Climate Change

Citation:

Knight, Kyle W. 2019. "Explaining Cross-National Variation in the Climate Change Concern Gender Gap: A Research Note." The Social Science Journal 56 (4): 627-39.

Author: Kyle W. Knight

Abstract:

Previous research has documented and investigated the gender gap in climate change concern (and environmental concern more generally) in the USA to understand why women tend to be more concerned about this issue than men. However, a largely missing element of the existing research on this topic is the role of macro-level context. The consideration of contextual factors is important because, as shown in this study, aggregate gender differences in climate change concern vary widely across countries. Drawing on prior research and using data from three international surveys, this cross-national study examines the influence of gender equality, climate change vulnerability, and national affluence on gender gaps in concern for climate change. Results from OLS and robust regression analyses indicate that national affluence is consistently associated with a larger gap (with women more concerned) and there is some evidence showing that climate change vulnerability is associated with a smaller gap in concern; however, gender equality was not found to be a consistent significant predictor of the gender gap in climate change concern (although in bivariate correlations it was significant and positive). The finding that the USA pattern of substantially higher concern among women is not universal across countries, but rather is context-specific, opens up new directions for theorizing about how gender shapes concern for climate change and, more broadly, risk perception and environmental attitudes. Future research should build on this study to examine potential pathways linking macro-level context to gender differences in climate change concern at the individual level.

Keywords: climate change, public opinion, gender gap, cross-national

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

Year: 2019

Citation:

Oluoko-Odingo, A. Alice. 2019. "Gender Mainstreaming for the Adaptation to Weather and Climate Extremes in African Cities." Journal of Climate Change and Sustainability 2 (1): 15-27.

Author: A. Alice Oluoko-Odingo

Abstract:

Although women constitute one-half of the human population and provide most labour in farming, they remain poor and most vulnerable to weather and climate extremes due to inequalities in ownership and decision-making on most important livelihood resources like land, assets and cash. Peri-urban farming offers an important adaptation strategy to weather and climate extremes and through gender mainstreaming, can become a vital tool for sustainable livelihoods and sustainable development. The paper points out that although well-planned cities offer better services to urban communities and their hinterlands, the African cities, particularly, those in Sub-Saharan Africa have been accompanied by myriads of developmental and environmental challenges, which continue to perpetuate inequalities, discrimination and under-development. For instance, the lowincome communities live in risky areas without access to important services which increase their vulnerability to weather and climate induced hazards and disasters. The Paper discusses the links between gender mainstreaming, peri-urban farming, weather and climate extremes and sustainable development in Africa, where literature review is supported by fieldwork results for better policy formulations. This was an invited paper to the conference and is supported by a research gap on the need for gender mainstreaming in peri-urban farming to enhance equity and equality for sustainable development. The study was carried out in peri-urban areas of Nairobi (Machakos and Kajiado Counties) in Kenya. The results provide hope as these peri-urban areas seem to have some form of spontaneous gender mainstreaming that when positively supported would yield good results. The Article underscores the fact that a number of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) could be achieved by simply targeting the attainment of SDG 5 on gender equality and women empowerment, including SDG 13 on adaptation to climate change. 

Keywords: gender mainstreaming, weather and climate extremes, peri-urban farming, Sub Saharan Africa, cities

Topics: Agriculture, Development, Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Women, Gender Mainstreaming, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Infrastructure, Urban Planning, Livelihoods, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya

Year: 2019

Citation:

Spring, Úrsula Oswald. 2019. "Gender, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Goals." In Úrsula Oswald Spring: Pioneer on Gender, Peace, Development, Environment, Food and Water, 225-41. Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Author: Úrsula Oswald Spring

Keywords: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), women, gender equality, gender perspective, land

Annotation:

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Gender Equity, International Organizations

Year: 2019

Citation:

Cohen, Marjorie Griffin. 2017. Climate Change and Gender in Rich Countries: Work, Public Policy and Action. Abingdon: Routledge.

Author: Marjorie Griffin Cohen

Annotation:

Topics: Economies, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Livelihoods Regions: Americas, North America, Europe, Nordic states, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Oceania Countries: Australia, Canada, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States of America

Year: 2017

Citation:

Quan, Ryan Jeremiah Donato. 2019. "Human Rights and the Gender Dynamics of Climate Change." In Elgar Encyclopedia of Environmental Law, edited by Michael Faure, 235-53. Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Author: Ryan Jeremiah Donato Quan

Abstract:

Environmental problems affect peoples across the world, most especially marginalized and vulnerable groups, like women. Yet the plight of women who are disproportionately affected by impacts of environmental problems is not high on the priorities of many national governments. The chapter seeks to analyze women’s rights and issues in relation to the most pressing of environmental problems of our age – climate change. In the international field, the relationship between gender equality and the environment are not adequately discussed. While international organizations and non-government organizations have produced studies examining the link between gender issues and climate change, there is considerable lack of State reporting and country-specific data, not only concerning the effects of climate change on women, but also about State action to ensure the rights of women. This chapter examines the legal obligations of States pertaining to human rights of women in the context of climate change. It also considers the extent to which States and the international community, particularly the United Nations system, have addressed this issue. The study includes a discussion of the Sustainable Development Goals as the new way forward. Focus is given to Goal 5 on gender equality and Goal 13 on climate action, as well as other related goals such as Goal 1 on poverty, Goal 3 on good health and well-being, Goal 6 on clean water and sanitation, Goal 18 on life below water, Goal 15 on life on land, and Goal 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions.

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, International Organizations, Rights, Human Rights, Women's Rights, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Year: 2019

Citation:

Phan, Loan Thi, Sue Ching Jou, and Jun-Hua Lin. 2019. "Gender Inequality and Adaptive Capacity: The Role of Social Capital on the Impacts of Climate Change in Vietnam." Sustainability 11 (5)

Authors: Loan Thi Phan, Sue Ching Jou, Jun-Hua Lin

Abstract:

Climate change has exacerbated gender inequality, and women are a vulnerable group. Previous research attributed this to physical gender differences, gender differences in ownership and control of natural resources, and socioeconomic status. We used a survey of 99 participants, seven focus group discussions, and 13 in-depth interviews in a coastal community in Vietnam to gain insight into the roots of gender inequality in the capacity to adapt to climate change. We analysed the role of social capital in regulating and mobilising other livelihood assets from a gendered perspective and found that gender norms explain the division and interactions of men and women in formal and informal networks. Based on our results, we suggest that policy-makers should pay more attention to gender issues when proposing climate change policies and reducing the gender imbalance in the impact of climate change adaptation.

Keywords: social capital, adaptive capacity, gender inequality

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Livelihoods Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Vietnam

Year: 2019

Citation:

Ylipaa, Josephine, Sara Gabrielsson, and Anne Jerneck. 2019. "Climate Change Adaptation and Gender Inequality: Insights from Rural Vietnam." Sustainability 11 (1): 2805-21.

Authors: Josephine Ylipaa, Sara Gabrielsson, Anne Jerneck

Abstract:

Vietnam is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change impacts, especially from extreme weather events such as storms and floods. Thus, climate change adaptation is crucial, especially for natural resource-dependent farmers. Based on a qualitative research approach using a feminist political ecology lens, this article investigates gendered patterns of rural agrarian livelihoods and climate adaptation in the province of Thái Bình. In doing so, we identify differentiated rights and responsibilities between female and male farmers, leading to unequal opportunities and immobility for females, making them more vulnerable to climate impacts and threatening to reduce their capacity to adapt. This research also shows that demands on farmers to contribute to perpetual increases in agricultural output by the state poses a challenge, since farming livelihoods in Vietnam are increasingly becoming feminised, as a result of urbanisation and devaluation of farming. Past and present national strategies and provincial implementation plans linked to climate change do not consider the burden affecting rural female farmers, instead the focus lies on addressing technical solutions to adaptation. With little attention being paid to an increasingly female workforce, existing gender inequalities may be exacerbated, threatening the future existence of rural livelihoods and the viability of Vietnam’s expansion into global markets.

Keywords: agriculture, climate change adaptation, gender inequality, feminist political ecology, vulnerability, policy, sustainability, Vietnam

Topics: Agriculture, Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Feminisms, Feminist Political Ecology, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Livelihoods Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Vietnam

Year: 2019

Citation:

Alston, Margaret. 2019. "Gender, Politics, and Water in Australia and Bangladesh." In People and Climate Change: Vulnerability, Adaptation, and Social Justice, edited by Lisa Reyes Mason and Jonathan Rigg, 165-83. New York: Oxford University Press.

Author: Margaret Alston

Keywords: water, Gender, women, policy, Australia, Bangladesh

Annotation:

Summary:
In the wake of climate change, environmental degradation, and increasing global populations, food and water security are under threat throughout the world. This chapter focuses on the impacts of climate change on water security in Australia and Bangladesh, noting in particular the gendered implications and the way policies influence and shape gendered responses. In Bangladesh, for example, following disasters, access to safe, uncontaminated water may involve women walking significant distances. Australian research has examined the impact of water policies on gendered livelihood strategies as farming families readjust to their reduced access to irrigation water. A critical feature of this chapter is an examination of the way water has become “commodified” and reconfigured around new forms of market value. The chapter poses questions about the ongoing impact of water insecurity in the face of predicted and extreme climate events. (Summary from Oxford Scholarship Online)

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Livelihoods, Security, Food Security Regions: Asia, South Asia, Oceania Countries: Australia, Bangladesh

Year: 2019

Citation:

Oral, Nilufer. 2019. "Climate Change, Oceans and Gender." In Gender and the Law of the Sea, edited by Irini Papanicolopulu, 343-60. Leiden: Brill Nijhoff.

Author: Nilufer Oral

Abstract:

Climate change has traditionally been associated with the atmosphere. However, the important nexus between climate change and the ocean has gained increased recognition in the past few years. Climate change and the oceans brings into play two important but separate regimes: the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. UNCLOS was negotiated a decade before the 1992 UNFCCC. UNCLOS does address gender issues and it was not until the 2015 Paris Agreement that any acknowledgment was given to the place of gender in climate change. Specifically, the preamble of the Paris Agreement calls upon Parties, when taking action to address climate change, to “respect, promote and consider their respective obligations” inter alia “gender equality and empowerment of women. The chapter will provide a brief overview the relationship between climate change and oceans, looking at the existing climate change regime, disaster regime and law of the sea regime, and then examine the place of gender in relation to climate change and oceans in these respective regimes. The chapter will show that there is an imbalanced treatment of gender among the UNFCCC climate change regime, the disaster regime and that of the UNCLOS regime.

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, International Organizations

Year: 2019

Citation:

Borrás, Susana. 2019. "Climate Migration, Gender and Poverty." In Research Handbook on Global Climate Constitutionalism, edited by Jordi Jaria-Manzano and Susana Borrás, 216-34. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.

Author: Susana Borrás

Annotation:

Summary:
This chapter explains that climate migration is a reality in which gender perspective is very important. It reveals both the vulnerabilities and strengths of women – whether in transit or in refugee camps; in their country of origin or at their ultimate destination. Women play a key role in the care, support and reconstruction of their communities. However, the political and legal failure to recognize climate change as a factor of added vulnerability, which is generating poverty and population movements, has increased gender inequality and injustice. This chapter argues the need to approach ‘gender climate migration’ realities from a gender justice and climate justice perspective. (Summary from ElgarOnline)

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Climate Displacement, Refugee/IDP Camps, Economies, Poverty, Environment, Climate Change, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality

Year: 2019