Empower women to win fight against Climate Change

Besides the very just cry for gender justice, doesn’t it make sense to involve more than half of the world’s population more purposefully in the climate fight? The change must start from the top with greater female representation at global and national leadership positions (Image: Pixabay)

Vaishali Nigam Sinha

The fight against Climate Change received a boost following the successful COP26 summit in 2021. Last month, the Union Budget 2022 presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is by far India’s greenest budget. This was followed by a Green Hydrogen policy.

The launch of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), constituting around $130 trillion of private commitment, to achieve Net Zero, showed that the global financial community realised that the fight against Climate Change must engage all stakeholders. While bankers, governments, and multilateral agencies put plans into action to support their climate goals, they must factor in women at all levels of this effort. Failing to do so would mean efforts in this space would not yield positive results.

There is strong evidence that women face a disproportional burden due to Climate Change; one reason being that over 70 percent of the 1.3 billion people globally living in poverty is female. Women’s work is responsible for between 50 percent and 80 percent of the world’s food production, which is set to be badly impacted by Climate Change. Yet, women own just less than 10 percent of the land.

In India, the situation is similar when it comes to climate risks, with over 65 percent of the agricultural workforce comprising women.

Be just, be smart

Besides the very just cry for gender justice, doesn’t it make sense to involve more than half of the world’s population more purposefully in the climate fight? The change must start from the top with greater female representation at global and national leadership positions. Unfortunately, even at the COP26 summit most such positions were held by men. This must change.

Globally, at the household and community level, women are generally the stewards of environmental and household resources (for e.g., over 70 percent of water-related chores and management globally is delegated to women, according to the Alliance for Global Water Adaptation).

Given their life experiences, women can be a massive force amplifier in the fight against Climate Change by not only helping devise livelihood strategies, but by also having a seat at all the high tables to present first-hand the challenges faced on the ground. Only then can realistic solutions be integrated into comprehensive policy formulations.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, women comprise just over 30 percent of the modern renewable energy sector globally. The sector must step up to engage women as millions of jobs will get created at its core and in ancillary sectors, such as storage.

Here are three steps to address gender imbalance in the fight against Climate Change:

Analyse gaps

To craft effective solutions it is important to understand the burden of climate risks from a gender lens across multiple development parameters. There needs to be an assessment of how women are affected across areas such as health, livelihood, education, personal safety, and access to resources, to understand existing gaps, before crafting adaptation and climate mitigation strategies.

For instance, major cross-sectional studies by the United Nations, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the IPCC on Climate Change and women have been key in determining gaps, such as in resource access and decision-making, and creating resilience for women against climate calamities.

Integrate and invest

The solutions to addressing these gaps need to be integrated into policymaking in order to embed gender justice into climate battle. This must be combined with active gender-sensitive investments, and access to financial resources, including policies that enable financial support for gender empowerment. In this context, it is heartening to see that around 70 percent of MUDRA loans have been to women.

Educate and empower

Once solutions to the gaps are baked into policy actions, it is critical that women take the lead as decision-makers in the fight against global warming. There are too few women in leadership positions in this critical area. An OECD/IEA analysis of energy-related sectors showed women, (excluding in utilities) hold less than 12 percent of leadership roles.

As the chair of the Gender Equality Summit, the United Nations Global Compact Network India, South Asia Women in Energy, and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, I have seen the positive impact women can have.

Here, governments and other key stakeholders should actively look at mandated affirmative action in some areas of the climate fight, and energy transition.

It is heartening to see the Centre approving the appointment of many competent women to the highest levels in important bodies such as SEBI, public sector entities, and financial institutions. I hope to see more positive change in the future in financing women-led businesses, and entrepreneurial ventures.

As the world grapples with the existential dangers of Climate Change with greater vigour, the focus must be on rectifying gender inequities in the global energy shift. The time for talk is over. It is time to act and then, act some more.

Vaishali Nigam Sinha is Chief Sustainability Officer of ReNew Power, and Chair of United Nations Global Compact Network India Gender Equality Summit 2022. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.