Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction: Women and Climate Change Adaptation

Apr 10, 2018 | Ellie Anderson
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According to a 2015 Georgetown University report on women and climate change, “the impacts of climate change – droughts, floods, extreme weather, increased incidence of disease, and growing food and water insecurity – disproportionately affect the world’s 1.3 billion poor, the majority of whom are women.”

But focusing on women’s vulnerability overlooks their strengths. “The capacity of the women to address climate change—not only adaptation, but also mitigation; the innovation that they bring as incredible agents of change—it’s something that we’re missing,” said Lorena Aguilar, global senior gender advisor of the International Union for Conservation and Nature, at a recent event on women and climate change at Georgetown University. “We have been advocating for being gender responsive, not just gender sensitive,” she said.