To mark the International Women’s Rights Day, CERAC highlights an important but often underestimated finding: according to the United Nations, gender-related inequalities make women a particularly vulnerable group when it comes to the impacts of climate and ecosystem degradation. On average, they are more vulnerable than men, and the effects of climate change can expose some women disproportionately to climate risks — especially when adaptation measures fail to take gender dynamics and differences in living conditions into account.
Multiple, Interacting Causes of Vulnerability
Els Barnard, CERAC’s social affairs expert, explains: “Not all women are vulnerable. However, they do face a higher risk of being or becoming vulnerable due to several aggravating factors. Women are, on average, more at risk of social exclusion, poverty, chronic physical and mental illness, and they are more likely to live in family situations or housing conditions that heighten this vulnerability. These factors significantly influence their capacity to cope with climate hazards, as described below.
Impact on Health
In Belgium, women are more likely to suffer from chronic diseases, disabilities or mental health problems. They also report higher levels of climate anxiety than men. Extreme heat further worsens mental health. Such cumulating health factors reduce their overall resilience in the face of climate hazards.
Higher Risk of SocioEconomic Hardship
Financially, women are more likely than men to experience poverty or instability. Among singleparent households, 82% are led by a single mother, highlighting the systemic nature of this vulnerability.
As a result, women are disproportionately affected by rising costs linked to climate risks and ecosystem degradation — including increases in the price of food, energy, drinking water and transport. This economic fragility heightens the risk that women may lose access to essential services, including healthcare, especially during extreme climate events such as heatwaves, floods or wildfires.
A Greater Role in Caring for Other Vulnerable Individuals
In many households, women provide most of the daily care for children, older adults, people with disabilities or others who are themselves vulnerable to climate hazards. During a climate-related disaster, these care responsibilities can slow down evacuation, or make the evacuation itself more complex and dangerous for women. Such situations significantly increase their level of vulnerability.
Pregnant Women: A Particularly Exposed Group
Pregnant women are especially vulnerable to the health impacts of climate change and ecosystem degradation. Heatwaves increase the risk of preterm birth by 26%. Extreme heat is also associated with a higher risk of stillbirth, congenital anomalies, and gestational diabetes.
In addition, pregnant women are more at risk of conditions linked to air pollution, and are especially vulnerable when they contract infectious diseases, including zoonoses that may become more common due to ecosystem degradation.
Improving the Documentation of Gender Inequality with regard to Climate Risks
Gender inequalities in the context of climate change remain insufficiently documented. This is partly because gender intersects with other forms of vulnerability — social, economic or healthrelated.
The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) is working to more systematically integrate the gender dimension into European climate policies.
Copyright photo: Sébastien Van Malleghem
For more detailed information on the vulnerability of women to climate change, see Chapter 4 of our report Belgian Climate Risk Assessment.