Undoubtedly and undeniably so, climate change has had adverse impacts livelihoods across the globe. Such impacts range from changes in rainfall patterns due to changes in temperature resulting in more severe and frequent storms causing unpredictable floods and longer-lasting droughts. There have been more frequent flooding and landslides, destroying homes and communities. Climate change has caused rising global temperatures causing massive crop and fishery collapse, the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of species, and entire communities becoming uninhabitable. While these outcomes may still be avoidable, climate change is already causing suffering and death. Those living in the world’s poorest countries which have contributed least to the problem are the most climate vulnerable. They have the inadequate financial resources to respond to the crises or adapt, and they’re closely dependent on a healthy, thriving natural world for food and income. Climate change and rising inequality are interconnected crises, decision makers must take action to combat both.
Understanding these impacts can help policy makers, communities, and governments prepare on how to combat the effects and reduce gas emissions that causes climate change. In a warming world, agriculture has become more unpredictable for farming communities. More frequent and severe hurricanes have devastated communities. Ultimately, impacts to our agricultural systems pose a direct threat to the global food supply causing food shortages and price hikes driven by climate change further widening inequalities.
The Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicated that the resulting climate change will be widespread with
Undoubtedly and undeniably so, climate change has had adverse impacts livelihoods across the globe. Such impacts range from changes in rainfall patterns due to changes in temperature resulting in more severe and frequent storms causing unpredictable floods and longer-lasting droughts. There have been more frequent flooding and landslides, destroying homes and communities. Climate change has caused rising global temperatures causing massive crop and fishery collapse, the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of species, and entire communities becoming uninhabitable. While these outcomes may still be avoidable, climate change is already causing suffering and death. Those living in the world’s poorest countries which have contributed least to the problem are the most climate vulnerable. They have the inadequate financial resources to respond to the crises or adapt, and they’re closely dependent on a healthy, thriving natural world for food and income. Climate change and rising inequality are interconnected crises, decision makers must take action to combat both.
Understanding these impacts can help policy makers, communities, and governments prepare on how to combat the effects and reduce gas emissions that causes climate change. In a warming world, agriculture has become more unpredictable for farming communities. More frequent and severe hurricanes have devastated communities. Ultimately, impacts to our agricultural systems pose a direct threat to the global food supply causing food shortages and price hikes driven by climate change further widening inequalities.
The Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicated that the resulting climate change will be widespread with far reaching consequences on African people and their socio-economic activities such as agricultural production, food security, water availability and human health. Thus, African women will be greatly affected as they depend more on the environment, especially in rural areas. This has also enormously widened the gender gap and inequalities between men and women as workload for women increased due to the much-needed agricultural coping and adaption measures. According to UN Women (2016), challenges like inadequate polices, insufficient funding and lack of technical expertise continue to affect the integration of gender for climate action in Southern Africa.
In Africa like the rest of the Global South, women are often responsible for gathering and producing food, collecting water and sourcing fuel wood for cooking and heating. This increases their exposure to adverse climate events compared to their male counterparts. Gender inequalities exacerbated by climate shocks have increased women’s vulnerabilities. A deeper appreciation that climate change impacts differently and disproportionately on men and women is critical and calls for gender sensitive policies to address the reality of their needs. Thus, climate change threatens human rights of women more including the right to food, health, and shelter. The link between gender and climate change vulnerability is inarguable and failure to understand this link is likely to affect the overall achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) specifically goal 5 and 13.
Women are not only vulnerable to climate change, but they are also effective agents of change in relation to both mitigation and adaptation to climate change. They have significant knowledge and understanding of the changing environmental conditions, which could play a critical role in identifying viable and community adaption. However, the limited engagement of women in climate decision making and related climate change dialogues poses serious challenges in sufficiently adapting and mitigating against climate change impacts. In partnership the Young Scholars Initiative, Women’s University has therefore organized a two-day summer school to deliberate on the above issues and come up with recommendations to address them.
The summer school will serve as a crucial event for university students in Southern Africa, bringing together academics, gender activists, policy makers and climate scientists. Hosted by the Women’s University the summer school will provide an in-depth analysis of how communities, non-governmental organizations and governments in Southern Africa have dealt with climate change related social and economic issues.
Summer school Themes
- Gender, climate change and development nexus in Sothern in Africa
- Climate change and gender- based violence
- Challenges to women involvement in climate decision making and climate dialogues.
- Gender-sensitive responses to climate change
- Women as agents of change in relation to both mitigation and adaptation
Who can Apply and How.
Young Scholars, Masters and PhD students, early career scholars, and postdoctoral fellows can apply by the 15 November 2024 by submitting abstracts of not more than 300 words and a motivation of 350 words as to why they want to attend.
For more information contact summer school organisers Rodhina Madzima at rodhinamadzima@gmail.com and Chimwemwe Banda @ chemwabanda@gmail.com
