The climate crisis exacerbates inequalities, especially for women and girls – Materia Rinnovabile | Renewable Matter

Report on the Intersection of Climate Change, Gender Inequality, and Sustainable Development Goals

Executive Summary

A new report establishes a critical link between the escalating climate crisis and the exacerbation of gender inequalities, which disproportionately affect women and girls. The findings emphasize the urgent need to integrate sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) into mainstream climate action policies. This approach is fundamental to achieving both climate justice and gender justice, aligning directly with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The report’s conclusions have significant implications for the advancement of several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), and SDG 13 (Climate Action).

Disproportionate Impacts: A Challenge to SDG 5 and SDG 10

The climate crisis is not gender-neutral; it amplifies pre-existing social and economic disparities, posing a direct threat to the progress of SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). Key areas of impact include:

• Increased Vulnerability: Women and girls, particularly in the Global South, often face limited access to resources, education, and decision-making platforms, heightening their vulnerability to extreme weather events and environmental degradation.
• Economic Disempowerment: Climate-related disasters frequently devastate sectors where women constitute a significant portion of the workforce, such as subsistence agriculture. This leads to loss of livelihood, deepens poverty, and reinforces economic dependency.
• Heightened Care Responsibilities: In the aftermath of climate shocks, women and girls typically bear an increased burden of securing essential resources like water, food, and fuel, and caring for family members. These duties often come at the cost of their own education, health, and economic opportunities.
• Elevated Risk of Gender-Based Violence: Displacement and resource scarcity driven by climate change are linked to a rise in gender-based violence, including human trafficking, sexual assault, and forced marriage.

Health Implications and the Imperative for SDG 3

The report highlights the severe consequences of climate change on the health of women and girls, which directly impedes the achievement of SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being). The failure to incorporate sexual and reproductive health and rights into climate response frameworks represents a critical policy gap.

1. Disruption of Essential Health Services: Climate-induced disasters damage infrastructure and disrupt supply chains, severely limiting or cutting off access to vital health services, including maternal care, contraception, and HIV prevention and treatment.
2. Aggravated Health Risks: Extreme heat, food insecurity, and contaminated water sources lead to higher rates of malnutrition, heat stress during pregnancy, and waterborne diseases, which disproportionately affect pregnant women and newborns.
3. Erosion of Reproductive Autonomy: In crisis situations, SRHR services are often deprioritized, leaving women and girls without access to family planning and information, thereby undermining their bodily autonomy and reproductive rights.

Policy Recommendations for Integrated Climate Action (SDG 13 & SDG 16)

To address these interconnected challenges, the report advocates for a paradigm shift toward a rights-based approach in climate policy. This strategy is essential for fulfilling the objectives of SDG 13 (Climate Action) while upholding the principles of justice and inclusion central to SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).

• Mainstream Gender in Climate Policy: Systematically integrate gender analysis and SRHR considerations into all national and international climate frameworks, including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).
• Empower Women in Decision-Making: Guarantee the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women, girls, and gender-diverse individuals in all climate-related planning, policy-making, and implementation processes.
• Finance Gender-Responsive Solutions: Allocate climate finance to initiatives that concurrently advance gender equality and build climate resilience, such as supporting women-led sustainable agriculture and ensuring equitable access to clean energy.
• Build Climate-Resilient Health Systems: Strengthen health infrastructure to ensure the continuous delivery of comprehensive SRHR services, even in the face of climate-related emergencies.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

1. SDG 5: Gender Equality

   • The article’s headline, “The climate crisis exacerbates inequalities, especially for women and girls,” directly addresses the core theme of gender inequality. It highlights that women and girls are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis, which links climate issues directly to gender justice.

2. SDG 13: Climate Action

   • The central topic is the “climate crisis.” The article discusses the need to integrate other social issues, specifically gender and health, into “climate action policies,” making SDG 13 a primary focus.

3. SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

   • The article explicitly calls for “bringing sexual and reproductive health and rights into the mainstream of climate action policies.” This directly connects the climate crisis to health outcomes, specifically those related to sexual and reproductive health, which is a key component of SDG 3.

4. SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

   • The statement that the climate crisis “exacerbates inequalities” points directly to SDG 10. The article focuses on the inequality experienced by a specific demographic (women and girls), which is a central concern of this goal.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

1. Targets under SDG 5 (Gender Equality)

   • Target 5.6: Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights. The article’s call to bring “sexual and reproductive health and rights” into climate policies directly supports this target, highlighting how climate change can be a barrier to achieving it.
   • Target 5.c: Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality. The article advocates for mainstreaming gender justice into climate action policies, which is a direct application of this target.

2. Targets under SDG 13 (Climate Action)

   • Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning. The article’s main argument is the need to integrate gender and health considerations into these very policies.
   • Target 13.b: Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management… including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalized communities. The specific focus on “women and girls” aligns perfectly with this target’s aim to include marginalized groups in climate planning.

3. Targets under SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being)

   • Target 3.7: By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services. The article implies that the climate crisis threatens this access and argues for its protection within climate strategies.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

The article does not mention explicit numerical indicators. However, it implies the need for qualitative and policy-based indicators to measure progress.

1. Implied Indicators for SDG 5 and SDG 13

   • Indicator: The number and content of national climate action policies (like Nationally Determined Contributions or National Adaptation Plans) that explicitly include provisions for gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights. The article’s core recommendation is to mainstream these rights into climate policies, so the presence and strength of such provisions in official documents would be a direct measure of progress. This relates to official indicators like 5.c.1 (Proportion of countries with systems to track and make public allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment) and 13.2.1 (Number of countries that have communicated the establishment or operationalization of an integrated policy/strategy/plan).

2. Implied Indicators for SDG 3

   • Indicator: The accessibility and availability of sexual and reproductive health services in climate-vulnerable regions. While not stated, the article implies that progress would be measured by ensuring that climate-related disasters do not disrupt access to these essential health services. This connects to official indicator 3.7.1 (Proportion of women of reproductive age who have their need for family planning satisfied with modern methods) and 3.7.2 (Adolescent birth rate), as climate disruptions could negatively impact these metrics.

4. Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: renewablematter.eu