UN report adds dimension of gender to climate change discussions

November 21, 2009 by Shawn Douglas
Filed under: News

A new UN report has stated that women are most likely to be affected by climate change, but it stopped short of directly encouraging population control.

A report issued Thursday by the U.N. has recommended the addition of gender elements to climate change discussions.

The report, United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) 2009, claimed that women — especially those in underdeveloped nations — were most at risk to the effects of climate change. It indicated that the female agricultural work force and caretakers of the world were ill-equipped to deal with changes effectively.

“They are among the most vulnerable to climate change, partly because in many countries they make up the larger share of the agricultural work force and partly because they tend to have access to fewer income-earning opportunities,” said the authors of the report.

“Women manage households and care for family members, which often limits their mobility and increases their vulnerability to sudden weather-related natural disasters. Drought and erratic rainfall force women to work harder to secure food, water and energy for their homes.”

“Girls drop out of school to help their mothers with these tasks. This cycle of deprivation, poverty and inequality undermines the social capital needed to deal effectively with climate change.”

“Marginalization of and discrimination against women and the lack of attention to the way gender inequality hampers development, health, equity and overall human well being — all undermine countries’ resilience to climate change.”

The report added that climate change would prompt internal displacement and international migration, something that women may be heavily affected by.

However, while the report indicated that population growth has been responsible for 40 percent to 60 percent of previous emission growth, it stopped short of suggesting that direct population reduction would be needed to curb the problem. The report instead attempted to frame the issue as giving women more options and education regarding the birth control they want rather than making it a nefarious plan by first-world countries to limit how many babies women can have.

Denmark’s Minister for Development Cooperation, Ulla Tørnæs, agreed. “Denmark has for many years now been a strong advocate for a woman’s right to decide how many children she wants and when she wants them,” she told The Copenhagen Post.

“Improving women’s right to choose will be crucial in stabilizing population growth, sustaining development and reducing poverty. In my view the key is to accelerate access to modern contraception and family planning.”

The report comes a few weeks before the December 7 United Nations climate conference held in Copenhagen, Denmark. Officials from 192 countries hope to create a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.