Gender and Climate Justice by COPGendered

Climate change has been identified as the defining human development issue of our time. While often viewed as a purely scientific and technical phenomenon, climate change is a social, economic and political phenomenon with profound implications for social justice and gender equality. The concept of climate justice is highly relevant in addressing climate change and environmental protection as it refers to the historically unequal responsibility that countries and communities have in terms of the climate crisis. Advocating for climate justice means putting equity and human rights at the core of climate action and decision-making. In addition, it means holding accountable the countries, industries, businesses and people that are emitting large amounts of greenhouse emissions and are therefore contributing more to the crisis than those who are greatly affected by it, usually vulnerable communities.

It is evident that vulnerable groups, encompassing women, children, LGBTIQ individuals, people with disabilities, minorities and indigenous peoples, bear the brunt of the impact of climate change. The escalating threats, ranging from rising sea levels to more frequent extreme weather events, disproportionately affect these groups. The prevailing discrimination and exclusion faced by these social groups render them exceptionally susceptible to the adverse impacts of climate change. In addition, we see that climate solutions and policies are being influenced by powerful groups within our current political and economic governance such as huge transnational companies that are responsible for most of the CO2 emissions. We also see policies and solutions that are blind to the impact they have on these marginalized social groups. Older white males tend to be overrepresented in European climate change policy-making groups.