The impact of climate change is more pronounced on women, particularly in disadvantaged countries most threatened by global warming, we warned on Friday at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 26) , in Glasgow, Scotland.
For example, it is estimated that at least 70% of the victims of the devastating tsunami that killed some 230,000 in 14 Indian Ocean nations in 2004 were women or children, according to data from the United Nations. food and agriculture. In the Indonesian province of Aceh alone, 65% of the victims were women.
In the floods that hit the Solomon Islands in 2014, 96% of the victims were women and children.
“This higher death rate among women during a disaster may be due to a variety of factors, such as restricted mobility, different access to early warning systems, or simply not knowing how to swim,” said Hayley. Capp, one of the climate change officers for the humanitarian organization CARE.
Women in underdeveloped countries are often subject to the decisions of their husbands and it is the husbands who will decide whether or not to flee in the event of a disaster.
And when the decision to flee the imminent arrival of a tsunami or storm is finally made, people will often have priority access to means of transport such as animals, cars or bicycles. Their superior physical strength may also give them an advantage.
“During Cyclone Idai which hit Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, when the water level started to rise, obviously the men were stronger and they were able to get to safety more quickly, illustrated Chikondi Chabvuta. , a CARE advisor for Southern Africa. When the helicopters arrived, most of the people who were found on the rooftops or in the trees were women and children. “
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Women were also more likely to have been washed away, she added, and it was easy to see that not everyone had an equal ability to flee in the face of sudden disaster.
Economic threat
The threat that climate change poses to women may also be of an economic nature.
One woman, for example, said that her single mother still had not managed to find a job ten years after Hurricane Mitch, which killed more than 11,000 people in Central America in 1998, because the priority was given to skilled workers – such as engineers – who could help rebuild devastated areas.
It then had an impact on the education that she and her brother were able to enjoy, and they are still feeling the repercussions today, she said.
People in underdeveloped countries often depend on agriculture for their livelihood. If the land becomes impossible to cultivate due to flooding or drought, and the men leave to look for work in the city, the women who remain behind will have to take on an additional workload. They will also be exposed to an increased risk of violence, sexual or otherwise, although the absence of men will also increase their autonomy and decision-making power.
Women face many obstacles when it comes to adapting to climate change, it was explained, starting with the fact that most of their time is taken up with household chores. It is also estimated that less than 20% of landowners on the planet are women. In sub-Saharan Africa, women involved in subsistence agriculture benefit from less than 10% of all available credit.
In Bangladesh – a country threatened by rising sea levels and intensifying extreme weather events – 46% of the farming population is made up of women, but it is men who are traditionally considered to be “farmers”. and the women of simple “assistants”.
Women do not participate in the decision-making process, they own only 4% of all land and they do not have access to credit, which hinders their possibilities to adapt to climate change.