Negative spiral: climate change affects gender equality

How climate change is affecting gender equality - and what can be done about it

gender equality

Author: House of Eden

Climate change is affecting many parts of the world to varying degrees. So far, the effects have been comparatively limited in Europe or North America. Other regions, such as countries in the Middle East, Africa or Southeast Asia, are much more severely affected. What does this mean for women and gender equality in these countries?

How are climate change and gender equality related?

They mainly work in agriculture and make sure that their families and communities are supplied with important resources such as food and water. Extreme weather events such as droughts or floods therefore mean that women are under significantly greater pressure. They also have to work harder to provide for their families. This also applies to girls: At times like this, they often drop out of school to help their mothers. Without school education, they have significantly fewer opportunities to escape from this negative spiral.

In countries where women and girls are already socially disadvantaged because of their gender, climate change is only increasing inequalities between men and women. All the conflicts that climate change brings with it - the race for habitable living space, the struggle for drinking water - also promote all other social, economic or political conflicts. Women and girls are increasingly exposed to physical violence, sexual violence and human trafficking.

What measures can investors take to improve the situation of women?

In addition to the food supply and the great pressure on women, the lack of access to education is a major problem, which promotes injustices between men and women. Investing in certain charities can have a big impact on women's lives here. You can make a real difference that leads to more gender equality.

Investments in climate protection organizations are therefore primarily a means of treating the problem at its root. When girls are no longer forced to give up their education to help their families, a lot of the pressure falls on women. This can drastically improve their life situation. In addition, investments in the expansion and new construction of infrastructure can be an important means of ensuring that people have access to basic needs such as electricity and clean water.

This also helps to improve the ecological footprint in the crisis regions by, among other things, promoting sustainable electricity. Such measures ultimately help not only the women, but all people in these crisis regions. For women and girls, however, this support is particularly necessary in order to promote gender equality and equality between the sexes.

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