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There is a gap between the UK’s communities and those in the global south when it comes to bearing the brunt the effects of the climate crisis. Often those on the frontline who are dealing with the impacts – damage or loss to their homes, livelihoods, and health – have done little to cause this global crisis.
Too often, however, the disproportionate impact of women and girls is overlooked. Christian Aid warns us that this is a mistake for international women’s day.
The lived experiences Women across the global South, gathered in Christian Aid’s report Women on the Front Line: Healing the earth, seeking justice, should act as a constant reminder that climate change is affecting women and girls more than men.
In Kenya, Sadia Isacko is an activist who encourages women’s groups in Marsabit to attend public forums to discuss the issues affecting them. She explains that Marsabit County was not always like this; yes, it was dry, but not this bad.
“For women especially, the resources we need have moved further away. Basic resources like water, pasture for our livestock and firewood have diminished further; yet women need these things for their everyday life.”
Sadia added: “Every other responsibility is left for women. They don’t have access to milk, because the herds are away; they have to take care of children; they have to look for food, as their husbands are hundreds of kilometres away herding livestock.”
Pastoralist Community Initiative and Development Assistance (PACIDA) is a Kenyan organisation that focuses on women and young people from different groups. It assists bodies and platforms, including climate change planning committees, through which communities can voice their concerns and lobby for policies, services and support.
Sadia adds: “Whenever women go to public participation forums and present their grievances, they are mainly dominated by men … But we realised if we persist on the same, they will listen and take action.”
The charity’sReport calls for women’s “strengths, knowledge and capabilities” to be at the forefront of the climate response and for a shift in power and resources from the Global North to the Global South.
Fionna Smyth is Head of Global Advocacy and Policy for Christian Aid. She explains that “the fight against climate change cannot be separated from poverty and inequality.” To support women’s initiative, leadership and transformation, transformative policies are needed.
Christian Aid also calls for 70% of climate financing to be directed at locally led responses. This includes ensuring that funding for loss or damage is matched with funding for adaptation and mitigation. It also urges leaders to redirect fossil fuel subsidies towards measures for gender equality and sustainability.
Small-scale farmers in Honduras have felt the effects of climate change and environmental degradation for years. Deforestation has led to flash floods and landslides that have become more frequent as a result. The risk of drought, forest fires and depleting water supplies has also increased.
Organismo Cristiano de Desarrollo Integral de Honduras works to address these issues by launching a Women-Led Sustainable Energy Enterprises Initiative (WLSEE), supported by EU. 120 women have been able to set up 39 businesses to produce, market, and install sustainable energy technologies in low-income communities. Participants in the WLSEE initiative say that climate change is a problem that affects everyone, but it poses particular challenges to women and poorer households.
Yadira, a dedicated coffee producer and member WLSEE IXIK Organic said: “It affects the housewives most, because we must keep an eye on water accessibility.
“In some cases the water might not reach the home, so we must bring it from the nearest source.
“The same thing occurs with family vegetable gardens. Because women are the ones who… produce what we will eat, it is the same.” This is becoming more difficult.
Nushrat Chowdhury is Climate Justice Policy Advisor at Christian Aid and coauthor of the report.
“Despite being at the forefront in understanding the climate emergency’s impacts, the impact on old colonial or economic systems means women are rarely consulted and decide policy or practical solutions.”
Smyth said that the latest IPCC report has shown that climate damage is worse than expected. We need global leadership and a radical overhaul of the existing structures to save the planet.
“Bold and transformative policies will be needed to support women’s initiative and leadership, and to place them at center of a gender-just climate response.
“People who are most vulnerable to climate change know the best how to adapt to their particular circumstances.”
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