Equality for Women is a Key Part of A Resilient Climate Future

A new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change led by Marina Andrijevic of the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) argues for the importance of including gender dynamics and trends in the analysis of climate change. The study, co-authored by Caroline Zimm (IIASA), Jonathan D. Moyer, director of the Pardee Institute for International Futures, Raya Muttarak (IIASA), and Shonali Pachauri (IIASA), draws upon existing research to show that a direct relationship between gender equality and a society’s capacity to respond to climate change exists and is currently underexplored in quantitative models—a significant gap in research.  

 “Our work was inspired by growing evidence that when women lack opportunities, from access to primary schooling to having a say at top levels of government, it weakens the ability of entire societies to respond to crises, such as climate change,” Andrijevic says. The authors argue that issues of gender (in)equality are largely overlooked in scenario-based climate change research and show that this has implications for our ability to study patterns of mitigation and adaptation. When women do not have equal access to education or employment, the ability of women to contribute to climate mitigation is limited and, in some places, lost. This untapped potential both compounds the cost of climate adaptation and diminishes the capacity of a society to respond overall.  

The Pardee Institute’s mission is to build data and tools to better understand and plan for the future. This publication furthers that mission by highlighting an important gap in research that can drive improvements in future models to help policymakers better assess risks and policy options. Understanding how gender and climate change overlap is crucial for building knowledge and crafting appropriate policy responses. For example, the authors show that men and women are more likely to face different climate-related risks. For women, there are increased risks to maternal health, undernutrition during droughts, and exposure to diseases while collecting water. Meanwhile, men are more likely to suffer from floods and storms, experience work-related heat stress, or face depression and suicide due to drought-related economic hardship.  By neglecting these dynamics, our current scenarios make a significant omission. 

This work aligns with other research conducted at Pardee that uses gender as a lens. By modeling different patterns of gender equality in relation to unpaid domestic work, health, climate change, education, and poverty, the International Futures (IFs) model can be used to ask and explore a broader range of questions with implications for climate change and beyond.