Gender and Climate Change

Finishing an issue of Manchester Climate Fortnightly is always a mixed blessing. Good that it is "done", but inevitably, as soon as it's up you spot what is missing.

So for example, on International Women's Day, we've written, er, nothing about gender and climate change. Whoops.

My (white male) take on this issue is that
a) it's those with least control over their lives, with least 'buffering' who are going to get hard first by climate change
b) sexism against women is a major reason they don't have control over their lives [along with class, race, and a bunch of other factors]
c) in the long run, the entire species- and life on this planet more generally- is possibly/probably in even deeper shit than the scientists are currently telling us.

So, if we want to survive this mess, and have it worth surviving, we have to create justice and resilience, ('buffering'), and that means more power for the poor, for women generally (but not, obviously, for the Margaret Thatchers of this world).

I can but hope these banalities and generalisations enrage any trolls reading this (you still there, "tallbloke"?)

Here are some good links on Gender and Climate Change:

A comprehensive 'overview of the issues' article on the excellent Tiempo Climate site by Ulrike Rohr in which she "discusses the historical lapse in assimilating gender issues in the climate change debate and the urgent need to undertake research and analysis on this issue."

Rohr is "director of genanet - focal point gender, justice, sustainability, which aims to integrate gender justice within environmental and sustainability policies. Her primary areas of responsibility are gender issues in energy and climate change."

Also:

Some United Nations site
http://www.gencc.interconnection.org

www.gendercc.net is our response to the growing public attention to climate change, and the increasing need for information about women’s perspectives and gender aspects in climate change policies and measures.

The web site is based on the knowledge available through the gendercc network, and is one element of an envisaged International Competence Centre Gender & Climate Change (CCGCC).