#7Climate Injustice Is Gender Injustice

Climate change - maybe the most important factor tying together the challenges of water, gender and development. Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today with the negative effects being experienced by all countries, especially those in the Sahel region. In countries such as Nigeria, Uganda, Sudan and Cameroon, temperatures are increasing 1.5 times faster than the rest of the world. Such temperatures are wearing away the health and stability of livelihoods and ecosystems around the globe. It is important to note, however, that the effects of climate change are not experienced equally; women are the first and worst to be affected by climate change. 


Women often hold positions of smallholder farming and water collection which are now being impacted by climate change through increased periods of drought and disaster. As for smallholder farming, women make up almost 65% of the agricultural labour force in Kenya and limited rainfall severely impacts their livelihoods. As women are more likely to suffer from economic marginalization and the structural violence of poverty, this makes it even more challenging to adapt to and mitigate the risks of climate change. 


Since women have been a critical force in agricultural production and are most vulnerable, they have had to nonetheless adapt to the vulnerabilities of climate change. This has meant developing unique knowledge and specialised skills which, provided with the right platform, could provide for effective and sustainable solutions to climate change. Despite this, women remain largely ignored in public policy; they lack equitable power and representation in shaping climate policies to address their needs. Therefore, to address such exclusion, policies that empower women and defend their rights must be designed.


This year’s COP26 was especially crucial for getting this message across. The COP26 was the 26th annual summit of the United Nations Climate Change Conference where world leaders got together and collectively agreed on ways to tackle global warming. Owing 1 of the 12 days to Gender Day, COP26 dedicated the day to discussing the status of women’s participation and empowerment and how this ought to be reflected within climate action. However, many climate change activists, such as Djaka Salena Koroma, argued that the co-ordinators of COP26 did not genuinely consider gender justice. Djaka was actually denied a VISA entry into Scotland on grounds that she did was not able to provide sufficient evidence for her return home to Sierra Leone. This was despite her being given full access to funding by the non-governmental organisation, Action Aid. Here, the legitimacy of the COP26 is called into question as there is inconsistency between what it says it will do for gender-climate action and what it actually does.


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