GGCA Gender and Climate Change Training Manual - Women's ...

These include women’s control “over land, credit and tools, good health and
personal mobility, household entitlement and personal security, secure housing
in safe locations, freedom from violence” (Brody et al., 2008). If these are not well
established, the affected groups of women will be at a severe disadvantage.
Climate change is associated with the intensification of food shortages,
a rise in the occurrence of respiratory diseases, and increasing exhaustion from
travelling further and further for water. Complicating the situation for many women
is the fact that climate change also introduces new elements such as heat stress
and an increase in waterborne diseases into the mix (Brody et al., 2008). These
complicating factors further compromise women’s ability to function. In some
cases, climate change may require new survival skills such as tree climbing and
swimming which are not customary activities for women living under certain
cultural and religious constraints. Climate change also intensifies the effects of
pre-existing gender gaps such as information asymmetry between men and
women. While the old forms of asymmetries led to long-term chronic problems
such as endemic poverty, the new forms such as asymmetrical information
sharing regarding early warning and disaster preparedness are a matter of life
and death.
207
Dealing successfully with the challenge of risk management, disaster
preparedness and climate change-induced-weather challenges require
resources well beyond those that are normally available to meet the day-to-day
needs faced by the average individual and household. It may require resources
to build permanent or stronger more robust housing for the family; better and
stronger water storage units; and investment in energy-efficient technologies
such as solar stoves, for example.
As noted by the UN, empowering and investing in women is the key to
combating the effects of desertification and paving the way for rural poverty
alleviation in many of the world’s least developed countries (Srabani, 2008).
Women also play an important role in developing energy systems.
Yet, under the current climate change financing regime, women do
not have easy and sufficient access to funds to cover weather-related losses,
or to service adaptation and mitigation technologies. Many activities normally
undertaken by women which could count as adaptation and mitigation activities,
such as tree planting, are not recognized in the global carbon trade market or
are overlooked by various groups of funders. Further, given the complexities of
the various climate change funds and their complicated applications processes,
women’s and community groups may have difficulties accessing and absorbing
Module 7