Gender and Climate Change: Unequal Burdens and Unequal Perceptions Open Access
Bornstein, Maya (Spring 2019)
Abstract
Around the globe, gender norms create a toxic division between men and women, which impact women’s access to resources, participation and independence. This is especially true in developing nations, where women feature prominently in the agricultural sector and play a critical role in providing nutrition to their families, lifting millions out of hunger. As our ecosystems suffer from degradation due to climate change, women are particularly susceptible to these changes because of gender roles and barriers. Developing nations that contribute the least to greenhouse gas emissions are often those that experience the greatest repercussions of global warming. In order to gain a better understanding of the association between climate change and gender in the context of development, this study uses a mixed-methods approach to question how and why the effects of global warming may impact women more than men, focusing on countries with a Human Development Index below 0.7. A series of semi-structured interviews with men and women from several developing nations were conducted in order to understand local perceptions regarding the connections between climate and gender. These results were complimented by a quantitative analysis using the Quality of Governance dataset, to determine the whether there was a connection between environmental vitality and different indicators reflecting women’s rights. The study confirmed that there are connections between climate change degradation and women’s rights, especially pertaining to women’s political empowerment, educational attainment, and health outcomes. The results also suggest that men often overlook the disproportionate burden of climate changes on women. This research calls for equitable incorporation of women in policy regarding climate mitigation and adaptation, and a more intersectional approach moving forward in order to dismantle patriarchal systems which lead to oppression.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction........................................................................................................................... 1
II. Literature Review................................................................................................................. 2
III. Methods............................................................................................................................. 17
IV. Results............................................................................................................................... 23
V. Discussion........................................................................................................................... 41
VI. Conclusion......................................................................................................................... 50
VI. Work Cited......................................................................................................................... 55
VII. Appendices....................................................................................................................... 60
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Gender and Climate Change: Unequal Burdens and Unequal Perceptions () | 2019-03-31 21:42:37 -0400 |
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