Is Gender a Variable in the Vulnerability towards Climate Change?

Gender vulnerability is conventionally linked to women as being the most vulnerable party with climate change affecting more severely typical household core responsibilities such as food, water and energy security. It could as well be argued that if the climate change vulnerability is connected to the resource entitlement then it's not anymore so much united with the gender specifically but more with the social status and therefore affecting disadvantageous households/regions more acutely. 


When climate change vulnerability is regarded as being connected to resource accessibility and its variance among different individuals, then we can presume gender plays a role in this. Nonetheless, research on the matter has been inconsistent. This arises from two main points: we cannot consider the whole female gender as being more affected by climate change, as this might be a further diversified between women from a developed society and those from an under developed; second point, the definition of gender is still very much fluid and indecisive. Do we consider as gender the sex? Or do we consider the role which the person plays in the community/family? Because in the second case, then there could be as well some discrepancies between different populations. 
We will now investigate a study which bases its analysis in Eastern Uganda, being a region with high sensitivity to climate change. The region is highly dependent on farming and experienced heavy changes in the climate during the last decades with an increase in heavy rains and extreme events. The study observes a population of less than one thousand farmers in the region which all corroborated the perception that the climate became more severe in latest years.

With respect to vulnerability, the index used to study it is a function of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. The adaptive indicators have a contrasting correlation to vulnerability (the more adaptable you are the less vulnerable), exposure indicators refer to the actual outcome from climate change on the household (for example if your house would be destroyed by a tornado) and sensitivity indicators relate to the dependency to climate change (for example living on seasonal crops). The proposition of the index resulting from the study outlines that variations in the socio-economic characteristics between households headed by different gender mediate gender vulnerability.





The conclusion of the study reveals that female headed households are more exposed to climate change vulnerability mostly dependant on the adaptive capacity, whereas sensitivity and exposure present a general congruence.

I find interesting to notice that the study focuses its analysis on male or female headed households as the subjects of the research investigated by considering several sub categories related to accessibility to farming land, technology, social networks, off farm income...
There is no considerability of the women which are present in the male headed households: are they affected some way by the vulnerability degree of their partner? And if so, does it imply psychological or physical abuse on the more disadvantageous party? This to me would be a more comprehensive consideration towards gender vulnerability which could maybe be achieved by inserting in the data input some kind of inversely proportional variable which links the higher vulnerability of the male headed household indirectly to the physical and psychological well being of the women in the family. However, this would require further scrutinization on how this is then inserted as an outcome variable in the comparison between households as it conceptually does not agree with the initially defined subjects which is households, and relates more to the broader concept of male vs female gender.

In any case, as a conclusion, the result of this situation are very clear: with an improved accessibility to the labour market, female headed households would definitely result in a lower vulnerability towards climate change. In this specific regions, women do not invest as well a considerable figure in the local community which denies or worsen their chances for a more stable social network. Being a patriarchal setting, female headed households were also found to have less male members and a result of the abandonment of the husband figure which further weakens their livelihood. Finally, the celibate status of the female headed household presents as well lower chances to access land ownership as this is conventionally given to the husband.  

Balikoowa, K., G. Nabanoga, D.M. Tumusiime and M.S. Mbogga ‘Gender differentiated vulnerability to climate change in Eastern Uganda', Climate and Development 11(10) 2019, pp.839–849.

Commenti

Posta un commento

Post popolari in questo blog

Italy and its Protected Areas

Immagine
  Italy presents a highly diversified and complex network of protected areas which cover around 21.5% of terrestrial territory and 8.8% of marine territory (UNEP-WCMC and IUCN 2023). Nonetheless, these areas are continuously reported as lacking of appropriate financing which leads to poor management plans resulting with the inability to protect the areas from illegal activities, such as pastures, tourism or fishing (WWF Italia 2018).  During an investigation by WWF Italia in 2018 where protected areas personnel itself responded to a survey exploring the current status of Italian Protected Areas, respondents highlighted some key points of development regarding risks and opportunities (WWF Italia 2018).  First of all, the main threat for Italian Protected Areas, especially Marine territories, is identified with Climate Change as the leading problem, followed by littering, naval traffic, illegal fishing or poaching and invasion of alien species (WWF Italia 2018).  To re...
Continua a leggere

Umbrella Species as a Conservation Practice: Benefits and Limitations

Immagine
An umbrella species in the context of ecology and biodiversity is defined by the Oxford Reference as "a species of plant or animal that has a large home range and broad habitat requirements, both of which overlap with other species, so that if it is given a large enough area for its own protection the other species will also benefit" (Park 2012). They represent a shortcut for the maintenance of biodiversity considering the consistent limitations on finance, knowledge and time for action (Roberge 2004). However, the adoption of umbrella species as conservation practice is equivocal based on the empirical data of its effectiveness (Thornton 2016).  This tool is useful in determining the minimum size for conservation areas, selecting the sites to be included in reserve networks and setting minimum standards for composition and processes of ecosystems (Roberge 2004).  When charismatic umbrella species are selected, they can also become a representative surrogate for sympatric spe...
Continua a leggere

Biosecurity of invasive species in isolated ecosystems

Immagine
MAMMAL ERADICATION PROGRAMS to prevent extinction of threatened native vertebrate species: Islands present a great opportunity and need for biodiversity conservation as they host 75% of known extinction species since 1500 as well as 36% of species classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Given the relevance of these territories and also the increasing pace of biodiversity loss of the last decades, it is important to develop a framework which would allow us to prioritize projects for conservation in isolated ecosystems. Such frameworks must include considerations on financial resources, political will as well as stakeholders involvement. Moreover, it is important to mention that a big obstacle arises from the availability of reliable data on species distributions which would consequently influence the assessment of eradication options. Finally, political feasibility must be carefully considered and incorporated through an objective methodology as it would eventually imp...
Continua a leggere