UN: Women must lead battle against climate crisis — they face the greatest threats

António Guterres, UN secretary-general, says women and girls face the greatest threats of climate change globally. 

Guterres said this at the opening of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) on Monday at UN headquarters, New York.

He said women and girls must lead the way against the climate crisis and forge a sustainable future for all. 

He said climate change and the economic and social fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic are “the defining issues of our time”.

“Everywhere, women and girls face the greatest threats and the deepest harm,” he said. 

“Women and girls living in small island nations, least developed countries, and places affected by conflict, are impacted most of all,

“Unprecedented emergencies of the climate crisis, pollution, desertification and biodiversity loss, have doubled with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact of new and ongoing conflicts.

“Conflicts have accelerated and intensified into widespread and interlinked crises that affect us all, and the damage would not be meted out equally.

“Their nutrition and livelihoods are disproportionately affected by extreme weather, and they suffer most when local natural resources come under threat.

“And with increasing climate shocks, evidence points to a link between child marriage and exploitation.

“When climate disasters strike, as they do with increasing frequency, research shows that women and children are up to 14 times more likely than men to die.”

Guterres said the spate of violence and threats against female human rights defenders and environmental activists is disturbing.

He said while women are taking action to confront the climate and environmental crises, they continue to be largely excluded from the rooms where decisions are taken.

“Gender discrimination means just a tiny proportion of landowners and leaders are women,” he said.

“Women’s needs and interests are often ignored and pushed aside in policies and decisions on land use, pollution, conservation and climate action.

“Just one-third of decision-making roles under the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement are occupied by women; while they account for only 15 percent of environment ministers.

“Moreover, only one-third of 192 national energy frameworks include gender considerations, and they are rarely considered in climate financing.

“This demonstrates once more that we live in a male-dominated world with a male-dominated culture. A millennium of patriarchy that excludes women and prevents their voices from being heard.”

He said the world cannot realise any of its goals without the contributions of everyone.