Gender, Climate Change, and Structural Vulnerability in a Warming World
Written by Elisa Garbil – 28.07.2025
Climate change is not just an environmental crisis, it is a risk accelerator that intensifies existing social, economic, and health disparities. As the frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters escalate, certain populations face disproportionate burdens. Among the most affected are women and girls, particularly those living in poverty or facing intersecting forms of discrimination. The interconnection between gender inequality, climate vulnerability, and health disparities reveals a deeply stratified global risk landscape. These risks are systemic, rooted in historical injustice, and magnified by climate dynamics that are unfolding with increasing urgency.
Drawing on recent research, including reports by UN Women, the Nordic Consulting Group, and Soroptimist International, it reveals how gendered risks are compounded by exclusion from decision-making, unequal access to resources, and structural inequalities in health systems and economic opportunity. It also emphasises the imperative for intersectional, inclusive policy responses.
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Climate Change as a Risk Multiplier for Women
The impacts of climate change, such as rising sea levels, more intense storms, droughts, heatwaves, and vector-borne diseases, do not fall evenly across populations. They are shaped by existing power structures and social norms. For women and girls, especially in the Global South, climate change magnifies pre-existing disadvantages. These include lower access to education, limited land and property rights, poor representation in political spheres, and restricted control over economic resources.
In 2023, UN Women reported that up to 158 million more women and girls could be pushed into poverty by 2050 due to climate-induced shocks. An additional 236 million women may face hunger, driven by disruptions to agriculture, water supply, and food security. These figures are not just numbers; they represent a human tragedy rooted in unequal systems.
The situation is particularly critical in rural, agriculture-dependent economies where women often form the backbone of the farming workforce. In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, women make up nearly 66% of the agricultural labour force, yet they earn significantly less than men and have lower access to land ownership, credit, and extension services. As climate variability affects crop yields and water availability, women farmers are less equipped to adapt, increasing food insecurity and deepening poverty cycles.
Gendered Risks in Disaster and Health Contexts
The impacts of disasters are strongly gendered. Mortality rates from climate-related disasters such as cyclones, tsunamis, and floods are often higher among women and girls. In the 1991 cyclone in Bangladesh, 90% of fatalities were female. Similar patterns were observed in Myanmar’s Cyclone Nargis and Hurricane Katrina in the United States. These outcomes are tied to mobility restrictions, caregiving roles, and exclusion from early warning systems or evacuation planning.
The health risks are equally alarming. Climate change exacerbates both direct and indirect health threats for women and girls. Rising temperatures are linked to higher rates of stillbirth, as well as increased prevalence of vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue, which have been associated with adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes.
Further, the degradation of health infrastructure due to disasters can limit access to maternal care, contraception, and abortion services. This jeopardises women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), particularly in fragile or conflict-affected states. A recent desk study for the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlighted how climate shocks disrupt health services, reduce availability of menstrual products, and increase unintended pregnancies due to reduced access to contraception.
Moreover, climate-induced stressors are strongly linked to the rise of gender-based violence (GBV), including domestic abuse, sexual exploitation, early marriage, and trafficking. Post-disaster environments, refugee camps, and temporary shelters often lack adequate security and privacy, placing women and girls at greater risk. In Vanuatu, a 300% increase in GBV cases was recorded after two major cyclones. Displacement caused by floods and droughts creates conditions for increased sexual violence and child marriage as coping mechanisms.
Structural Exclusion and Economic Risk
Beyond physical harm, a critical but often overlooked risk lies in the structural exclusion of women from climate governance and economic opportunity. Women remain significantly underrepresented in climate negotiations and decision-making spaces at all levels, from village councils to UN climate summits. Their exclusion from policy discussions and climate finance planning not only limits the effectiveness of these initiatives but also perpetuates inequality.
Current climate finance mechanisms are largely gender-blind. Very little climate adaptation funding reaches grassroots women’s organisations or is specifically earmarked to address gendered impacts of climate change. Without targeted financing, women cannot implement locally relevant adaptation strategies, access sustainable energy solutions, or scale up their resilience-building efforts.
Women also face barriers in accessing green jobs and participating in just transition strategies. The transition to low-carbon economies often overlooks informal sectors where women are concentrated, such as agriculture, waste management, and domestic work. Gender stereotypes and lack of access to STEM education further limit women’s inclusion in renewable energy, climate technology, and infrastructure projects.
Intersectionality: The Deepening of Risk
The risks described above are not experienced equally by all women. Intersectionality, a framework pioneered by Kimberlé Crenshaw, reminds us that individuals are shaped by multiple and overlapping identities, including race, class, age, disability, sexuality, and geography. The risks faced by an Indigenous woman in the Amazon are not the same as those of a disabled migrant woman in Europe or a poor adolescent girl in an urban slum in South Asia.
For instance, LGBTQ+ individuals face unique risks in post-disaster shelters where homophobic or transphobic violence may occur. Girls in drought-affected regions may drop out of school permanently due to increased domestic labour or forced marriage. These groups are often invisible in data collection and policy design, exacerbating their exclusion from aid and resilience programming.
There is a lack of gender-disaggregated and intersectional data, which is a significant barrier to inclusive planning. Without robust data, policymakers are less able to understand who is most at risk, what kinds of support are needed, and which interventions are effective. Integrating lived experiences, particularly from youth, grassroots organisers, and frontline communities, is crucial to addressing this data gap.
Policy Pathways and Programmatic Solutions
Despite these daunting challenges, the evidence also points to clear solutions. An intersectional, gender-responsive, and rights-based approach must guide climate action. Some key recommendations include:
- Integration of Gender in Climate Policy: National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) must go beyond lip service and actively involve women in consultation, design, and implementation. Only a small fraction of current NDCs meaningfully reflect women as agents of change.
- Targeted Climate Finance: Climate funds should include gender criteria and prioritise financing for women-led initiatives, especially those working at the community level. This includes simplifying application procedures and building capacity for local organisations.
- Health System Resilience: Sexual and reproductive health services must be recognised as essential components of climate preparedness. Health systems should be strengthened to deliver services even in emergencies.
- Disaster Preparedness and Governance: Disaster risk reduction strategies must include women and girls in planning processes. Early warning systems, relocation plans, and response protocols must reflect gendered needs and vulnerabilities.
- Education and Green Jobs Access: Policies must increase women’s access to green economy opportunities by investing in education, vocational training, and the dismantling of legal and cultural barriers to economic participation.
Reframing Risk as a Call to Justice
Climate change has transformed risk from an environmental concern into a social justice emergency. For women and girls, particularly those living at the intersections of poverty, race, displacement, and disability, climate change is not just a weather phenomenon. It is a daily reality that deepens inequalities and erodes their ability to thrive. It is essential to understand risk not just as a statistical measure, but as a lived experience shaped by structures of power and exclusion.By recognising the gendered and intersectional nature of climate risk, we move closer to addressing its root causes, not merely its symptoms. Climate action must be bold, inclusive, and transformative, prioritising those who face the highest risks and empowering them as agents of change.
