Achievements in gender equality are fragile. As women, we observe with concern that the victories hard won over time have been undermined during the pandemic, and risk being further undermined by climate change. If we now know the impacts of the pandemic on women’s employment, their mental health or the distribution of family responsibilities, those of the climate crisis are still too little discussed.
We know that in Quebec, gender inequalities take various forms. Even today, women earn on average 10% less than their male colleagues. With a lower income, they have less leeway to adapt to the climate crisis. In addition, extreme events such as floods, storms and landslides, to name a few, increase financial uncertainty.
According to several studies, women seem to be more susceptible to the psychological impacts of climate change. They are often responsible for “taking care”, especially of children or the elderly, which represents an increased workload. Also, several studies have shown that they are more at risk of experiencing domestic violence following an extreme event.
As the Storm Project highlights, there are also links between prenatal stress in pregnant women (eg during extreme events) and the consequences for the unborn child.
The urgency of fair environmental measures
The climate crisis affects all spheres of our lives, and depending on how we choose to adapt to it, we can, on the one hand, generate social and economic benefits for Quebec, or, conversely, exacerbate existing inequalities. What will tip the needle one way or the other is the issue of justice: inclusive climate governance that prioritizes equity and justice leads to more effective outcomes and sustainable adaptation. Conversely, if we fail to take into consideration the injustices already present in our society, we risk observing a deterioration in living conditions for the communities that are already the most vulnerable (what is called maladaptation). What worries us is that our current measures to combat and adapt to climate change remain blind to gender inequalities.
The Plan for a Green Economy, which aims to “build the economy of tomorrow” using its main angle of attack, electrification, seems to forget half the population in this great project. As the Institute for Socioeconomic Research and Information (IRIS) raised in 2021, the jobs in the sectors directly concerned by the measures of this plan are mainly occupied by men. In fact, you won’t find the word “woman” or “gender” anywhere in this 128-page document.
For its part, we can read in the Government Strategy for Equality between Women and Men 2022-2027 that “decisions taken in connection with the environment and climate change must also take into account the differentiated impacts according to gender, which can also be achieved through greater participation of women in consultative forums related to these issues”. If not now, when?
Let’s stop talking about the future
We often wonder how much it costs to fight climate change. Let’s start asking ourselves how this affects the health and well-being of the population, of the entire population. The time of “should”, “we must”, is over.
Meanwhile, working in silos leads to inconsistent and ineffective actions. It is for this reason that the Vire au vert initiative calls for a leaders’ debate to be held exclusively on the climate issue, and that among its 48 proposals, there is one on the development of a national strategy that will make the connections between the different systems of oppression and the exposure to environmental risks to aim for environmental justice. We believe that Quebec can lead by example. It has to be, because the next four years will determine its ability to keep its people safe and healthy.