Climate governance is dominated by men, yet the health impacts of the climate crisis often affect women, girls, and gender-diverse people disproportionately, argue researchers ahead of the upcoming 29th United Nations Climate Summit (COP29) in Azerbaijan.

In an article published today in Lancet Planetary Health, a team of researchers–including several from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) and the University of Cambridge–argue that much more needs to be done to mitigate the impacts of climate change on women, girls and gender-diverse individuals.

Focusing specifically on the intersection between climate change, gender, and human health, the researchers call on countries to work harder to ensure there is gender equity within their delegations to climate conferences and to ensure climate strategies identify gender-specific risks and vulnerabilities and address their root causes.

As the world prepares for COP29, concerns about gender representation and equality have reignited following the initial appointment of 28 men and no women to the COP29 organising committee in January 2024.

The effects of climate change–from heavy rains, rising temperatures, storms and floods through to sea level rises and droughts–exacerbate systemic inequalities and disproportionately affect marginalised populations, particularly those living in low-income areas.

While the specific situation may be different depending on where people live or their social background (like their class, race, ability, sexuality, age, or location), women, girls, and gender minorities are often at greater risk from the impacts of climate change. For example, in many countries, women are less likely to own land and resources to protect them in post-disaster situations and have less control over income and less access to information, resulting in increased vulnerability to acute and long-term climate change impacts.

They are also particularly at risk from climate-related threats to their health, say the researchers. For example, studies have linked high temperatures to adverse birth outcomes such as spontaneous preterm births, pre-eclampsia and birth defects. Extreme events, which are expected to become more likely and intense due to climate change, also take a severe toll on women's social, physical, and mental well-being. Numerous studies highlight that gender-based violence is reported to increase during or after extreme events, often due to factors related to economic instability, food insecurity, disrupted infrastructure and mental stress.

Kim van Daalen, a researcher at BSC’s Global Health Resilience group of the Earth Sciences Department and a former Gates Cambridge Scholar at the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, said: “Given how disproportionately climate change affects women, girls and gender minorities – a situation that is only likely to get worse – we need to ensure that their voices are heard and meaningfully included in discussions of how we respond to this urgent climate crisis. This is not currently happening anywhere near the level it needs to.”

Gender inequality ingrained in global climate negotiations

The team summarised the inclusion of gender, health and their intersection in key decisions and initiatives under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It also analysed gender representation among representatives of Party and Observer State delegations at COPs between 1995-2023. Progress has been slow, they say.

They highlight how previous scholars have consistently noted that emphasis remains mainly on achieving a gender ‘number-based balance’ in climate governance, over exploring gender-specific risks and vulnerabilities and addressing their root causes. They also discuss how there remains limited recognition of the role climate change has in worsening gendered impacts on health, including gender-based violence and the lack of safeguarding reproductive health in the face of climate change.

Although the situation is slowly improving, at COP28, almost three-quarters (73%) of Party delegations were still majority men, and only just over one in six (16%) showed gender parity (that is, 45-55% women). Gender parity has only been achieved in the ‘Western European and Other’ UN grouping (which also includes North America, Australia and New Zealand). Based on current trends, several countries - particularly those in the Asia-Pacific and Africa regions - are expected to take at least a decade from COP28 before reaching gender parity in their delegations.

Beyond ensuring that their voices are heard, more equitable inclusion of women has consistently been suggested to transform policy-making across political and social systems, including the generation of policies that better represent women’s interests. Previous recent analyses of 49 European countries revealed that greater women’s political representation correlates with reduced inequalities in self-reported health, lower geographical inequalities in infant mortality and fewer disability-adjusted life-years lost across genders.

Similar positive findings have been reported related to environmental policies, with women’s representation in national parliaments being associated with increased ratification of environmental treaties and more stringent climate change policies. For example, women legislators in the European Parliament and the US House of Representatives are more inclined to support environmental legislation than men.

While the researchers’ analyses focused on achieving gender balance, studies on women’s involvement in climate governance suggest that increased representation does not by itself always lead to meaningful policy changes. Even when formally included, women’s active participation in male-dominated institutions is often constrained by existing social and cultural norms, implicit biases and structural barriers.

Van Daalen added: “If we’re to meaningfully incorporate gender into climate policy and practice, we need to understand the risks and vulnerabilities that are gender-specific and look at how we can address them and their root causes at all phases of programme and policy development.”

“But we also need to resist reducing women to a single, homogenous group, which risks deepening existing inequalities and overlooks opportunities to address the needs of all individuals. It is crucial to recognise the diversity of women and their embodiment of multiple, intersecting identities that shape their climate experiences as well as their mitigation and adaptation needs.”

Gender-diverse people face unique health and climate-related risks

The team also highlights that gender-diverse people face unique health and climate-related risks due to their increased vulnerability, stigma, and discrimination. For example, during and after extreme events, transgender people in the United States report being threatened or prohibited access to shelters. Similarly, in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Samoa, gender-diverse individuals often face discrimination, mockery, and exclusion from evacuation centres or access to food. Yet, say the researchers, there are major gaps in knowledge about the health implications of climate change for such groups.

ICREA Professor Rachel Lowe, leader of the BSC’s Global Health Resilience group, concluded: "Investment in innovative data collection strategies and research environments that facilitate analytical studies on the gender-specific risks posed by climate change are urgently needed to design inclusive and effective policies that protect all communities from the accelerating climate-induced health threats. At the same time, diversity in leadership in academia, health care and policy-making spaces is essential to drive innovation, enrich decision-making, and accelerate our progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)." 

Reference:

Van Daalen, KR et al., “Bridging the gender, climate, and health gap: the road to COP29. Lancet Planetary Health”; 11 November 2024; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(24)00270-5. 

Credit: Raphael Pouget / Climate Visuals Countdown