Gender and climate change : women matter

Abstract

This paper seeks to draw attention to the gender dimension of climate change and the need to integrate gender issues in climate change responses, with particular emphasis on women’s concerns. The paper is divided into four sections. The first highlights the inevitability of climate change, its impact on the poor and vulnerable, its implications for sustainable development and the need for effective adaptation and mitigation measures. It also underscores how climate change disproportionately affects women and what needs to be done to ensure that women’s concerns are adequately addressed. The second looks at how climate change impacts on key climate-sensitive sectors, the gender dimension of the impacts, and proffers recommendations on what should be done to reduce the vulnerability of women to these impacts, and enhance their adaptive capacities. The third provides an overview of financing and capacity building initiatives that could be accessed to fund adaptation and mitigation programmes and projects. The final section makes concluding remarks on the basis of the findings of the preceding sections.