Climate Change

Citation:

Alarcón, Jozelin María Soto, Diana Xóchitl González Gómez, Eduardo Rodríguez Juárez, and Angélica María Vázquez Rojas. 2020. “Feminist Political Ecology and Rural Women-Led Cooperatives in Hidalgo, Mexico.” Textual (75): 131-55.

Authors: Jozelin María Soto Alarcón, Diana Xóchitl González Gómez, Eduardo Rodríguez Juárez, Angélica María Vázquez Rojas

Abstract:

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: 
This study analyzes through feminist political ecology approach the gender strategies enacted by two peasant and indigenous rural women-led cooperatives in Hidalgo Mexico, to access and manage natural resources intersected by ethnicity and training. With a long-term longitudinal study, the interdependence between cooperative organization and climate change processes are explored. Time poverty, gender restriction for rural women, collective strategies to create productive autonomous space and identify stakeholders’ co-responsibility, are discussed. The cooperatives efforts in climate change processes in critical environments are highlighted by the approach.

SPANISH ABSTRACT: 
El  artículo  analiza  desde  la  ecología  política  feminista  las  estrategias  de  género  implementadas   por   dos   cooperativas   dirigidas   por   mujeres   campesinas   e   indígenas   en   Hidalgo,   México,   para   acceder   y   controlar   recursos   naturales,   intersectados  por  la  etnia  y  la  capacitación.  Mediante  un  estudio  longitudinal  de  largo plazo, se explora la interdependencia entre la organización cooperativa y los procesos de cambio ambiental encabezados por las socias. Se discute el tiempo de pobreza, las restricciones de género para mujeres rurales, las estrategias colectivas para construir espacios autónomos de producción e identifica la corresponsabilidad de actores involucrados. El enfoque destaca el papel de las cooperativas en procesos de cambio ecológico en entornos ambientales críticos.

Keywords: gender, environmental preservation, time poverty

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Feminisms, Feminist Political Ecology, Gender, Women, Indigenous, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Livelihoods Regions: Americas, Central America Countries: Mexico

Year: 2020

Citation:

Gonda, Noémi. 2019. “Re-Politicizing the Gender and Climate Change Debate: The Potential of Feminist Political Ecology to Engage with Power in Action in Adaptation Policies and Projects in Nicaragua.” Geoforum 106: 87-96.

Author: Noémi Gonda

Abstract:

The time of gender-blind climate change policies and projects has passed. However, while research is increasingly moving away from understanding the relationship between gender and climate change in a linear, technocratic, and instrumental way, gender and climate change policy-makers and project practitioners are having difficulties operationalizing this progress. In the meantime, as climate change effects are increasingly felt worldwide, and because the policy context after the Paris Agreement (2015) is bringing new challenges for gender and equity concerns, (re-)politicizing the climate justice debate in a policy and project-relevant way is more crucial than ever. My aim in this article is to contribute to this endeavor by exploring how a feminist political ecology framework applied to a specific case study in Nicaragua—one of the countries most affected by climate change in the world—can generate new policy and project-relevant lessons and insights from the ground that can in turn strengthen the conceptual debate on gender and climate change adaptation. Based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in 2013 and 2014, as well as eight years of professional experience as a development worker in Nicaragua, I discuss the workings of power in the feminist political ecology of climate change adaptation; in so doing I raise new questions that will, I hope, lead policy-makers and project practitioners to explore how adaptation processes could open up the conceptual possibility for emancipation, transformation, and new ways of living life in common.

Keywords: power, feminist political ecology, climate change adaptation, Gender, Nicaragua

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Feminisms, Feminist Political Ecology, Gender Regions: Americas, Central America

Year: 2019

Citation:

Mapondera, Margaret, Trusha Reddy, and Samantha Hargreaves. 2020. If Another World is Possible, Who is Doing the Imagining? Building an Ecofeminist Development Alternative in a Time of Deep Systemic Crisis. The Bread & Butter Series 6. African Women's Development Fund. 

Authors: Margaret Mapondera, Trusha Reddy, Samantha Hargreaves

Abstract:

This article discusses the ecological and climate crisis, as a critical dimension of the manifold threats facing the planet and most of its peoples today. We locate the crises in an economic system founded on production for profit which places nature in service of the minority of the world’s people. This economic system meets patriarchy which subjects women to extreme exploitation of their labour and their bodies. In the article, we critique mainstream solutions to the climate crisis, many of them technological in nature, which are false, distract us from the real problems, and are serving to perpetuate further injustice and inequality between peoples. The article considers some key struggles against fossil fuels and large-scale energy projects in Africa, and outlines what women are defending and proposing in their resistances. The article points out that women are protecting the environments and ecosystems upon which their lives and that of their families and communities depend. They are defending the rights of future generations to have air to breathe, water to drink, and safe food to eat. And they are resisting the imposition of projects that are contributing to planetary destruction. We argue that the majority of women in Africa, who carry the burden of the climate and ecological crisis and who have paradoxically contributed the least to the problem, are practicing and proposing, in their resistance, a development alternative which all humanity must respect and echo if we and the planet are to survive. The article concludes by describing and promoting an Africa-wide charter building process in which working class and peasant women will define a Just Development Agenda for nature and humanity.

Topics: Class, Environment, Climate Change, Feminisms, Ecofeminism, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Infrastructure, Energy, Livelihoods Regions: Africa

Year: 2020

Citation:

Chalifour, Nathalie J. 2010. “A Feminist Perspective on Carbon Taxes.” Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 21 (2): 171.

Author: Nathalie J. Chalifour

Abstract:

Effective domestic policies are urgently needed to address climate change. A great deal of energy is devoted to selecting and designing the optimal policy instruments, with questions of environmental effectiveness and economic efficiency dominating the debate. However, it is equally important to consider how those policies will impact upon different segments of society and to ensure that they are designed in a way that is fair and does not further entrench systemic inequalities. This article approaches this social justice issue by examining carbon taxes from a feminist perspective, specifically considering how carbon taxes impact upon women. The article proposes the gender analysis of environmental taxes framework, which goes beyond the evaluation of distributional impacts to consider non-income impacts, implications of related mitigation, and revenue-use policies as well as the outcome of the measure. Applying the framework to British Columbia's carbon tax and Québec’s redevance annuelle reveals that women may bear a disproportionate burden of the increased prices created by carbon taxes. The article also demonstrates that policies designed to mitigate the impact of carbon taxes on low-income households do not address income disparities between women and men, nor do they take into account the socio-economic status of women. The author concludes with recommendations for developing carbon pricing policies that avoid perpetuating existing systemic inequalities between women and men and that might even help to overcome these inequalities.

Keywords: Gender, carbon taxes, climate change, environmental policy, feminism, gender studies, environmental taxation, social justice, distributional impacts

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Feminisms, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Infrastructure, Energy

Year: 2010

Citation:

Balakrishnan, Lalita. 1996. “Energy Conservation & Management – Role of Women.” Renewable Energy 9 (1–4): 1165–70.

Author: Lalita Balakrishnan

Abstract:

Mahatma Gandhi said about the Planet Earth that there was sufficient resource to meet everybody's need (in the planet), but not for anybody's greed - nothing could be more appropriate at present in the context of the Global Energy situation. Renewable Energy has now been recognised as the only solution to the problem of sustainable development. Among Asian countries, India would continue to remain one of the major consumers of fossil fuels, because of the fast growth in her economy, since the new economic policies were initiated around 1991. With demand far out-stripping supply, shortages of power in India are growing every year with more and more forest covers getting depleted and women everywhere are being affected, directly or indirectly.

Experts have projected that unless the present level of carbon dioxide emissions coming from fossil fuels is reduced to 60% of the present level, there would be a major climatic shift by the middle of 2000 A.D. The Government of India has realised that such a reduction in carbon-dioxide emissions would not be possible unless there is a shift from the present fossil-fuel based economy to a Renewable Energy based economy. The contribution of carbon dioxide emissions from the use of renewable energy is the least compared with those from other fuels, and is of the order of 0.001% per kwh, as against 1.2% per k. wh for coal and 0.6% per k. wh for oil.

Keywords: Gandhi, women, AIWC, wood stoves, biogas

Topics: Economies, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Women, Infrastructure, Energy Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 1996

Citation:

Sellers, Samuel, and Clark Gray. 2019. "Climate Shocks Constrain Human Fertility in Indonesia." World Development 117: 357-69.

Authors: Samuel Sellers, Clark Gray

Abstract:

Climate change is likely to induce a large range of household- and individual-level responses, including changes in human fertility behaviors and outcomes. These responses may have important implications for human and economic development and women's empowerment. Drawing on the literature linking climate conditions to rice cultivation in Indonesia, we use longitudinal household survey and high-resolution climate data to explore changes in childbearing intentions, family planning use, and births following community-level climate shocks from 1993 to 2015. We find that fertility intentions increase and family planning use declines in response to delays in monsoon onset occurring within the previous year, particularly for wealthier populations. However, women on farms are significantly more likely to use family planning and less likely to give birth following abnormally high temperatures during the previous five years. We also measure parallel shifts in household well-being as measured by rice, food, and non-food consumption expenditures. Our findings advance the environmental fertility literature by showing that longer duration environmental shocks can have impacts on fertility behaviors and outcomes. Collectively, our results illustrate human fertility responses to climate change in a country vulnerable to its effects, and demonstrate that in some cases, climate shocks can constrain human fertility.

Keywords: family planning, reproductive health, environmental shock, Indonesia, Southeast Asia

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Women, Health, Reproductive Health, Households Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Indonesia

Year: 2019

Citation:

Ruiz, Felipe Jaramillo, and Juan Pablo Vallejo. 2019. "The Post-Political Link Between Gender and Climate Change: The Case of the Nationally Determined Contributions Support Programme." Contexto Internacional 41 (2): 327-44.

Authors: Felipe Jaramillo Ruiz, Juan Pablo Vallejo

Abstract:

ENGLISH ABSTRACT:
This paper interrogates to what extent the gender component of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Support Programme of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reaffirms the post-political condition of climate change. By analysing the incorporation of gender in the NDC Support Programme and its articulation in Colombia’s Low-Carbon Development Strategy, the study exposes the strategic, epistemological, and normative risks of advancing feminist ideas within mainstream institutional frameworks. Thus, this paper shows the opportunities and challenges of dislocating the political and epistemological boundaries of climate change policies by promoting feminist ideas.

PORTUGUESE ABSTRACT:
Este artigo questiona em que medida o componente de gênero do Programa de Apoio às Contribuições Nacionalmente Determinadas (CND) do Programa das Nações Unidas para o Desenvolvimento (PNUD) reafirma a condição pós-política das mudanças climáticas. Ao analisar a incorporação do gênero no Programa de Suporte às CDN e sua articulação na Estratégia de Desenvolvimento de Baixo- -Carbono da Colômbia, o estudo expõe os riscos estratégicos, epistemológicos, e normativos do avanço das ideias feministas dentro das estruturas institucionais tradicionais. Assim, este artigo mostra as oportunidades e desafios de deslocar as fronteiras políticas e epistemológicas das políticas de mudanças climáticas ao promover ideias feministas.

Keywords: Gender, climate change, feminism, post-political, Colombia, gênero, mudança climática, feminismo, pós-política, Colombia

Topics: Development, Environment, Climate Change, Feminisms, Gender, International Organizations Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Colombia

Year: 2019

Citation:

Van Daalen, Kim, Laura Jung, Roopa Dhatt, and Alexandra L. Phelan. 2020. "Climate Change and Gender-Based Health Disparities." The Lancet Planetary Health 4 (2): 44-5.

Authors: Kim van Daalen, Laura Jung, Roopa Dhatt, Alexandra L. Phelan

Annotation:

Summary:
"All genders differ in their needs, perception, attitudes, and vulnerability to the effects of climate change. This difference is notably true for how climate change affects health. Although some governmental and non-governmental organisations have begun to address the inequity of gender-based climate change effects, global efforts are falling short by failing to recognise the impact that gender has on health" (Van Daalen et al 2020, 44).

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Health

Year: 2020

Citation:

Bhadwal, Suruchi, Ghanashyam Sharma, Ganesh Gorti, and Sudeshna Maya Sen. 2019. "Livelihoods, Gender and Climate Change in the Eastern Himalayas." Environmental Development 31: 68-77.

Authors: Suruchi Bhadwal, Ghanashyam Sharma, Ganesh Gorti, Sudeshna Maya Sen

Abstract:

The Hindukush Himalayan region encompasses a large area covering many countries in the North, South and Central parts of Asia. People living in these mountains face huge complexities arising from a number of factors including terrain characteristics, micro-climates, environmental degradation, access to basic services etc. These complexities vary as one moves geographically from one region to the other. The State of Sikkim in the North Eastern part of India also observes similar challenges. Exposure to extreme events is location specific and communities settled in high, mid and low altitudinal regions are differentially affected. Climate change impacts are disproportionate and influence lives and livelihoods variedly. One crucial determinant of these disproportionate impacts is gender – existing social norms determine roles and responsibilities, entitlements and capabilities, thereby influencing the individual perceptions of shocks and susceptibility which vary across gender groups. The paper seeks to draw insights from the various field studies conducted in these locations to understand the gender vulnerabilities that manifest through a combination of complex and interlinked factors. It seeks to understand the existing social practices typically associated with these gender groups and how changes in the climate are and potentially influence vulnerability. The study makes use of qualitative research methods to understand the gender roles, responsibilities. The study tries to bridge a crucial gap in research – of providing empirical evidence on gender mediated vulnerability in an under-researched climatic hotspot – the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. The study reiterates the role of place-based vulnerability in influencing lives and livelihoods and emphasises on the lack of access to human, financial and natural capitals as predominantly driving gendered vulnerabilities.

Keywords: mountains, complexities, Gender, livelihoods, vulnerabilities, intersectionality

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Livelihoods Regions: Asia, Central Asia, South Asia

Year: 2019

Citation:

Boetto, Heather, and Jennifer McKinnon. 2019. "Gender and Climate Change in Rural Australia." Critical Social Work 14 (1). 

Authors: Heather Boetto, Jennifer McKinnon

Abstract:

This paper outlines the results of a literature review exploring the relationship between gender and climate change in rural Australia. Whilst the climate change debate in Australia has largely focused on environmental and economic implications, little attention has been given to the social implications of climate change. The focus of this study is on the climate change impacts on Australian rural women and men, with particular emphasis on the disadvantage experienced by rural women. A key finding in the review was that rural women and men adapt to climatic events, such as, drought and water shortages, in different ways. Outcomes of the review also highlight the dearth of Australian research that focuses on rural women and climate change. We contend that social workers have an ethical responsibility to be aware of the impact of climate change on disadvantaged groups, such as, rural women. The fact that gender equality has been largely ignored in the Australian climate change debate points to a need for social work involvement in climate change advocacy, research, and policy development, in an effort to redress the imbalance.

Keywords: Gender, rural, climate change

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality Regions: Oceania Countries: Australia

Year: 2019