Around theworld, women are pulling above their weight to sustain communities despite barriersin access to nearly everything: education, information, paid work, credit,lands, freedom of movement, and resources such as adequate seeds and tools. Andwhile women often stand at the forefront of climate change impacts, they areoften excluded from the economic and political fora shaping the future of theplanet’s development.
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Landscape News takes a look at five ways better gender equity can power a green transformation for the benefit of all.
Preservingbiodiversity and genetic plant resources
Indeveloping countries, rural women make up almost half of the agricultural labor force andplay a major role in caring for the natural resources on which their householdsdepend, including fisheries and forests. Compared to men, they are more likelyto prioritize a healthy diet for their children, and they have better knowledgeof how to use herbal remedies to treat sick relatives.
Women provide nearly 80 percent of the total wild vegetable food collected in 135 subsistence-based societies, which contributes to dietary diversity as well as traditional medicine, upon which up to 80 percent of people in many developing countries rely. “Women often have a more specialized knowledge of various local and neglected species,” notes a UNEP report.
Yet, womenoften have crop yields that are 20 to 30 percent lower than those of men –known as a “yield gap” – due to inequitable access to adequate agriculturalinputs, such as fertilizers and improved seeds. In addition, they rarely receivebenefits from large-scale commercialization of products, such as medicines andcosmetics, that are based on native species and the associated traditionalknowledge. Overcoming these gaps could greatly contribute to global food andincome security.
Exploringand sustainably using marine ecosystems
Ocean-based economic sectors are valued at USD 3 to 6 trillion per year globally, and marine ecosystems also provide essential services to humanity for free. They produce oxygen, protect coastal areas from flooding and erosion, and generate as much as 50 percent of animal protein for human consumption in numerous countries.
Womencontribute to ocean-based livelihoods, conservation, waste disposal and disaster-riskreduction, but their efforts have been typically ignored, undermining their abilityto inform and benefit from marine and coastal management.
They make up half of the workforce processing, cleaning and selling fish, but they are “largely concentrated in low-skilled, low-paid, seasonal jobs without health, safety and labor right protections,” illustrates UN Women. “They also earn approximately 64 percent of men’s wages for the same work in aquaculture and face the risks of ocean degradation with less resources on hand to build resilience.”
In regionssuch as Asia-Pacific, some coastal areas are becoming feminized as men move tocities to look for jobs, and the women who are left behind are increasinglyexposed to climate change impacts such as natural disasters.
Meanwhile,some of the foremost leaders in ocean exploration have been women, such as SylviaEarle, who pioneered the development of deep-sea submersibles; Marie Tharp, whoproduced the first world ocean floor map, disproving theories of an entirelyflat seafloor; and Cindy Lee Van Dover, who has been unraveling mysteries ofthe deep sea through nearly 50 expeditions.
Embracingsustainable energy to fight climate change
Consuming less energy and adopting more sustainable energy sources are essential to mitigating global warming, and research has shown that women are more supportive of these strategies than men.
Hence,women can be instrumental in shaping better policies, opening new markets asenergy entrepreneurs, and transforming energy use at the household level. Inadopting cleaner sources of energy and more efficient ways to use them, womencan also help fight indoor air pollution.
In Bangladesh, for example, air pollution contributes to 49,000 premature deaths every year, and four out of ten households use mostly firewood to cook. Improved cookstoves, biogas from manure and solar panels are some of the innovations women across the world are introducing into their communities, transforming habits and perceptions for a greener, healthier, future.
Managingnatural resources to build peace
The morewomen can access and manage natural resources such as water, land, minerals andforests, the more chances a country has of recovering from conflict and settingthe foundations for long-lasting peace.
Such is the realization that is guiding international efforts to unlock the peace-building potential of women in war-torn countries. In peace-building contexts, women are usually responsible for providing families with water, food and energy, but do not have a voice in policy-making or as forces for economic recovery.
Sustainable resource use and equitable benefit distribution are fundamental to peaceful, prosperous societies. Failing to capitalize on women’s roles in natural resource management can perpetuate inequity and undermine recovery from conflict, point out UN agencies working at the intersection of women, peace and the environment.
Buildingtrue consensus on sustainable development
Sustainablyusing the world’s natural resources calls for broad consensus. Women make uphalf of the world’s population, and they are often the main users andcustodians of the resources their families depend on to survive. Making theirperspectives, aspirations and experiences count matters.
As the nineteenth-century astronomer and expert in ocean navigation Maria Mitchell put it: “No woman should say ‘I am but a woman!’ But a woman… What more can you ask to be?”
