United States Strategy to Respond to the Effects of Climate Change on Women 2023

Natural Resources, Conflict, and Fragility:

Due to gender inequality, conflict  and disasters adversely and disproportionately affect women and girls.  Climate change impacts, such as extreme weather events, food and water insecurity, and natural resource degradation, are threat multipliers and increase risks of displacement , migration, and conflict, especially in regions that suffer from instability.  In many parts of the world, women and girls are particularly vulnerable to these stressors, because their livelihoods and care work responsibilities depend on accessing climate-impacted resources (e.g., land, food, water, fuel) or controlling and maintaining those resources as smallholder farmers and informal natural resource managers.  As scarcity worsens, women and girls tend to be most impacted by food shortages and malnutrition and increasingly encounter insecurity and violence as they travel to far or unfamiliar destinations or experience resource competition.  Despite these threats, they are contributing to peace-building  and sustainability in their communities through locally informed, innovative solutions.  This gender-climate theme aligns with the U.S. government’s priority to advance the WPS agenda.

Gender-Based Violence and Social Impacts:

When climate-related disasters strike, women’s and girls’ economic and educational opportunities and access to health care services are disrupted, contributing to mortality and adverse health  impacts.  Climate change shapes the quantity, quality, and availability of basic resources, including those necessary to maintain menstrual health and hygiene.  Climate disasters and stressors heighten women’s and girls’ risks of experiencing GBV , whether in communities, the home, on migration or collection routes, or in temporary shelters.  Furthermore, as climate stressors threaten resources and livelihoods, women and girls are typically the first to forego food, and child, early, and forced marriages often increase as families feel pressure to reduce expenses.  Such economic insecurities induced by climate disasters and stressors can elevate the risk of trafficking in persons.  GBV also harms women’s and girls’ leadership and action in addressing the climate crisis and environmental challenges.  For example, in response to their efforts to promote accountability for governments and private sector actors, women environmental defenders  face increased risk of retaliation, threats, and violence online and offline.  This gender-climate theme aligns with the U.S. government’s priority to prevent and respond to GBV globally.

Innovation and Economic Participation:

It is critical to ensure that women and girls have the education, training, mentorship, assets, and financing to lead or work in the green (e.g., energy , transport, agriculture, forestry) and blue (e.g., fisheries, maritime transport, coastal resources) economies .  To access these opportunities, education and training in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields must be emphasized.  Proactive efforts are key to facilitating women’s participation and leadership since they face myriad institutional, structural, and cultural barriers to their inclusion.  Whether through legal restrictions or social norms, some women are prohibited from working in relevant sectors, while others do not have the right to own land .  Women are overrepresented as workers in many industries that have a direct impact on or are directly impacted by climate change (e.g., agriculture, fishing, garment industries, tourism), presenting opportunities for women’s climate innovation while simultaneously challenging their livelihoods.  Women’s access to and uptake of climate-smart technologies remains limited, including for women smallholder farmers , who often do not have land rights or deeds.  This gender-climate theme aligns with the U.S. government’s priority to promote WES.

Intersectional:

Address how aspects of an individual’s identity intersect to create different experiences of discrimination and privilege.  Consider the historic, sociocultural, and systemic disadvantages and power imbalances members of different groups face, and recognize their strength, resilience, and leadership in developing tailored solutions.

Locally Led:

Build partnerships with local stakeholders, including individuals, communities, networks, organizations, private entities, and governments, and enable them to set their own agendas and co-create solutions.  This includes engaging men and boys as partners in advancing gender equality in the context of climate change.

Do No Harm:

Commit to principles of safety, respect, confidentiality, and non-discrimination in all our work to take care not to put survivors, program participants, staff, and community members at physical or emotional risk.

Policy, Diplomacy, and Outreach (PDO)

PDO1:  Reduce barriers that impede women’s and girls’ abilities to engage or lead in climate change and natural resource decision-making, peace-building, and relief and recovery at local, sub-national, national, and international levels.

PDO2:  Anticipate and address increased risks of GBV and threats to well-being resulting from climate-related disasters, natural resource scarcity, or efforts to protect the environment and deploy climate solutions.

PDO3:  Promote women’s access to green and blue economy jobs and facilitate women’s and girls’ climate entrepreneurship and innovation, including in STEM fields, to advance energy and other industrial transitions toward sustainability and improve women’s economic security.

PDO4:  Amplify the work and voices of women and girls leading climate change adaptation, mitigation, and resilience efforts in all sectors and at all levels.

Programming (PRG)

PRG1:  Continue developing and funding programs, including through the GEEA Fund, that advance women’s and girls’ climate leadership by facilitating training for and access to green and blue jobs, creating climate-smart entrepreneurship opportunities, addressing climate change-related GBV, or promoting women’s access to climate finance.

PRG2:  Maximize efforts to build collaboration across climate change programming and gender equality programming via program design, implementation, and evaluation that integrates best practices from each field (e.g., gender diversity and balance, gender analysis, climate risk assessments, sex-disaggregated data collection, environment and gender monitoring indicators).

PRG3:  Invest in programs that advance land rights for women, with emphasis on Indigenous women, enabling their economic security and ability to conserve and protect land and resources, including efforts to reduce deforestation, overgrazing, and land degradation.

Capacity Building (CB)

CB1:  Institutionalize PDO and PRG efforts on the nexus of gender equality and climate change through consistent interagency coordination, as well as coordination within departments, agencies, and bureaus, as appropriate.

CB2:  Increase awareness and understanding of the nexus of gender equality and climate change, as well as its ability to impact both gender equality and climate change priorities, within departments, agencies, and bureaus.