Transcript Gender and climate change – Mainstreaming change

Gender and Climate Change – An
Introduction
organized for UNIFEM Brazil and Southern Cone
Leisa Perch
Coordinator, Rural and Sustainable Development
IPC-IG/UNDP
Scope of Presentation
Some of the basics on climate change
 Language of climate change: Vulnerability,
Risk Management/Risk Reduction
 Implications of CC for development
 Where does gender fit in? Does it? (gender
analysis)
 Looking at gender through the lens of
sectors (gender mainstreaming)
 Lessons so far
(processing/communication)

Overview Statement

Gender inequalities intersect with climate risks
and vulnerabilities. Women’s historic
disadvantages – their limited access to resources,
restricted rights, and a muted voice in shaping
decisions – make them highly vulnerable to
climate change. The nature of that vulnerability
varies widely, cautioning against generalization.
But climate change is likely to magnify existing
patterns of gender disadvantage (UNDP Human
Development Report, 2007).
Part I: Some of the basics: ideas,
concepts and issues
What do you understand about climate
change?

Quick round from participants………
Climate Change is Real
Taken from Climate Change and Sustaining Caribbean Tourism by Mareba Scott, CC
and Tourism, BVI, 2007
Best and Worst Case Scenarios for CC
 Best
case:
 a warming between 1.9–5.2
degrees Fahrenheit and seas rising
between 7-14 inches within
approximately 100 years
 Worst case:
 a warming of 4.3–11.5 degrees
Fahrenheit and increased sea
levels of 10-23 inches
GHGs – what is the problem?
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Contribution to GHGs:
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water vapor, which contributes 36–72%
carbon dioxide, which contributes 9–26%
methane, which contributes 4–9%
ozone, which contributes 3–7%
The seven sources of CO2 from fossil fuel combustion are
(with percentage contributions for 2000–2004):[26]
Solid fuels (e.g., coal): 35%
 Liquid fuels (e.g., gasoline, fuel oil): 36%
 Gaseous fuels (e.g., natural gas): 20%
 Flaring gas industrially and at wells: <1%
 Cement production: 3%
 Non-fuel hydrocarbons: < 1%
 The "international bunkers" of shipping and air transport not
included in national inventories: 4%
Source: Wikipedia, 2010
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GHGs – what’s the problem 2
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Activities which emit GHGs:
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Energy production
Industrial activity
Transportation – cars, airplanes
Deforestation – releases carbon into the atmosphere
Agriculture – animal waste significant source of methane
At issue here is not just the emissions themselves but the
lifetime of these gases in the atmosphere - 1, 12 years,
100 years (nitrous oxide) , 500 and some even 3,000 and
10,000 (Hexafluoroethane and their global warming
potential over tens of thousands for years
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmRyJaBPvD0&NR=1
Disaster and Climate Change
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While clearly natural disasters are a factor of CC,
the issue really is their increased intensity and
frequency
As we think about climate change, we must
consider:
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consider scenarios beyond our lifetime
Exponential impacts (not singular events but a chain of
events and also multiple, long term impacts)
Short-term (immediate crisis) and long-term
(substantial change in what we do and how we do it)
Uncertainty (we don’t know exactly what is going to
happen, when or to whom) – while SIDS do face
significant vulnerabilities, look at the US – since 2008
they have been facing disaster of one type or another –
multiple hurricane impacts, seasonal and unseasonal
floods, extremely cold winters etc.
Language of Climate change
 There
are a number of concepts:
 Risk
 Vulnerability
 Social impacts
 Resilience
 Adaptation
 Mitigation
Vulnerability to CC `a la IPCC
Conceptualisation of vulnerability to climate change from the IPCC Third Assessment Report (2001)
Exposure
Sensitivity
Potential Impacts
Adaptive Capacity
Economic wealth
Technology,
infrastructure
Information, knowledge,
skills
Institutions
Equity
Social capital
etc
Vulnerability
to Climate Change
Re-drawn from: Ionescu, C. et al. (2005): “Towards a formal framework of vulnerability to climate change”, NeWater Working Paper 2, Osnabrueck: NeWater
Vulnerability is a multi-dimensional
concept which encompasses
biological, geophysical, economic,
institutional and socio-cultural
factors (Nicholls, 1998) and of
resilience or sustainability
Vulnerability defined
 Embraces
a number of concepts (Kambon
2005):
 Exposure to damage;
 Lack of protection and precariousness;
 The risk of being harmed or wounded by
unforeseen events; and
 Concept of susceptibility
Social Vulnerability
Exposure to natural disaster
Social Resilience
Social Susceptibility
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Measure of social vulnerability
Figure 1. Construct of Social Vulnerability developed by Asha Kambon, 2005
level
s of
hous
ing
Risk and Risk Perception
Risk is the likelihood of
something happening.
implying…… awareness,
information and belief
Risk and Vulnerability
 Risk
– Situational (Disasters)
 Vulnerability –
Systemic/Structural (Climate
Change)
Who is at Risk and
Who is Vulnerable?
How to apply vulnerability depends on
your vision of the interactions
The Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF)
POLICIES, INSTITUTIONS AND PROCESSES
Empowerment
Accountability
Democracy
Participation
Social Movements
Community Organisations
VULNERABILITY
CONTEXT
Trends
Shocks
Seasonality
Opportunity
Jobs
Services
Markets
POOR PEOPLE’S ASSET MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIES
Human, Financial, Social, Natural and Physical
assets
LIVELIHOOD
OUTCOMES
Income
Well-being
Health
Security
Re-drawn from: Environmental Resource Management (2002), “Predicted Impact of Global Climate Change on Poverty and the Sustainable Achievement of the MDGs:
Vol. 2”, DFID review, p.10.
Taken from Perch, L., Murray R., Tincani, L.,(2007). Climate Change and Human Development:
A policy Review for the Caribbean. Presented at Caribbean Conference on Climate Change. Jamaica. June.
Part II: Implications for
Development
Applying what we know
Implications for development
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghfirMLNfNA&
feature=related
 Between
1990 and 1998, 94 per
cent of the world’s 568 major
natural disasters, and more than
97 per cent of all natural
disaster-related deaths, were
in developing countries.
Implications for development: social
justice

Oxfam notes the justice issue in the context of
CC on their website:
 drivers are inextricably linked with (highconsumption) lifestyles,
 climate change lies firmly outside the
sphere of influence of poor
communities and poor countries
(limited power to affect how it will be
addressed)
 special burdens and/or vulnerabilities
such as women, ethnic minorities,
indigenous peoples, and people living with
HIV/AIDS
 Additionality of yet another pressure
through global warming
Some implications for Brazil
Indications are:
 the Amazon rain forest could become dryer, with a possibility of
spontaneous fire,
 that coral reefs along Brazilian coastlines could suffer from bleaching (with
likely impacts for tourism in the long-run)
 Changing rainfall patterns, especially in the drought-affected north-eastern
region of the country, will mean impact on already limited water and
reduce supply even further
 Agriculture is likely to suffer, not least due to water shortages and leading
to greater food insecurity and malnutrition,
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Implications
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Floods will damage/destabilize public and private infrastructure, cause
significant (Rio and Sao Paolo early 2010),
movement of goods to the coast for export and also the movement from
the coast
Less water will impact on renewable energy efforts particularly hydropower
Sourced from Brazil & climate change: a country profile by Emilio Lèbre La
Rovere and André Santos Pereira (14 February 2007), SciDevNet – accessed
online June 24th, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxp_ePNXdj8&feature=related
Implications for Response
Responding to humanitarian crises
 Adaptation – building resilience in
communities and identifying options for
sectors such as agriculture, water,
sanitation
 Mitigation: reducing GHGs from
unplanned, crisis and emergency driven
responses particularly by the poor
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnlpv_G8f94
Social Vulnerability: the additionality of
climate change
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Health
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Access to water (by 2020, between 75 and 250 million of people
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Increased incidence of vector-borne diseases; malaria could emerge in
places it has never been
Income generation
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Floods or droughts are both bad for small farmers and their
investments
Access to food and nutritious food ((By 2020, in some countries, yields
from rain-fed agriculture could be reduced by up to 50%, IPCC
FAR/Heinrich Boll Foundation SAR)
Disasters
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are projected to be exposed to increased water stress due to
climate change – IPCC FAR, 2007)
Death
Destruction of property and livelihoods
Resettlement
Poverty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1HWoL5Xwdk&feature=relat
ed
Part III : How does gender fit?
Gender – More than about women
“Development cannot be achieved if half of the
world’s population is left out” – Helen Clark
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Beyond sex and biology
Social and cultural constructs
Definitions of masculine and feminine and how these
define power and access
Includes focus on women’s empowerment (based on
clear data on women’s disadvantage)
Engagement with men and male leaders on solutions
Understanding and working to adjust notions of
masculinity which encourage violence and unequal
advantage
Gender dimensions of development
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According to the best available data approximately 30% of those who
live on less than a dollar each day are men.
Women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours yet receive only
10% of the world’s income.
Men own 99% of the world’s property.
Women members of parliament globally average only 17% of all seats.
92% of all of the world’s cabinet ministers are men.
Seventy-five percent of the world’s 876 million illiterate adults are
women.
Worldwide women received 78% of the wages received by men for the
same work, although in some regions, they have a better educational
background. In some parts of the world, the wage gap between
women and men is close to 40%.
Of the 550 million low-paid workers in the world, 40% are men.
In a sample of 141 countries over the period 1981–2002, it was found
that natural disasters (and their subsequent impact) on average kill
more women than men or kill women at an earlier age than men.
Sources: Social Watch, 2007 and 2008; Oxfam, 2007; Neumayer and
Plümper, 2007; and ILO, 2008.
Lessons on Gender and Environment
from Disasters
Issues
Female
Male
Pre Disaster
Differing Vulnerabilities
- biological
- social
- cultural
- attitudinal (risk perception)
Reproductive health needs
Restricted skill base
Exclusion from home construction
Low level of risk tolerance
No special restrictions
Mobile skills
Exclusion from child care responsibilities
High level of risk tolerance
Emergency
Differing coping mechanisms
Suffer higher incidence of depression
(crying and suicide ideation);
Organizing community sing-a-longs
and story telling;
Alcoholism, gambling and dysfunctional
behaviour;
Rescuing villagers and clearing roads;
Transition (rehabilitation and
Recovery)
Weak access to wage earning
possibilities;
Women prepared one-pot meals for
the community;
Devoted more time to community and
reproductive work.
Easier access to wages/income;
Men engaged in ‘marooning” teams for house
rebuilding;
Spend more time in productive work;
abandonment of families and responsibilities.
Reconstruction
Differing priorities
Differing access to resources;
Differing access to power in the
public sphere
Priorities for shelter, economic
activity, food security, and health
care;
Women slower to return to Labour
Market; Reconstruction programmes
that embark on development without
the inclusion of gender analysis
tools;
Women’s lack of involvement in
governance mechanisms.
Priorities for, agriculture, Infrastructural
development and economic activity;
Men easy access to the Labour Market;
Reconstruction programmes in construction
and agricultural development that favour male
participation;
Gender neutral governance mechanisms that
don’t recognize changing gender roles and
relationships, and favour male participation.
Gender in Climate Change
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There are important gender perspectives in all
aspects of climate change:
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60 % of the world's poorest and most vulnerable people
are women who are dependent on their natural
environment to earn a living and feed their families.
Gender inequalities in access to resources, including
credit, extension services, information and technology,
must be taken into account in developing mitigation
activities.
Adaptation efforts should systematically and effectively
address gender-specific impacts of climate change in the
areas of energy, water, food security, agriculture and
fisheries, biodiversity and ecosystem services, health,
industry, human settlements, disaster management, and
conflict and security.
Referenced from the Report of the Secretary-General on overview of UN activities in relation to
climate change A/62/644.
Gender and Climate Change (2)
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Who participates and the influence of their understanding on the
issues
Who participates determines the what and how of climate change
response
Has implications for approaches and responses for:
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Mitigation (majority of climate finance focused here)
Adaptation (has most implications for addressing vulnerabilities and
inequalities; receives much less funding)
Technology (funding committed and research ongoing; most targeted
towards mitigation)
Finance (billions committed – mostly for mitigation; ¼ of the 5th
replenishment of GEF is targeting climate change)
*e.g. EU Fast Tracking funding for 2010-2012 (63% mitigation; 37%
adaptation)
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved/campaign/climate_change/sisters
/martina.html
The looking glass of key sectors
 Tourism
– key component of the
economy
 Agriculture – food security, safety
net, nutrition
 Health – health is wealth
 Water – Water is life
Climate Change and Agriculture
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Availability – drought or
flood – on production
Quality of the land
Deforestation and
Desertification
Use of pesticides and
fertilizers to increase
production
Quality and Quantity of
crops – nutrition and income
Timing of planting and
reaping
©Darana Souza, IPC-IG
Who plants and who harvests? Who has the opportunity to bring in
additional income? Who is more at risk health-wise?
Who bears the brunt of violence in desperate times?
Impacts on Tourism
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Direct Climate Impacts e.g. length and quality of tourist
season, weather extremes, food and water supply and the
overall impact of these on tourism demand
Indirect Environment Change Impacts e.g. competition
for water – domestic/tourism; bio-diversity loss [tourism
products], altered agricultural production [land use/visual
landscape], hotel plant at risk from coastal erosion and
inundation; health risks
Impacts of Mitigation Policies on Tourist Mobility:
efforts to reduce GHG emission can impact on costs of
travel and transport. Also on social responsibility – carbon
offsetting.
Indirect Societal Change Impacts: cost of mitigation
could impact on macro investment in the economy
including in tourism/infrastructure/marketing
Who works in the tourism plant? And where?
Which jobs are seasonal and more vulnerable?
Whose livelihood is tied to the beach and provision of services?
Climate Change and Health
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Increase prevalence of disease vectors
Result in heat stress or water deficiency or
expose persons to even more unclean water
Too little or too much water will impact on food
production and food safety
Impacts on food production and food security,
will have impacts on nutrition – consequences
for mothers, children, the elderly, youth in
terms of physical resilience and ability to fight
off disease. Also for children’s development
In global context, more disease outbreaks likely
to be epidemics and pandemics (particularly
mobility of disease through travel)
Who is more vulnerable to illness? Who cannot afford to be sick?
Who takes care of the sick? Who leads on food safety in the household?
Implications for pregnant and nursing mothers.
Climate Change and Water
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Availability –
Droughts/Floods
Food, Disease, Cost/Access
Life
Forced migration
Social inequality
Conflict and social unrest
Sanitation
Personal hygiene
Heavy rain: the Brazilian town of Jacuipe is swamped
by floodwaters from the Jacuipe River. (AFP: Thiago
Sampaio)
Who distributes water in the household? Who uses water most?
Who is exposed to risk in water collection?
Who bears the burden of care-giving?
Who needs it and for what?
Climate Change and Mobility
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Impact of the Iceland volcano in April 2010 on travel and
business in Europe (Airline industry estimated losses of
USD200MN a day; Kenyan growers already lost $12
million in 4-5 days, about 3.8 million per day (April 19,
2010*).
Significant losses for economies trading in perishable
foods (Africa, C’bean) and likely access to some foods for
others
Impact of swine flu, H1N1 and bird flu on tourism, travel,
business and by extension the movement of goods and
people
Implications for the flow and delivery of aid – economic
and food aid
Opportunities for innovation
*Sourced from America.gov (Stephen Kaufman) –April 20, 2010. Accessed online June 27th, 2010 and
BBC news online April 21st, 2010)
However,
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The integration of gender is weak in the following
areas:
Mitigation – which actions are critical and will not
deprive the poor of livelihoods without alternatives
 Technology - renewable energy technologies
 Finance (the Copenhagen agreement includes a
commitment of 30 billion over 3 years between 20102012. Estimates by the UNFCCC suggest that 100 BN a
year will not be enough)
* Forestry (much of the movement in funding has been in
reducing deforestation and degradation under the REDD
framework). Billions have been committed.
 Agriculture – Land use is a key contribution to climate
change and this sector is a key one. Agriculture is only
now seriously being discussed within the GCC process.
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Gender in the GCC Policy to-date
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In November 2007, the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Women’s
Environment and Development Organization (WEDO)
participated in a meeting in Tepoztlán, Mexico to explore a
joint collaboration on the topic of gender and climate
change.
This resulted in the establishment of the Global Gender and
Climate Alliance (GGCA) which was formally launched on
December 11, 2007 in Bali, Indonesia at the UN climate
change conference.
To date, more than 25 UN agencies and international civil
society organizations have joined the Alliance. UNIFEM is
part of GGCA.
Gender in the GCC Policy (2)
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The primary goal of the GGCA is to ensure that
climate change policies, decision making, and
initiatives at the global, regional and national
levels are gender-responsive.
The last full version (May/June 2010) of a
negotiating text retained 8 gender references
across 5 sections; now, the sections are emerging
more streamlined.
There is some danger of a losing interest in
gender as larger (and more urgent) “numbers”
discussions continue
Advocacy and good advocates is a constant need
2009’s Copenhagen Conference proved to be a
significant step forward with gender being
integrated into the negotiating text. 2010 text has
advanced a bit more.
There are significant opportunities
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For the 70% of those who live on less than a dollar
each day (women) – mitigation efforts should ideally
provide them with new income-generating opportunities.
For the women who work two-thirds of the world’s
working hours yet receive only 10% of the world’s
income – adaptation should ensure that this 10% is not
further reduced.
For the 1% of global women who have property climate
change could damage or destroy these assets or
adaptation and technology could help to protection those
assets.
For the 75% of the world’s 876 million illiterate adults
are women and the 25% who are men, mitigation and
adaptation efforts supported by education, could give
them many opportunities and facilitate their contribution
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9waL_Jlvqw&feature
=player_embedded#
Part IV: Lessons so far
Why Gender and CC
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Improves analysis of the social and other impacts of
climate change
Expands our understanding of the behaviour change
needed to expand renewable energy, reduce dependency
on fossil fuels
Will improve adaptation and mitigation – success
depends on each of us individually
Can help make strategic decisions for the investment of
scarce resources
Likely to improve human impact of climate change policy
Likely to result in greater ownership by entire society of
policy reform including hard choices
Can reduce/eliminate ‘ additional harm’ of supposed
gender-neutral policy
The need to mainstream and not just
add…..
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mainstream gender perspectives into national policies,
action plans and other measures on sustainable
development and climate change,
 carrying out systematic gender analysis,
 collecting and utilizing sex-disaggregated data,
 establishing gender-sensitive indicators and
benchmarks,
 developing practical tools to support increased attention
to gender perspectives,
 More research on the social dimensions not only of
climate change but about climate change responses i.e.
human behaviour and social change, and
 Consultation with and participation of women in climate
change initiatives and ensuring a role for women’s
groups and networks. Involving the Gender Bureaux and
Ministry of Social Development. [Policy Reform]
The Role of Communication (Framing
messages within risk and uncertainty)
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Literacy is key – not just
technical understanding but
awareness and willingness to
act in concert with others
A study of environmental
change in the US
(http://www.globalchangeblo
g.com/2009/11/why-dontpeople-seem-to-get-climatechange-problem-1environmental-literacy/)
makes this assessment on
action for climate change:
 awareness –> knowledge
–> literacy
(National Environmental Education
and Training Foundation Report on
Environmental Literacy in the US,
2005)
Addressing Uncertainty
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A lot is still uncertain in terms of the exact
nature of the impacts and their scope
As we estimate, we are also learning about
natural processes and human interactions
Difficult to address climate change without
focusing on human behaviour
Addressing climate change requires tackling
justice, equality, poverty, access issues
Risk-sharing at the community and country
level and between countries is also worthy of
consideration
Moving forward - Joint Action
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yATooTa7Wgg&feature=related
Further Reading – a small sample
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Climate Change and Gender Position Papers: Equity and Gender in Climate Change,
Edited by Khamarunga Banda, Executive Director, NOVAFRICA
http://www.cbla.org.za/files/CC%20and%20gender%20semi%20final%20documen
t.pdf
UNEP, 2007. Progress report on the implementation of Governing Council decision
23/11 on gender equality in the field of the environment. Twenty-fourth session of
the Governing Council/ Global Ministerial Environment Forum, Nairobi, 5–9 February
2007. http://www.unep.org/civil_society/GCSF8/pdfs/gender-gc-24-8-english.pdf.
UNDP – Adaptation work: http://www.undpadaptation.org/projects/websites/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2
03 ; www.youtube.com/user/cbaproject (Samoa); http://www.undpadaptation.org/projects/websites/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2
03 (Bolivia)Oxfam:
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/resources/issues/climatechange/introduction.html
Government of Brazil, Interministerial Committee on Climate Change, Decree No.
6263 of November 21, 2007, Executive Summary, National Plan on Climate Change,
Brasilia, December
http://www.mma.gov.br/estruturas/imprensa/_arquivos/96_11122008040728.pdf
Why people don’t seem to get the climate change problem – communication – an
online discussion: http://www.globalchangeblog.com/2009/11/why-dont-peopleengage-climate-change-problem-2-communication/
Communicating Climate Change: Why Frames Matter for Public Engagement by
Matthew C. Nisbet in Environment –Science and Policy for Sustainable
Development, March –April 2009:
http://www.environmentmagazine.org/Archives/Back%20Issues/MarchApril%202009/Nisbet-full.html
Adaptation Basics: http://www.undp.org/climatechange/adapt/basics2.html
Contact information

Leisa Perch
Policy Specialist/Coordinator –Rural and
Sustainable Development
IPC-IG/UNDP
Ministerio do Exercito, Esplanada dos
Ministerios, Bloco O, 7 Andar, Brasilia
DF
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +55 61 2105 5012