Here is a research work by Barsa, an International Climate Champion from INDIA. It is a pleasure sharing it with eco-generation ambassadors.

In Kamlawati's Compierganj village in eastern UP's Gorakhpur in India; summer, winter and monsoon have turned erratic. The 52-year-old is one among millions of women farmers bearing the brunt of climate change in parched fields, flooded villages and mountain climes. From walking a long distance to collect water and firewood to plough fields; from premature deliveries to malnutrition, women are taking the first direct hit of altered climate. Fish-farmer Shyamali Das of 24 South Parganas knows that first-hand. It is a struggle managing an income. After their villages were ravished by cyclones, the men headed to big towns for work. Fish yield is at an all-time low. "We lost 20 fish species. Ten years ago, we earned Rs 1000 by fishing for a fortnight, now it is Rs. 300," says Das. They used to fish eight months, now erratic patterns has brought that down to three. In Bidakanne village, 50 year old Samamma, standing in her field, points out the various crops, all without water and chemical input, growing in between the rows of sunflowers: linseed, green pea, chick pea, various types of millets, wheat, safflower and legumes. 

Climate Change is certainly the most serious problem we face today. One of the direct results of climate change is increased frequency of floods, droughts, extreme temperatures, hurricanes, mud slides and land slides. The main cause of this environmental crisis is the burning of fossil fuels which releases carbon in the atmosphere. We probably have heard about all this before. But have we ever stuck with the fact that women suffer the most with the consequences of climate change? Yes, Women.  Although climate change reflects great injustices for both women and men, posing an increased threat to those suffering from poverty in developing nations who have ironically contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions and constitute about 70 per cent of the 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty around the world. Yes, they are the female population of our global family. Women are generally more vulnerable than men to both poverty and climate change. In the Asia Pacific region where over 600 million poor live on less than 1.25 dollars a day, the majority of them are women. These women are more dependent on the natural resources available to maintain their livelihoods.

 In the first place, people with the least resources are the most defenseless whenever disaster strikes. This again substantiates the fact that female population is more vulnerable to climate change due to gender conditions as well. Scientists have very appropriately predicted that women are fourteen times more vulnerable to disasters.   In 2007, cyclone Sidr battered the western coast of Bangladesh, killing more than 3,000 people – the majority of them were women. Also, localized case studies associated with a devastating 1991 cyclone in Bangladesh, the 2003 European heat wave and 2004 Asian tsunami nonetheless affirm the greater vulnerability of women. Although women die in greater numbers in disasters than men and they tend to die at younger ages, there are few reliable studies to document this phenomena, largely because there has so far been little focus by the international community on the gender impact of natural disasters. This is also due to lack of a "female factor" in the climate change debate. Through sampling data from natural disasters in 141 countries between 1981 and 2002, economists Eric Neumayer and Thomas Plumper confirmed that natural disasters and their subsequent impact on average kill more women than men. Climate negotiations and adaptation strategies have responded poorly to the needs of women despite being most at risk.

While all human beings will become threatened, people of poor nations whose livelihood is more immediately dependent on farming, reliable rainfall, and natural resources, are more vulnerable to the detrimental changes induced by global warming. Women, being the world?s primary farmers according to the 2009 report by the United Nations Population Fund, are in turn particularly vulnerable. As an Asian I have witnessed and experienced the gendered repercussions of environmental crisis, particularly climate change. I have seen the intense effect of climate change on poor farmers of Asia whose crops are ruined by drought or flood. Considering the fact that women produce 90% of rural food, they are badly affected by it. Their household workload increases due to prolonged search for increasingly scarce water. Everyday, they struggle to make sure that their children and family do not go hungry. Unfavorable weather conditions result in decrease in their family income and subsequent increase in hunger and diseases. Their male counterparts in most number of cases commit suicide when they find themselves unable to tackle the pathetic condition or the senior male members migrate to different cities in the search of employment. This makes the women?s condition worst. Saddled with multiple roles and with absentee husbands and older sons, more women are becoming de facto heads of house holds. However, assuming the position of household head does not mean that such women have more freedom of decision or choice in household production and allocation. In reality, they are only managers as certain activities will still require the decision of the man, mainly the father-in-laws and brothers.  This stops women from making decisions such as family migration, asset liquidation, accessing credit choices of crops and livestock breeds which could cushion them against vagaries of climate variability and change.  

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Climate Change is now becoming ?human issue? – more than that human rights issue. Once a strictly ?environmental? or ?business? issue, it has been increasingly accepted as gender equality and social justice issue by civil society organizations, UN agencies and governments from around the globe. As a social development issue, climate change is pertinent to women?s equality. Though minimal feminist and gender-focused study and input on issues and policies related to climate change to date has resulted in the omission of gender issues from the overarching discourse developed globally, such as the fact that 1992?s United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change does not mention gender, with gender perspectives having been omitted from its analysis. The ongoing struggle is underway to address both climate change and its gender specific impacts.

As a result, the Rio Declaration and the two other UN conventions – on Biological Diversity and to Combat Desertification emphasized women?s direct participation and leadership on these issues. This led to make women participation to combat climate change heart of the Kyoto protocol. The highest scientific panel in the world – the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emphasized that the impacts of climate change would be based on geography, age and gender. This sparked the emergence of women organizations as Women?s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) and Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) which also added climate change as a gendered issue. Consequently, the Cancun Agreements addressed climate change as human rights and justice issue and included gendered impact of climate change as an integral part of the agreement.  

However, the climate change regime is still a men?s club and women are underrepresented at international climate talks. But the fight is still on to ensure that women have a proper place at critical decision-making tables – at global, national and local levels, where it seems the mentality largely persists that, when it comes to money and science,  leave it to the men. Despite the view that they are suited to bring about change yet they are being kept at the periphery of the debate and strategy to mitigate climate change. It is high time now to make sure that the debate over climate change is not dominated by carbon credits and emissions targets. It is necessary to put people at the center and, in particular, focus on one group that is most at risk – women.

It would be wrong to portray women simply as the victims of climate change and not as agents of progress.  We can ensure this by promoting women?s empowerment.  With their skills, perspectives and experiences, they are already responding to the impacts of climate change.  It is time to involve them as equal partners. The men?s club should realize that women are important agents of change in the whole process of adaptation. They are often innovative in the way they manage household and natural resources. As an International Climate Champion of the British Council, I carried out a year long climate change campaign to motivate and mobilize women and young girls to join this green crusade against climate change. I traveled across the length and breadth of the country traversing 18 000 kilometers for 18 days continuously. I personally met them, talked about this global problem, learned from them on how do they face the grave disastrous situation and realized that women play a pivotal role in sensitizing this issue in a better way. After witnessing insurmountable cases of agony faced by women particularly in rural areas and inspired by Wangari Mathaai?s statement ?There is unlikely to be climate equity without gender equity?, I took up this as a challenge to at least make sure that there is women hegemony in my country. But, Alas! On completion of my project, when I was selected among top 50 young climate ambassadors of my country to be bestowed with the prestigious title of the ?Brightest Young Climate Leader?, I yet again realized that I was the only women. That was yet again a stark reality. We must accept the fact that women have the capabilities to do well; it is just that they are overlooked by the authorities. I have been to Barefoot College in India which trains women from agricultural communities in the north to become solar technicians and earn their own income. A collective of 5,000 women spread across 75 villages in the arid, interior part of southern India is now offering chemical–free, non–irrigated, organic agriculture as on the methods of combating global warming.  Similarly, in Malawi, an Irish company is helping train rural women make and sell energy-efficient cook stoves. It reduces both the harmful smoke the women are exposed to when they cook with firewood as well as helps to fight deforestation. If they have the courage, determination and passion to bring about a change, then why are not they involved in the global climate negotiations and agreements? 

This climate debate will be undoubtedly incomplete if human and gender dimensions are not added to it. Though women involvement in key negotiations at international level is not sufficient to ensure gender equality, having more women on the committee does not guarantee gender-sensitive governance.  But having an equal proportion of women on board is a big step in the right direction. A recent report by Women?s Environmental Network titled ?Gender and the Climate Change Agenda? found that in most countries, both developed and developing, women were under-represented at national level, both in government and private sector. Moreover, they are poorly represented in both official delegations and in business and civil society groups at the international level. The report further revealed that women who have been involved have made significant contributions to the outcomes of the negotiations.  By women we mean women from every cross section of the society. It is necessary to reflect on how climate change has affected women and girls differently around the world, within the nation and how individual female behavior can contribute to cool our warming world. It is a true fact that climate change has not only endangered lives and undermined livelihoods, it has also exacerbated the gap between rich and poor and amplified inequities between men and women.

In order to make sure that gender equality is fully integrated into climate policies, women should be given a greater say in addressing climate change challenges at both local and global level. Women have the power to mobilize against climate change, but this can be realized through policies empowering them. Government needs to explore the critical connection among population dynamics, reproductive health, women?s lives and climate change as they relate to green house gas emissions and societies? resilience against the climate change. According to the book ?Changing World : Women, Population and Climate? published by United Nation?s Population Fund in 2009 – ?International Climate Change Agreements and National Policies are more likely to succeed in the long run if they take into account population dynamics, family planning, gender relations, reproductive health care, women?s well–being and access to services and opportunities as these elements could influence course of climate change and affect how humanity adapts to rising seas, worsening storms and severe droughts.?  It is mandatory to foster an environment where women are key decision-makers on climate change, and play an equally central role in carrying out these decisions.

According to Asian Development Bank women?s limited access to resources and opportunities has been hindering their growth, consequently lowering the productivity and creating a serious obstacle to achieve long term economic growth and eradicate poverty. According to the United Nations, in no country in the world do men come anywhere close to women in the amount of time spent in housework. Furthermore, despite the efforts of feminist movements, women in the core [wealthiest, Western countries] still suffer disproportionately, leading to what sociologists refer to as the ?feminization of poverty,? where two out of every three poor adults are women. The informal slogan of the Decade of Women is ?Women do two-thirds of the world?s work, receive 10 percent of the world?s income and own 1 percent of the means of production.? Therefore it is mandatory to address women?s needs to enable them to avail of equal opportunities as men. In other word, women must have equal opportunities to influence their own lives. Thus they can gain influence on the ways in which the efforts to reduce climate change can be enhanced.

Above all, climate change is a global problem and in order to solve a global problem we need to tackle it globally. Ignoring a certain section of society who somewhere contributes a lot for welfare of immediate surroundings is certainly not the global way of mitigating climate change. Further more women?s rights around the world are important indicator to understand global well-being. Gender equality furthers the cause of child survival and development for all of society, so the importance of women?s rights and gender equality should not be underestimated. Also, if we don?t deal with women development and climate change simultaneously, we are going to live in an increasingly insecure world.

To deal effectively with climate change, women should be empowered and granted greater access to education, extension services and modern technologies. Emphasis on women?s education, including incentives and scholarships in science should made available for sustainable provision of qualified women candidates required to occupy key positions and reduce the existing gap in public and private sector jobs. Gender is a fundamental issue that, when overlooked, can disempower communities and derail budding efforts to achieve human rights and equality. As Ana Pinto, a feminist who works with indigenous peoples in India?s Manipur state, once said, ?When women are demanding that our voices be heard, we are not doing this for ourselves but for the community we take care of.? It is going to cost billions upon billions of dollars worldwide to mitigate the damage already done to our climate. Adaptation, mitigation, finance, technology, capacity building – these are essential and interlinked pieces, and women and gender issues are at the heart of every one. We will continue to fight to make sure that progress doesn't get sidetracked.

Finally, I would like to appeal to all men holding top positions at the various international bodies. The most powerful force of change on the planet is the womankind. When a girl with 7 years of education marries 4 years later and has 2.2 fewer children (than the current average in both cases), the population's HIV rate goes down and malnutrition goes down 43%. If 10% more girls go to secondary school, the country?s economy grows 3%. When an educated girl earns income, she reinvests 90% of it in her family compared to 35% for a boy. Yet, 99.4% of international aid money is not directed to her. The answer is right in front of us. Dare to see this girl. Take her into account! Invest in her! Advocate for her!

Barsa

International Climate Champion 2009

Brightest Young Climate Leader 2010

INDIA

barsa.best@gmail.com