How gender inequality and climate change are interconnected

The climate crisis is not “gender neutral”. Women and girls bear the brunt of its impacts, which amplify existing gender inequalities and pose unique threats to their livelihoods, health and safety.  

Feminist climate justice brings a gender lens to the fight against climate change, acknowledging how the drivers of the climate crisis are also the drivers of gender inequalities.  

The Gender Snapshot 2024 report indicates that by 2050, climate change may push up to 158 million more women and girls into poverty (16 million more than the total number of men and boys). Even today, 47.8 million more women face food insecurity and hunger than men.

Women depend more on, yet have less access to, natural resources

In many regions, women bear a disproportionate responsibility for securing food, water and fuel for their families. When these resources become scarce due to the changing climate, women must work harder and travel farther. This also puts added pressure on girls, who sometimes have to leave school to help their mothers manage the increased burden. 

“Women are the ones to face and respond to the effects of climate change, but their role is not understood, much less made visible,” says Miriam Jemio, an environmental journalist from Bolivia. “Extractivism and the climate crisis have profound socio-environmental impact on Indigenous populations, but these impacts affect women differently.” She gives the example of Indigenous women in the Chiquitanía (a region in eastern Bolivia), whose traditional care responsibilities for their families include fetching water. “Water is increasingly scarce… In the Chiquitanía, there are seasons when women have to travel to another community or even to the nearest city.”