Women are at the heart of climate change vulnerability

From the Solomon Star News (Solomon Islands): In recognition of Mother’s Day the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Meteorology is taking a closer look at how climate change will affect the lives of women worldwide. People living in least developed countries are very vulnerable to climate change because they have less access to resources to cope with the impacts.

Women from least developed countries are even more marginalised from information about and participation in climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. Rence Sore, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Meteorology, says that women are at the heart of climate change vulnerability. “We are not wrong to equate climate change vulnerability to poverty,” he said.

…“Inundation of salt water into fresh water supplies and gardens is becoming a major problem. “Food is harder to grow, there are water shortages on many islands that heavily depend on rainfall, thus mothers find it increasingly difficult to provide for their families.”

Both women and men often have specific roles in communities and therefore climate change will impact on them differently. Many women are dependent on natural resources for their livelihood because they have a responsibility to secure fresh drinking water, food from gardens and firewood for cooking. Climate change impacts may increase women’s workload or make their jobs harder to achieve….

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