Climate change and extreme weather conditions affect everyone. However, men, boys, women and girls all experience the impacts of climate change differently. This is because different groups of people are in different positions in society in terms of their ownership of assets or resources, wage levels, educational achievements, roles and power to make decisions for themselves, about themselves and for others.

People such as farmers, foresters and fishers depend on natural resources for their survival and so they are directly affected by climate change. How they cope with that change will also depend on where they live; their age, ethnicity and mobility; and the resources available to them. Poorer people will be more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Women are often the primary caregivers in their families. They are responsible for providing food and water and taking care of the old and the very young. They are also more likely to live in poverty and have less access to resources than men. More women are negatively affected by climate change because of inadequate and unequal access to land, water, energy, finance, information and technology. Women face higher risks and even greater burdens because of the effects of climate change — for example, they have to travel further to obtain daily supplies, which exposes them to risks to their personal safety. The added burdens mean they have less time to take advantage of education and employment opportunities.

Children have to depend on other people for assistance and cannot make decisions independently.

During preparations for disasters caused by climate change

Women have less access to and control over environmental goods and services, have negligible participation in decision-making and are not involved in the distribution of environment management resources. People who have more access to information and higher levels of education are more likely to engage in disaster preparedness. Women who are time-burdened and do not have access to employment opportunities are less able to take measures to protect their homes, farms and communities against the impacts of climate change. People with mobility challenges may not be able to access emergency shelters.

Traditional gender roles mean that in preparing for climate change events, men tend to take care of the physical assets in and around the home, while women take care of the food supplies. Most people on rescue teams are men, and they are exposed to many physical dangers and health risks.

Post-disaster behaviours

Men may take more risks by going outdoors immediately after a climate change–related event. Rescue teams may need mental health support during and after the disasters because of what they witness and experience. Nurses, who are usually women, may experience extra psycho-social trauma in dealing with the dead and injured victims of climate change–related events.

People who own more assets can repair or rebuild sooner than those who have to wait for assistance from the government. Globally, women tend to own less land, equipment and resources and so have to depend on government social assistance in the event of a disaster. Men tend to get jobs in construction as part of the rebuilding of physical infrastructure.

After a disaster, women tend to do more work than men in rebuilding the home, and they spend more time on rebuilding and repairing than they did before the disaster. They also have to find alternative means of getting water, fuel and food. This means they have to use improvised methods for washing, cooking and sanitation and, with no or limited access to electricity and motorised transport, their gendered responsibilities take more time than ever to fulfil. Their workload becomes more difficult, and their increased time burden leaves them with even less time to access training and education, develop skills, or earn income after disasters. An added challenge for women after extreme weather incidents is that they are more at risk of abuse, sexual harassment and rape in emergency shelters (see Osman-Elasha, 2009, for more information).

Disasters relating to climate change disrupt food and energy supplies, transportation services and social services. Scarcity drives up the costs of goods and services, and this disproportionately affects women, especially those who are single heads of households, since they tend to be poorer than men in similar circumstances. In societies where women are less educated than men, after a disaster there is high demand from women for assistance with completing application forms to access aid such as food, building materials and medical supplies.

Pregnant women may not be able to access the healthcare services they need, since healthcare personnel will likely be attending to the emergencies associated with the climate change incident. Those women may find it difficult to access transportation and so face increased risks related to maternal and neonatal problems. Research indicates that the number of stillbirths increases during periods of extreme heat.

In the aftermath of climate-induced disasters, women and girls can be more vulnerable to gender-based violence (GBV) and therefore need access to services that can keep them safe. Sexual exploitation after disasters occurs when women are forced to exchange sex for food and supplies. Men tend to deal with the trauma of losing their assets (such as their cars) or jobs differently because their role as breadwinner may be threatened after a natural disaster. For example, they may become violent or withdrawn. Women tend to take on the role of keeping the family and community together through voluntary work. They manage community soup kitchens and emergency domestic living arrangements and mediate in conflicts brought on by stress. The unpaid emotional support they provide contributes to rebuilding communities. In some cultures where marriage dowries are common, more child marriages occur as dowries allow some parents to gain assets.

Women and children are more likely than men to die during extreme weather events linked to climate change. For example, in a 2003 heatwave in Europe, more women than men died. In 2004, after the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, between 70 per cent and 80 per cent of all deaths were women. In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, USA, African American women, who were among the poorest in the population, faced the greatest challenges to survival.

In Bangladesh, the areas most heavily affected by the impacts of climate change include the coastal areas, where settlements get flooded with salt water. Other areas experience drought, flash flooding and river erosion. In 1991, when a cyclone hit Bangladesh, 90 per cent of the victims were women.

In Malawi, droughts and flood have increased over the past 20 years. In 2023, Tropical Storm Freddy caused more than 200 deaths, including more than 40 children.

In 2022 in Pakistan, there were a reported 1,739 deaths due to flooding. Almost one third of the victims were children.

Reading

Mirza, M. M. Q. (2001). Climate change and extreme weather events: Can developing countries adapt? Climate Policy, 3(3), 233-248. doi:10.3763/cpol.2003.0330.

Licence: Open access.

OECD. (2008). Gender and sustainable development: Maximising the economic social and environmental role of women. Climate Policy, 3(3), 233-248. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264049901-en

Licence: Open access.

Osman-Elasha B. (2009). Women in the shadow of climate change. UN Chronicle, Special Climate Issue, XLVI (3 & 4). https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/womenin-shadow-climate-change

Licence: Open access.

UN Women. (2022, 28 February). Explainer: How gender inequality and climate change are interconnected. News and Stories.

Licence: Open access.

Long-term effects of climate change

Beyond the physical damage inflicted by the impacts of climate change — for example, the destruction of homes, livestock and crops — there are usually unseen ripple effects on people’s livelihoods and their social lives.

In Bangladesh, Malawi, Mozambique, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, very many people depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, and many of the smaller farmers are women. A man who owns heavy equipment or practises conservation techniques may be able to recover quicker from a disaster than a woman who has few or no resources. A woman in that situation may lose her livelihood and fall into poverty. When harvests are reduced, small-scale farmers have little or no surplus produce to sell to earn money. When the surrounding environment and homes are damaged and livelihoods are lost, many people migrate or move to less affected areas.

The floods in Pakistan in 2023 were described as the worst in the country’s history. They swept away everything in some districts, and people were forced to move empty-handed to other districts. For women with no resources, building back will be harder than it will be for men, and they may have to stay in temporary relief camps for longer. Women also experience a loss of dignity when they access healthcare services among strangers.

The frequency of droughts, floods and cyclones in Mozambique has forced many men to migrate to South Africa in search of work, leaving women to bear the burdens of the household and the farm work singlehandedly. In Sri Lanka, droughts have forced more people to move to highly populated areas close to water sources.

Activity

Can you think of one example of how men and women may experience the effects of climate change differently?