empirical material is based on a questionnaire-based survey that was administered in 2011 to a random selection of 3500 individuals in Sweden, with a response rate of 31%. The results indicate that parenthood, regardless of the parent’s gender, increases an individual’s worries about the impact of climate change on the next generation. Fathers are significantly more worried about climate change than men who are not parents; however, mothers do not worry significantly more than women who are not parents. In general, regardless of parenthood status, women worry about climate change more than men.

Keywords: motherhood, fatherhood, climate change, worry, Gender

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Gender Regions: Europe, Nordic states, Northern Europe Countries: Sweden

Year: 2020

Citation:

Showalter, Kevin, David López-Carr, Daniel Ervin. 2019. "Climate Change and Perceived Vulnerability: Gender, Heritage, and Religion Predict Risk Perception and Knowledge of Climate Change in Hawaii." Geographical Bulletin 60: 49-71.

Authors: Kevin Showalter, David López-Carr, Daniel Ervin

Abstract:

This study explores climate change related risk perception among residents of the ‘Big Island’ of Hawaii, an environmentally vulnerable region. Adapting established instruments, we investigated potential links among socio-demographic variables, risk perception, and perceived preparedness and knowledge, as they relate to climate change. Results reveal relationships between risk perceptions for climate change and gender, with females significantly more aware of the risks posed by climate change, but less prepared than men. Additionally, indigenous and native respondents felt that climate change events posed more risk and felt less prepared compared to non-indigenous. Results suggest that an understanding of how risk perceptions vary by gender, knowledge, and other lesser explored demographic factors may enable decision makers to plan and implement more effective mitigation and adaptation measures in the region.

Keywords: climate change, vulnerability, Risk perception, adaptation preparedness, island nations

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Indigenous Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2019

Citation:

Haug, Michaela. 2017. "Men, Women, and Environmental Change in Indonesia: the Gendered Face of Development Among the Dayak Benuaq." Austrian Journal of South-East Asian Studies 10 (1): 29-46.

Author: Michaela Haug

Abstract:

The increasing penetration of global capitalism, ambitious development efforts, and related environmental change have significantly transformed Kalimantan and its indigenous population, commonly referred to as Dayak, during the last decades. This article analyzes these processes from a gendered perspective and explores how gender relations among the Dayak, who generally are characterized by well-balanced gender relations, have been influenced by what is commonly referred to as 'development'. A review of the existing literature shows that new asymmetries between men and women are emerging mainly due to different ways of inclusion in new economic systems. Based on research among the Dayak Benuaq, the article shows that far-reaching gender equality has been so far upheld within Benuaq society while gender gets interwoven with an increasing variety of inequalities. I argue that in order to capture this complexity, research on the gendered impacts of development should a) aim for a better understanding of the intertwinement of gender with other aspects, such as ethnicity, class, age, or education, b) pay more attention to how these aspects play out in different contexts, and c) differentiate more clearly between gender ideals, norms, and actual practice.

Topics: Development, Economies, Environment, Climate Change, Ethnicity, Gender, Gender Analysis, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Indigenous Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Indonesia

Year: 2017

Citation:

Dalisay, Soledad Natalia. 2018. "Climate Trouble: Women in Coastal Communities in the Philippines Respond to Climate Changes." Diliman Gender Review 1: 53-73.

Author: Soledad Natalia Dalisay

Abstract:

ENGLISH ABSTRACT:
Climate change characterized by sea level change and extreme weather events, among others, is currently experienced by communities worldwide. Coastal communities are particularly vulnerable as climate change adversely affects fishing, the main source of livelihood of settlements along the shore. This paper looks into the experiences of the participants in the First Philippine National Workshop on Women in Fisheries and Climate Change held in Bohol, Philippines in 2010; women in coastal communities from the three major island groups of the Philippines (namely, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao); and NGO workers who had deep engagement with grassroots women in their partner coastal communities. It covers the challenges the women faced, the explanatory models they utilized as they tried to make sense of the environmental changes, and the strategies they employed to cope with these challenges. It reveals how some of the local knowledge utilized by the people continued to help them cope with the environmental and climatic challenges while other traditional knowledge no longer seemed to be adaptive in the current environmental context. It shows the health and socio-economic impacts of climate changes. It highlights gendered differences in concerns and strategies, particularly those employed by women within their respective fishing communities as shaped by their roles and responsibilities -- including the burden of household recovery and rehabilitation. The paper also tackles recommendations drawn from the women themselves, particularly on self-empowerment towards working hand in hand with the men in achieving resilience and reducing disaster risk in their communities.

FILIPINO ABSTRACT:
Ang pagbabago ng klima at kapaligiran ay ramdam na sa mundo sa kasalukuyan. Ang papel na ito ay nagpakita ng mga karanasan ng mga kababaihan na naninirahan sa mga komunidad sa tabing-dagat na lumahok sa First Philippine National Workshop on Women in Fisheries and Climate Change na ginanap sa Tagbilaran, Bohol. Ang mga komunidad na ito ay masasabing bulnerable dahil sa pag-angat ng lebel ng karagatan at pati na rin ang pabagubagong panahon. Dahil dito ay nasabi ng mga kababaihan na apektado ang kanilang pangunahing kabuhayan na pangingisda, ilang aspeto ng kanilang kalusugan, relasyong pampamilya at iba pang gawain sa buhay. Kasama ring inilalahad ng papel na ito ang mga paraan kung paano nila naipapaliwanag ang mga pagbabago sa kanilang kapaligiran hango sa kanilang kaalamang-bayan at kung paano nila nireresolba ang mga hamong kanilang hinaharap. Ang mga karanasang naisalaysay ng mga kababaihan ay nagpapakita ng pagkakaiba nila sa mga gawi ng mga kalalakihan na naninirahan din sa tabing-dagat. Naipakita rin ng papel na ito na ang bigat ng pagharap sa mga hamon ng pabagubagong klima ay pasan ng mga kababaihan, habang ang mga kalalakihan naman ay abala sa paghahanap-buhay. Ang papel ay nagtatapos sa paglalahad ng mga rekomendasyon na mula na rin sa mga kababaihang naglalayong ibayong pagtibayin ang kanilang kakayahan kasama ang kanilang asawa at mga mahal sa buhay, nang mangibabaw sa mga paghamon ng pagbabago ng klima at kapaligiran.

Keywords: women in coastal communities, climate change, climate coping, climatic and environmental extremes

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Gender Roles, Health, Households, Livelihoods Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Philippines

Year: 2018

Citation:

Canelón, Silvia P., and Mary Regina Boland. 2020. "A Systematic Literature Review of Factors Affecting the Timing of Menarche: The Potential for Climate Change to Impact Women’s Health." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17 (5).

Authors: Silvia P. Canelón, Mary Regina Boland

Abstract:

Menarche is the first occurrence of a woman’s menstruation, an event that symbolizes reproductive capacity and the transition from childhood into womanhood. The global average age for menarche is 12 years and this has been declining in recent years. Many factors that affect the timing menarche in girls could be affected by climate change. A systematic literature review was performed regarding the timing of menarche and four publication databases were interrogated: EMBASE, SCOPUS, PubMed, and Cochrane Reviews. Themes were identified from 112 articles and related to environmental causes of perturbations in menarche (either early or late), disease causes and consequences of perturbations, and social causes and consequences. Research from climatology was incorporated to describe how climate change events, including increased hurricanes, avalanches/mudslides/landslides, and extreme weather events could alter the age of menarche by disrupting food availability or via increased toxin/pollutant release. Overall, our review revealed that these perturbations in the timing of menarche are likely to increase the disease burden for women in four key areas: mental health, fertility-related conditions, cardiovascular disease, and bone health. In summary, the climate does have the potential to impact women’s health through perturbation in the timing of menarche and this, in turn, will affect women’s risk of disease in future.

Keywords: climate change, timing of menarche, women's health

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Women, Girls, Health, Mental Health, Reproductive Health

Year: 2020

Citation:

Rao, Nitya, Arabinda Mishra, Anjal Prakash, Chandni Singh, Ayesha Qaisrani, Prathigna Poonacha, Katharine Vincent, and Claire Bedelian. 2019. "A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Women's Agency and Adaptive Capacity in Climate Change Hotspots in Asia and Africa." Nature Climate Change 9: 964-71.

Authors: Nitya Rao, Arabinda Mishra, Anjal Prakash, Chandni Singh, Ayesha Qaisrani, Prathigna Poonacha, Katharine Vincent, Claire Bedelian

Abstract:

There is growing concern about sustainable and equitable adaptation in climate change hotspots, commonly understood as locations that concentrate high climatic variability, societal vulnerability and negative impacts on livelihood systems. Emphasizing gender within these debates highlights how demographic, socioeconomic and agro-ecological contexts mediate the experiences and outcomes of climate change. Drawing on data from 25 qualitative case studies across three hotspots in Africa and Asia, analysed using qualitative comparative analysis, we show how and in what ways women’s agency, or the ability to make meaningful choices and strategic decisions, contributes to adaptation responses. We find that environmental stress is a key depressor of women’s agency even when household structures and social norms are supportive or legal entitlements are available. These findings have implications for the effective implementation of multilateral agreements such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Households, International Organizations, Livelihoods, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Regions: Africa, Asia

Year: 2019