Our climate is changing fast, with devastating impact on species and ecosystems. When floods and drought come, they do not discriminate between men and women. But there’s a marked difference in how women and men experience the impact of climate change and climate disasters. Climate change impacts women differently and disproportionately than men. Rural women are often more vulnerable to the impact of climate change as their livelihoods depend on agriculture and they typically receive less education than their city counterparts.
Today, there is growing recognition of the differential impact of climate change on women. However, their critical role as leaders and agents of change in climate action and management of natural resources is often overlooked in climate negotiations, investments and policies and this is in spite of the fact that in most developing countries, women are the primary household energy managers and key actors in the food system, and can be powerful actors in the transition to sustainable energy and climate resilient agriculture and preservation of the environment at large. Unfortunately, women have structurally less control of resources, which often is a barrier to their equal participation and decision-making in the sector.
Nevertheless, women play an important role in climate change adaptation and mitigation because of their roles in core climate change sectors: agriculture, livestock management, energy, disaster risk reduction (DRR), forestry, water management and health, through their cooking and household tasks as well as transport-related needs and practices, they are important energy users, suppliers and consumers, and household energy managers.
WEM implements a climate resilience and justice program in responses to SDGs 13 which calls for urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts and SDG 7, Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. The climate resilience and justice aims at strengthening women’s efforts, voices and actions to become more resilient and responsive to climate change.
The objectives of this programe is to to increase awareness and utilization of renewable energy solutions among community members and to build women’s capacity to engage national and local governments to integrate gender focused climate change measures into policies, strategies and plans.