The essential role of women in climate action

In light of the recent Californian wildfires that razed almost 35,000 hectares of land in just three days, it is difficult to imagine the level of destruction and the utter upheaval of so many individuals’ lives. But with the major underrepresentation of women in the most recent COP28 last November, it is concerning to consider how women are still undermined in the climate conversation and how the recent wildfires in LA may further disproportionately impact women years into its aftermath.

The UN Security Council has recognised that the climate crisis is ultimately a human security crisis. The changing climate produces highly complex socio-economic instability which increase the likelihood of violent conflict and may worsen existing vulnerabilities. Marginalised groups such as women are especially impacted by these violent changes in the natural world. The breakdown of social and financial security following a disaster often makes way for violence towards women; increases sexual violence, years of domestic abuse and women dying disproportionately during a disaster attempting to help relatives and children. As Leonard Harris describes of institutional racism, being a woman in the throes of the climate crisis where the odds are systemically stacked against you is in many ways “a polymorphous agent of death”. Now that the wildfires have displaced and upheaved so many communities, it is likely that we will see women amongst the disproportionately impacted. 30% of LA’s homeless are women which can only be expected to increase following the fires as housing and rent prices rise, putting even more women in positions where they are vulnerable to abuse, sexual violence and trafficking. Furthermore, with the growing threat of climate change, extreme weather events may continue to destabilise populations where the most marginalised continue to be disadvantaged.

Climate change is a reality that will disturb all areas of society and requires intersectionality on all levels of society to confront, be it gender, race or class.

It is laughable to see public figures by the likes of Elon Musk insinuate that maybe the severity of the wildfires was because of (very creatively) diversity and inclusion – as if LA wouldn’t be on fire if the fire department head hadn’t been a woman. But the reality is that women are needed now more than ever. It is women and other intersecting marginalised groups that are the ones that bear the brunt of climate change. Climate change is a reality that will disturb all areas of society and requires intersectionality on all levels of society to confront, be it gender, race, or class. Women’s mistreatment under these environmental disruptions are telling of a deeper institutional problem which leaves women underrepresented in positions of leadership.

The UN Women’s Peace and Security Agenda has been criticised for its overemphasis on women’s vulnerabilities in its latest pillars of progress; “ensuring women’s participation in governance and peace and security fields, preventing conflict and violence, protecting women’s and girls’ rights in conflict, and assuring appropriate and just relief and recovery for survivors of conflict”. Although recognition for women’s need for protection and vulnerabilities is necessary, this fails to address the root of the issue. Without women’s representation, protection would merely be a band-aid on a gaping wound. Researcher Elizabeth Seymour Smith notes how the agenda should focus primarily on the pillar “women’s participation in governance”, arguing that only with women in governmental roles can these issues be solved.

Women and other marginalised identities, having been discriminated against by the status quo, tend to be more critical of institutions and the ways in which they fail minority groups.

Women form 50% of the global population and having the last two COP climate boards dominated by a majority of almost 70% men is hardly the way forward, but neither should it be the only way forward. Presence of women in elite positions is necessary but may not be representative of poorer or marginalised women of colour. Women’s Environmental Network (WEN) is one such organisation that aims to amplify women’s voices in climate change from the bottom up. Dedicated to an intersectional approach to combat exploitation of women and the environment, WEN organises community based, grassroots projects dedicated to women. Be it distributing reusable nappies and educating about eco-friendly period products, or bringing marginalised voices to the House of Commons through community workshops, WEN is a great example of intersectional leadership across gender, class and race.

Marginalised perspectives have been recognised as necessary to social progress amongst many thinkers. Women and other marginalised identities, having been discriminated against by the status quo, tend to be more critical of institutions and the ways in which they fail minority groups. Our current system is a modern industrial society that has been made for and by the patriarchy, and it is no longer sufficient in ensuring global stability and security. Women’s participation is not merely necessary to combatting climate change, but the key towards a more stable and flourishing world.