The Risks of Gender-Blind Climate Action

May 10, 2022 | Marisa O. Ensor
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Climate change is widely recognized as one the greatest threats to peace and security in the 21^st century. The causal pathways that link deteriorating environmental conditions, insecurity, and conflict, while seldom automatic or linear, are, nevertheless, ubiquitous. The adverse impacts of climate change exacerbate other risk factors, especially in already fragile contexts. In turn, these factors magnify pre-existing economic, social, or political drivers of insecurity.

Women and girls, and members of already vulnerable populations are thus placed on the frontlines of multiple and interrelated crises. The intersection of gender and other dimensions of identity plays a critical role in determining how people experience, respond to, and recover from the adverse effects of climate change. Compounded security and climate-related risks also are more likely to magnify challenges related to governance, entrench gender inequalities, and deepen the marginalization of women and girls.