Gendered Impacts of Climate Change and Policy Levers to Address Them

No.2024-9(June) YaleInclusionEconomics YaleEconomicGrowthCenter pborileicfy KeyPoints •Theeffectsofclimatechangemagnifyexistinginequalitiesatthenational,subnational,andintrahouseholdlevelsandthosewhoaremostaffectedareoftenthose whocontributetheleasttotheunderlyingdriversofclimatechange. •Women’sadaptivecapacityisconstrainedbyeconomicgapsin,forexample,laborforceparticipationandassetendowments.Theinterplayofthesegapswithprevailinggendernormsdeterminesawoman’sabilitytoadaptto theeffectsofclimatechange. •Interventionstomakewomenmoreresilienttoclimatechangerangefrombridginginformationgapstoaddressingdisparitiesinsocialandphysicalcapitalthroughcollectivesandcashandassettransfers. •Increasingwomen’sinvolvementatalllevelsofgovernancehasthepotentialtoincreaseclimate‑sensitivepolicymakingandensuresthatbarriersfaceddisproportionatelybywomenareatthecenterofadaptationandmitigationdiscussions. ©2024AsianDevelopmentBankInstitute ISSN2411-6734 DOI:https://doi.org/10.56506/GAVR1392 ThisworkislicensedunderaCreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike4.0InternationalLicense. GenderedImpactsofClimateChangeandPolicyLevers toAddressThem ErikJorgensen,SeniorResearchandPolicyManager,InclusionEconomicsatYaleUniversity AyushJain,AssociateResearchManagerConsultant,YaleEconomicGrowthCenter 1.ClimateChange:OneEarth,butManyImpacts Thestoryofclimatechangeisoneofinequalitiesataninternational,national,andevenhouseholdlevel.Worldwide,climatechangehasalreadyhaddrasticsocialandeconomicconsequences.Whileitisaglobalissue,therearedifferencesinthedegreetowhichnationsandhouseholdscontributetoclimatechangeandintheextenttowhichtheconsequencesofclimatechangeaffectthem.Infact,manyofthosemostvulnerabletoclimatechangehaveinheritedacrisistowhichtheyhavecontributedonlyminimally(IslamandWinkel2017).TheIntergovernmentalPanelonClimateChange(IPCC)estimatesthat3.3billion–3.6billionpeopleliveinregionsthatarehighlyvulnerabletoclimatechange(IPCC2022).Low‑andmiddle‑incomecountries(LMICs)areincreasinglyexperiencingrecord‑breakingtemperaturesandclimate‑relatednaturaldisastersthataffectproductivity(Acevedoetal.2017)andgrossdomesticproductgrowth(UNFCCC2018).Thiscanbefurtherseeninestimatesthatthebottom50%ofglobalemitterswillexperience75%ofrelativegloballosses,whilethetop10%willonlyexperience3%(Chancel,Bothe,andVoituriez2023).Theselossesoccurduetofloods,droughts,andotherextremeheat‑andweather‑relatedevents,aswellasconsequencesoftheevents,suchaschangesinagriculturereturns. Beyondinternationaldisparities,theimpactofclimatechangewithincountriesandacrosssocioeconomicanddemographicgroupsisavitalissuethatneedstobestudied.HallegatteandRozenberg(2017)estimatethatthepoorest40%ofthepopulationinLMICswilllose70%morethanaveragehouseholdsinthosesamecountries.Vulnerabilitiesdifferevenwithinhouseholds.Womenfaceinstitutionalbarriers,socialandeconomicmarginalization,andevenphysiologicalpressuresthatcontributetotheirincreasedvulnerabilitytoclimatechangeanditseffects.Thisreducestheirabilitytoadapt.Astheclimatecrisisworsens,itwillexacerbateunderlyinginequalitiesandwilldisproportionatelyaffectmarginalizedandvulnerablegroups.Thiscanbeseeninpreviousshocks,suchasthecoronavirusdisease(COVID‑19)pandemic(Kügleretal.2021;Yukichetal.2021).Itisthereforeimportantthatpoliciesthataredesignedtoaddressclimatechangearecalibratedtotheneedsofthemostvulnerable.ThisbriefexploressomewaysthatwomeninLMICsareparticularlyimpactedbyclimatechangeandsuggestssomepolicyleversthatmayaddressthesevulnerabilities. 2.DirectImpactsofClimateChangeonWomen’sWell-Being Climatechangecanhaveadualimpact.First,weathershockscanbephysicallydangerous.Thoughtheimmediaterisksmaybeungendered(Frutteroetal.2023),thereisoftenagenderedelementtothewaypeoplerespondtotheshocks.Evidenceshowsthatwomentendtospendmoretimeinameliorationaftereventssuchasfloods,whichleadstohigherratesofcontactwithwaterborneillnesses(Hallegatteetal.2016)whilemenaremorelikelytomigrateforemployment(Mueller,Gray,andKosec2014),whichcouldresultinexposuretonewhealthrisksforwhichtheyhavenoimmunityorcouldresultinaccesstogreaterfoodsecurityandhigherqualityhealthservices(Schwerdtleetal.2018). Thesecondimpactofclimatechangeisthelonger‑termeconomicdisruptionthatresultsfromtheinitialevent.Thisdisruptionincludeslowerincomesanddecliningproductivityfollowingthecrisis,whichcanleadtolowerconsumptionandhigherratesoffoodinsecurity(Diallo2023).Thewaythatthesedisruptionsareexperienced,andadaptedto,oftenhasgenderedelements.Householdsoftenmakeadjustmentstotheirexpenditureinresponsetoclimateshocks.Theymay,forexample,offsetincomelossbyreducingtheirinvestmentingirls’educationandbymovinggirlsfromschoolintoagriculturelabororhomeproductionasdocumentedinUgandabyBjörkman‑Nyqvist(2013).However,Frutteroetal.(2023)foundthat,inothersettings,climate‑relatedshockshadeithernodifferentialeffectsbygenderonthesehumancapitalrelatedinvestmentsorthateffectswerefeltmoreacutelybyboysandmen.Itappears,therefore,thatlocaleconomicenvironmentsandprevailinggendernormsplayaroleindetermininghowtheseeffectsmanifes