Climate crisis is a gender issue, women face higher risks, less representation

For women, climate change is a double-edged sword. On one side, they bear a disproportional brunt of climate consequences - data shows women represent 80% of people displaced due to climate-related disasters and are 14 times more likely to lose their lives. On the other, global climate action rarely takes women's needs into account or includes them in decision-making, despite relying on their roles as community protectors and organisers during crisis.

This is not sustainable. Today, even as policy and response mechanisms fail to address women's needs, they are also failing to account for the knowledge and leadership they can offer. To turn this around, acknowledge the truth: climate change is a gender issue.

Social and economic realities determine how disasters impact people. For women, taking on caregiving work and chores like fetching water, cooking and cleaning means that when extreme weather hits, they must work harder to keep households going. Often, the family's girls and younger women also give up studies or jobs and help care for the family. During heatwaves, tasks like fetching water or cooking over hot stoves increase the risk of heat-related illnesses.

Unfortunately, these responsibilities rarely, if ever, come with access to resources or autonomy. Instead, it's the men who have access to the finances and control. This difference is particularly stark in rural areas. For most women farmers, the land is not in their names. That means they cannot borrow money against the land they till because they don't own it. And if, for example, they foresee drought and want to shift to crops that use less water, the decision is not in their hands.

The situation in urban areas is no better. As we saw during Covid, informal sector jobs - which are predominantly held by women - are the first to go. Forced displacement after disasters compromises their safety and mobility.

These gendered realities do not mean that women have no agency or are passive victims of climate change. Rather, it means that there is still much more we can accomplish by engaging their participation and perspectives. That's what we're seeing in India, where GoI and PPPs are helping women access financing and support that empowers their knowledge and skills, allowing their leadership to shine.

In Odisha, for example, more than 300 women have been trained as Climate Champions with support from GoI, Green Climate Fund and UNDP. They are learning sustainable agriculture practices such as organic seed treatment and pest management, helping restore mangrove forests that protect coastlines from storm surges, and guiding their communities on disaster preparedness.

At the policy level, India has also begun pushing for women's leadership in disaster risk reduction. The revised National Disaster Management Plan 2019 supports women's empowerment and leadership in disaster risk management. Women are also being trained as Aapda Sakhi volunteers under Aapda Mitra scheme, with 50% female representation ensured in Cyclone Shelter Management & Maintenance Committees.

As GoI strengthens policies, philanthropies and the private sector can focus on creating services through which women can gain skills and improve their access to finance, markets and other vital facilities.

For example, SEWA parametric heat insurance, launched in 2023 with Arsht-Rock and expanded in 2024 with support from Climate Resilience for All, offers women workers automatic cash payouts when extreme heat persists for 2 days. Triggered by real-time weather data rather than claims, it provides quick monetary relief. The annual premium that women pay is ₹250. By 2024, the programme reached 50,000 women across 22 districts in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, with payouts totalling ₹2.92 cr that year.

Women need better access to land titles, credit, insurance and climate-resilient livelihoods, especially in agriculture and the informal economy. Disaster preparedness and relief systems must also prioritise women's safety, sanitation and mobility. Equitable climate resilience cannot be built upon exclusion. Creating systems that put women at the centre of decision-making is the only way climate action will work.