Environmental change is a change or disturbance of the environment most often caused by human influences and natural ecological processes. Climate change, one of such environmental change, is one of the biggest and most pressing global issues of the twenty-first century. A region’s or the entire planet’s long-term shift in temperature and characteristic weather patterns can be described as climate change. These modifications could result in unpredictable and erratic weather patterns. Signs of such climate variation include rising sea levels, an increase in global land and ocean temperatures, ice loss at the poles and in mountain glaciers, an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events like hurricanes, heat waves, wildfires, droughts, floods, and precipitation, as well as changes in cloud and vegetation cover.

            The effects of climate change are found to be different across geographical territories, age groups, classes, income groups, and gender. The findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) show that people who are by now most susceptible and marginalized will also undergo the greatest impacts of climate change. The underprivileged section, especially in developing countries, are anticipated to be excessively and unduly affected. As a result, this deprived section of people is in utmost need of strategies of acclimatization keeping in view the variation in climate. Significantly, both women and men working in activities such as agriculture and other natural zones are likely to be affected.

            It is noteworthy that the impact of climate change on both the genders is not similar. Women are gradually being seen as more susceptible than men to the impacts of climate change. The reason is that women represent the majority of the world’s poor and are correspondingly more dependent on threatened natural resources. The disparity between the sexes also occurs due to their different roles, responsibilities, decision making, access to land and natural resources, opportunities and needs. It is observed that throughout the world, women have less access than men to resources such as land, credit, agricultural inputs as well as to decision-making, technology, training etc. that would have otherwise enabled them to adapt themselves to climate change. Consequently, women and girls face significant impacts of climate change. This in turn increases the existing gender inequalities and brings about irreplaceable threats to their livelihoods, health, and safety.

               Women, around the world, rely more on natural resources. Unfortunately, they do not have sufficient access to these very natural resources. In developing countries, agriculture is the most important employment sector. During times of drought and irregular rainfall, women, as agricultural workers and primary producers have to work harder to earn their livelihood and gather resources for their families as a result of which girls have to bear additional burden. These girls often have to forsake going to school in order to help their mothers cope with the extra burden.

             Further, climate change causes multiple threats in the society. It intensifies social, political and economic tensions in regions affected by instability and conflict. When climate change coerces conflict across the world, women and girls become victims of different forms of gender-based violence, including sexual violence related to conflict, human trafficking, child marriage, and other forms of violence.

            During the time of disasters, women’s lives are threatened. In such situations, women are likely to be injured owing to persistent gender inequalities that have created differences in terms of information, mobility, decision-making, and access to resources and training. As a repercussion, women and girls do not easily get access to relief and support. This further threatens their income, health and recuperation, and leads to an unending cycle of susceptibility to imminent disasters.

              The health of women and girls is put at risk by climate change and disasters because they are restricted from accessing services and health care. Moreover, they experience increasing risks related to maternal and child health. Research has shown that extreme heat increases cases of stillbirth. Further, climate change is said to have augmented the proliferation of vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and Zika virus, which in turn lead to damaging maternal and neonatal consequences.

           In India, the effect of climate change is becoming increasingly palpable every year. Impacts encompass escalating heat waves, irregular monsoons, disasters related to weather, recurrent droughts etc. From the perspective of gender, the impact of climate change has been seen to affect women more than men in India. A study related to the Tea Plantations in Darjeeling, West Bengal, shows that in the last few years, the unwarranted use of fertilisers in the production of tea has severely affected female tea workers, for they comprise the cheaper source of labour in tea gardens. They have been found to suffer from vision loss, skin infections, loss of appetite, and breathing ailments. Another study on the impact on women in the aftermath of floods in Bihar shows increased incidence of domestic violence against women, higher instances of trafficking in the name of marriage, increased preference for male children, and instances of abuse in the flood relief camps. In rural Maharashtra, for the purpose of solving the problem of water scarcity arising from droughts and improper water connectivity, the men of the village have started taking more wives. The role of these wives is only to provide and supply water in the house. Significantly, women from the poorest rural communities spend almost two and a half months in a year just to fetch water, and there has been an increase in the distance women travel and the number of households which travel for water.

               We can also take into consideration a report of a study conducted by the Guwahati based Centre for Environment Social and Policy Research (CESPR), and RGVN in collaboration with INECC on the impact of Climate Change on Marginalized Women in the state of Assam. According to the report, there has been changes in the rainfall and the minimum temperature, and according to climate experts, it could have a major impact in the state of Assam. It further states that women belonging to marginalized households and living in rural areas in the state are adversely affected by climate change. In several areas, the income of families who are solely dependent on agriculture for their livelihood has declined several times because with climate change there has been a change in the rainfall pattern and a decrease in the rainfall. There has been a rise in the frequency of drought like situation in the state which is also affecting the economic conditions of the farmers in the state. As a result of the decline in the income, the women folk who were basically home makers, now started to work to make up for the families income, and in many places they even started working as daily wage labourers. This is in turn has affected the education of the girl child considerably because when the mother decides to go out in search of work, the responsibility of the house usually rests on the girl child and she is forced to leave school. The study further revealed that in the last few years, change in climatic conditions in the state has had major impact on the economic conditions of several households which have also made young girls from the tea garden areas vulnerable to flesh trade by being lured with promise of jobs. The study observed that climate change is generally perceived by the marginalized women as the presence of more diseases, change in rainfall, change in climatic conditions and loss of agricultural output. As a result of excessive floods, communication is disrupted for long period of time and consequently girls are forced to drop out of schools and colleges. Besides, the adverse impact of the flood on the income of the family often forces the women of the house to step out and seek work elsewhere. The study also mentions that in hundreds of households, women who were earlier home makers are now compelled to take up weaving, daily wage labour and other related activities to make ends meet, and in many areas, women of the households are taking up fishing to make up for lost agricultural produce. Thus, we see that women’s gender roles and gender inequality put them at a disadvantaged position during the climate crisis.


               Gender equality is not only a component of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), but is also at the same time, a prerequisite for achieving sustainability. In order to solve the urgent crisis of climate change, it is now of utmost necessity to become aware of the gender dimension of its impacts. It is only by acknowledging and identifying these aspects of gender that they can be incorporated and addressed in the policy frameworks. It is further necessary to bring women at the centre of developing sustainable technologies so that they can adapt to the impacts of climate change. Moreover, it is essential to include a gender component in all climate change-related programmes and also to closely monitor the progress of such programmes.
References:
    UN Women.(2022, Feb 28). Explainer: How gender inequality and climate change are interconnected. https://www.unwomen.org
Elasha, Balgis Osman (n.d.).Women…In The Shadow of Climate Change. https://www.un.org.
NASA(.gov.).(n.d.).How Do We Know Climate Change is Real. https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
Centre for Education and Documenation.(2012,July 9).Impact of Climate Change on Marginalized Women. http://ced.org.in