WOMEN AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Well done Ladies

The exhaustive discussion on the main points raised by the moderator, as well as the new information shared by some of you that has enriched our collective appreciation of the impact of climate change on peoples all over the world was commendable.

It is my prayer that you will eventually make use of these new insights to move yourself away from your comfort zones towards considering a commitment to get involve in advocacy initiatives that address empowering women to meet the challenges of climate change.

More power!

Ma'am Mae

Well done Ladies

The exhaustive discussion on the main points raised by the moderator, as well as the new information shared by some of you that has enriched our collective appreciation of the impact of climate change on peoples all over the world was commendable.

It is my prayer that you will eventually make use of these new insights to move yourself away from your comfort zones towards considering a commitment to get involve in advocacy initiatives that address empowering women to meet the challenges of climate change.

More power!

Ma'am Mae

thank you everyone for sharing your insights. it took me awhile to read them all. You pretty much said everything so i'll make this brief.

I wonder if anyone has come across this article during their readings. Anyway, I think we all have made our point and all of us agree that women aren't even the major source of greenhouse gases yet women are the most vulnerable to its consequences. Here, read this if you will agree..

UK scientist: Young women can fight global warming by realizing Ferraris don't make a guy sexy
by Lascelles Linton on Dec 17th 2007 at 11:02AM

How can young women fight global warming? According to a chief scientist for the British government, Professor Sir David King, they can help out by no longer thinking guys that drive Ferraris are sexy. I will let Sir King speak for himself:

I was asked at a lecture by a young woman about what she could do and I told her to stop admiring young men in Ferraris. ... What I was saying is that you have got to admire people who are conserving energy and not those willfully using it. ... As soon as you come to the individual, however, they will buy a Ferrari, not because it is cheap to run or has low carbon dioxide emissions, but because young women think it is sexy to see men driving Ferraris. That is the area where a culture change is needed.



as for the synthesis here it goes:

Global climate change is one of the most serious threats to the environment, health and economy of our nation. Recent scientific studies show that global warming is already causing environmental changes that will have significant global economic and social impacts.

so why are women affected?
Women make up a large number of the poor in communities that are highly dependent on local natural resources for their livelihood and are disproportionately vulnerable to and affected by climate change. Women’s limited access to resources and decision-making processes increases their vulnerability to climate change. Women in rural areas in developing countries have the major responsibility for household water supply and energy for cooking and heating, as well as for food security, and are negatively affected by drought, uncertain rainfall and deforestation.2 Because of their roles, unequal access to resources and limited mobility, women in many contexts are disproportionately affected by natural disasters, such as floods, fires, and mudslides. It is important to identify gender-sensitive strategies for responding to the environmental and humanitarian crises caused by climate change.


so what can we (being women ourselves) do?

Women are not only victims of climate change, but also effective agents of change in relation to both mitigation and adaptation. Women have a strong body of knowledge and expertise that can be used in climate change mitigation, disaster reduction and adaptation strategies. Women’s responsibilities in households and communities as stewards of natural resources has positioned them well for livelihood strategies adapted to changing environmental realities. Women tend, however, to be underrepresented in decision-making on sustainable development, including on climate change, and this impedes their ability to contribute their unique and valuable perspectives and expertise on climate change.
Financing mechanisms must be flexible enough to reflect women’s priorities and needs. The active participation of women in the development of funding criteria and allocation of resources for climate change initiatives is critical, particularly at local levels. Gender analysis of all budget lines and financial instruments for climate change is needed to ensure gender-sensitive investments in programmes for adaptation, mitigation, technology transfer and capacity building.
Technological developments related to climate change should take into account women’s specific priorities and needs and make full use of their knowledge and expertise, including traditional practices. Women’s involvement in the development of new technologies can ensure that they are user-friendly, effective and sustainable. Women should also have equal access to training, credit and skills-development programmes to ensure their full participation in climate change initiatives.
Governments should be encouraged to mainstream gender perspectives into their national policies, action plans and other measures on sustainable development and climate change, through carrying out systematic gender analysis, collecting and utilizing sex-disaggregated data, establishing gender-sensitive indicators and benchmarks and developing practical tools to support increased attention to gender perspectives. Consultation with and participation of women in climate change initiatives must be ensured and the role of women’s groups and networks strengthened.

HERE’S HOW WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

1. Inform and teach our family members how to conserve; learn more about energy saving appliances.

2. Write letters to your local newspaper with ideas on how families and communities can make an impact on our fight against global warming.

3. We are the stewards of this earth and have a responsibility to maintain it. Knowing this we can contact our religious leaders and give them pertinent information on the global warming crisis. Suggest they do sermons and homilies on the subject and put information in their church papers and bulletins.

4. Attend local council meetings and call local politicians. Make them aware of our concerns and remind them that they need to get on this bandwagon.

5. Attend school board and parent teacher meetings. Find out if they are doing their part in educating our children on conservation and informing them on global warming.

While all of us may agree that there have been quite number of programs instituted to aid women (as all of you ennumerated on your answers) in this crisis, it can only do so much as it is. i AGREE with ms.jonah, we need to start within ourselves.

-miguela

Perez, Maria Althea Sabrina L.
Executive-4

1. In this male-dominated world (do u agree?), how can women effect change in the face of this crisis?

The Women’s Environment and Development Organization’s (WEDO) 2007 report on Changing the Climate: Why Women’s Perspectives Matter stated that women are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. According to WEDO, women’s historic disadvantages – their restricted access to resources and information and their limited power in decision-making – make them most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Women are now pursuing laws that favor them when it comes to climate change. Gender inequality must be put aside. So as to not waste their time, different researches revealed that there are ways that women do in the face of this crisis:
In Gender and Environment (2000), author Susan Buckingham-Hatfield found that women in the state of Gujarat, India now spend four or five hours each day collecting fuel wood, where previously they would have done this only every four to five days.
Ironically, women also produce less greenhouse gas emissions than men, the report concludes. Flatulence jokes aside, this includes women in the developed world. In Europe, in both the work and leisure contexts, women travel by car less frequently and over shorter distances, use smaller, energy-saving cars and fly considerably less frequently than men.
Women are over represented as heads of low-income households and under-represented in high-income groups. In this respect, income levels play a role in CO2 emissions: the higher the income, the higher the emissions from larger houses with more electrical equipment, bigger cars and so on (Whitty, 2007).


2. Do you think women here in the Philippines are affected by climate change (pls consider if it is in the urban or rural area)?

Filipino women are also affected by climate change. Women are the primary caregivers in our local setting. It was stated in the article “Is Gender Climate an Issue?” by Dr. Jyoti Parikh (2007) As primary caregivers, women may see their responsibilities increase as family members suffer increased illness due to exposure to vector borne diseases such as malaria, water borne diseases such as cholera and increase in heart stress mortality. Besides being a caregiver, some women in the rural area have jobs in the agricultural area which is directly affected by climate change. Their jobs solely rely on a good weather for them to have good harvest.


3. What programs have been instituted to aid women in this crisis at the local and international level?

Climate change and environmental policies must be intrinsically linked with gender, as women are often the first to be affected by our changing environment. Studies showed that while women are responsible for managing household resources, they typically don’t have a say in the use and management of environmental resources integral to their households and communities. Climate change policies must consider gender issues and women's involvement for the advancement of world development.
Governments and other stakeholders should ensure gender equality is at the forefront of climate change initiatives, according to the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO).
The UNFPA 2001 State of the World Population Report also stated that sustainable development demands recognition and value for the multitude of ways in which women’s live intertwine with environmental realities.
In Northern Canada, they refocus the thinking and the debate on energy and climate change to include a human rights perspective. Integrating a rights-based approach to access to sustainable and affordable energy is an approach that will recognise and take into account women's specific needs and women's human rights. Although current economic models based primarily on privatization strategies do not include accountability in terms of meeting
people's basic needs.
By excluding women, the world loses vital input and profound knowledge- knowledge that may prove keys to adapting to climate change.



-- as for the references, i will post it later, --

Before i begin expressing my thoughts on this topic, I would like to start by sharing an article last June 10, 2009. It was posted at CNN website.


A new kind of refugee is on the rise. And by 2050, there could be as many as 200 million of them. They are not fleeing despicable acts of violence or persecution but the very land and water on which their livelihoods depend. They are some of the world's poorest, forced from their homes by global climate change.

Alarmed by the predictions on climate refugees, humanitarian agencies warn that recent gains in the fight against poverty could vanish unless issues of forced migration become an integral part of the dialogue on global warming.
"What can we say? This is not a pretty picture," said Charles Ehrhart, climate change coordinator for CARE International.

Ehrhart helped author a report for CARE that was unveiled Wednesday at climate talks underway in Bonn, Germany. Attended by delegates from 184 countries, the Bonn conference is meant to serve as a precursor to a crucial United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change summit in December in Copenhagen, Denmark.

That summit is expected to produce agreement on how to tackle global warming after the Kyoto Protocol, which sets binding targets for industrialized nations for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, expires in in 2012.
"The consequences for almost all aspects of development and human security could be devastating," says the new study, cosponsored by the Columbia University's Center for International Earth Science Information Network and the U.N. University's Institute for Environment and Human Security.

Ehrhart said the breakdown of ecosystem-dependent livelihoods is likely to remain the main driver of forced migration during the next few decades. In the Mekong River Delta, for instance, the sea level rising by 2 meters (6.5 feet) could mean the loss of millions of acres of agricultural land, reducing it by half, Ehrhart said.
Climate change will exacerbate stressful conditions unless vulnerable populations, especially the poorest, are assisted in building climate-resilient livelihoods, Ehrhart said. It's morally imperative for developing nations to adopt policy that addresses these global change, he said.

Simple changes can help address potential catastrophe. In flood-prone Bangladesh, for instance, CARE is helping women who raise chickens switch to ducks. In other regions, it could mean something as simple as changing water-craving crops to more resilient foods.

"So if the rains don't come when needed, you don't lose an entire crop," Ehrhart said.
Ehrhart said climate migration could climb to staggering levels, its consequences reaching far and wide.
Without money or resources, climate refugees will likely stay within their own borders, accelerating movement from rural areas to urban centers and crowding into cities already bursting at the seams.

That could lead to government instability and further unrest.
Koko Warner, head of the U.N. University's Institute for Environment and Human Security and lead author of the report released Wednesday, said the challenge is to better understand the dynamics of climate-related migration and displacement.
"New thinking and practical approaches are needed to address the threats that climate-related migration poses to human security and well-being," Warner said.



What makes women vulnerable to climate change?

Women are vulnerable to climate change. In the developing countries, women take care of the household work. They also work in the farm to increase their financial resources. They also provide nurturing to their children.
If there are changes in the climate which can cause disaster at their area; if there will be limited natural resources due to erosion as an effect of climate change. Then, how can these women do their job?

Women will have a decreased source of food to provide the household. In some countries, if women will not be able to complete the housework, there are prone to physical and/or sexual abuse.
Women depend too much on their livelihood. If water in the river will rise as an effect of climate change, then women should not feed on chicken but should start raising ducks, instead.
Women are in-charge of water collection in their communities. If there will be increase water shortage, then it is a problem.
Women may face increase responsibilities within the household due to illnesses. Poor hygiene from water shortage can cause harm especially to children. Low production of food to provide the family, it will bring malnutrition to the family as well.


In this male-dominated world (do u agree?), how can women affect change in the face of this crisis?

Women can make a change by having equal representation at the decision-making body or committee. Also, women should develop skills related to mitigation and adaptation, technology and financing.

In the Philippines, majority in the legislation seats are male dominated. It would more impartial that the legislation body will have a rightful number of women for decision making. Also, women in the legislation body will easily identify the women’s needs in developing skills in relation to mitigation and adaptation.


Do you think women here in the Philippines are affected by climate change (pls consider if it is in the urban or rural area)?

I got this document and would like to share it before answering this question.

IPCC-TAR reported with high confidence that extreme climate events/ variability, such as, floods, droughts, forest fires, and tropical cyclones have increased in temperate and tropical Asia. The warm episodes of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomena have been more frequent, persistent and intense since the mid-1970s,
compared with the previous 100 years. This IPCC finding has manifested itself in the Philippines through the more frequent occurrence of severe El Niño and La Niña events, as well as, deadly and damaging typhoons and other severe storms; floods, flash floods, landslides, drought, forest fires, etc (Greenpeace, 2005).
The perrsistent torrential rains which cause landslides and flash floods are eventually harming people and destroying their properties and the environment along its path.


There were 5 La Niña episodes and 7 El Niño episodes from 1970 to 2000 compared to only 3 La Niña episodes and 2 El Niño episodes from 1950 to 1970 (Greenpeace, 2005). The strong warm (El Niño) events were in 1972- 73, 1982-83,1997-98, while the strong cold (La Niña) events were in 1973-74,1988-89 and 1998-99 (CAB T.P. No. 2001-7).

The most common extreme climate events with significant economic and social impacts in the Philippines are tropical cyclone occurrences of which typhoons are the strongest and most destructive. Several typhoon extremes were observed from 1990 to 2004. The highest and lowest frequency of tropical cyclone occurrence, the strongest typhoon, the 2 most destructive typhoons, deadliest storm and the typhoon that registered the highest 24-hour record rainfall occurred during this period (Amadore, L.A., 2005). There were seven (7) extreme tropical cyclone/southwest monsooninduced extreme events from 1991 to late 2004, namely, the Ormoc Catastrophe, 1991; Cherry Hill Tragedy, 1999; Payatas Garbage-slide, 2000; Baguio-La Trinidad landslides, 2001; Camiguin flashfloods, 2001; Southern Leyte-Surigao disaster, 2003; and the Aurora floods, 2004.


Other extreme events were the great central Luzon floods of 1972, probably the worst damaging flood in Philippine history and a precursor to the recent spate of extreme events; the southern Mindanao drought of 1998, resulting in near starvation and the Indonesia forest fires, both associated with the1997-98 El Niño event; landslides and lahar flows caused by extreme precipitation (rainfall) events. The sector most affected by climate change, so far, is agriculture and food security. The sharpest fall in agricultural productions are experienced during strong El Niño events and after the occurrence of severe tropical cyclones. However, increases in rice and corn productions are attributed to favorable rainfall conditions during La Nina years. The highest typhoon damage was 1.17% of GDP and 4.21% of agriculture. In the health sector, many of the biological organisms linked to the spread of infectious diseases are especially influenced by the fluctuations in climate variables. Among other factors, dengue fever and malaria are sensitive to such climate parameters as temperature, relative humidity and rainfall. Other climate-related diseases like cholera have been associated with extremes of precipitation, droughts and floods (Relox, N.A., 1998). The climate change impacts on coastal zones and marine ecosystems observed in 1998 were massive coral bleaching in various reefs throughout the Philippines (Arceo, H.O. et al., 2001) caused by the elevated sea temperature during the severe 1997-98 ENSO episode. Fish kills and high mortality of cultured giant clams in ocean nurseries were also observed. Severe red tide outbreaks also occurred after the strong El Niño periods. The worst incidence of red tide in Manila Bay occurred in 1992, another El Niño period.

In conclusion, climate change in the Philippines is not focus only to the city or provincial area. We have to look at it at the macro setting in order to assume that, indeed climate change has taken its course in our country.
In the provincial area, people residing near the mountains are at risk for landslides or soil erosion during heavy rains as an effect of climate change. By this, women are burdened of physical activity like re-location to a safer place, while taking care of her children. It will cause insufficient food supply for the family because the source of living, which is mostly agricultural, is temporarily hampered.
Also, fishing industry and tourism is affected because of the changes in climate that caused prolonged El nino and El nina.
In the city area, those living near the river with garbage beside it, and family living near the bay area are at risk of ingesting dirty food which can cause illness. They are at risk for diseases such as malaria, dengue ad poor hygiene related diseases.

Women are affected because there would be increase responsibility on their part to take care of their children and family even though there is no sufficient food to take. Malnutrition among women can affect their parenting abilities to their children. Also, women who have lost their husbands on the catastrophes should work double to provide the basic needs of the family.


What programs have been instituted to aid women in this crisis at the local and international level?

''New thinking and practical approaches are needed to address the threats that climate-related migration poses to human security and well-being,'' says Dr. Koko Warner, Head of Section of the UN University's Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and lead author of the report.
People have always relied on long- and short-term migration as ways of dealing with climatic changes. The challenge is to better understand the dynamics of climate-related migration and displacement and incorporate human mobility into international and national plans for adapting to climate change.

• Asia: Glacier melt and irrigated agricultural system
• Mexico and Central America: Migration in response to drought and disaster
• Sahel, West Africa: Pressure on agricultural livelihoods and creeping onwards migration
• Ganges Delta, Bangladesh: Temporary migration as a survival strategy
• Mekong Delta, Vietnam: Living with floods and resettlement
• Nile Delta, Egypt: Between desertification and sea level rise
• Tuvalu and Maldives: Sea level rise and small island developing


• First World Climate Conference of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1979.
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988
• Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Framework Convention on Climate Change (INC/FCCC), with the ultimate objective of: “Stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Such a level should be achieved within a time frame sufficient to allow eco-systems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner.”
• Kyoto Protocol (1997)

• The Philippines, as a developing country, does not have any quantified
emission limitation reduction targets and its present GHG emission
is still low compared to other countries (Figure 4.2). However,
certain mitigation measures need to be put in place given the
country’s climate change vulnerabilities and the vast renewable resources
that the country possesses. Unfortunately, the latest energy
plan of the DOE shows that, excluding large hydro, geothermal (renewable
but mature technology) and conventional biomass, new and
renewable energy comprises less than 0.2 percent in the country’s
power mix. Under the same plan, the share of coal would increase
greatly (Greenpeace, 2005).


References:

Greenpeace, November 2005
“CRISIS OR OPPORTUNITY: Climate change impacts and the Philippines”

Koko Warner, the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security;
Charles Ehrhart, CARE International; and Alex de Sherbinin,
Susana Adamo, and Tricia Chai-Onn, Center for International
Earth Science Information Network at the Earth Institute of Columbia University.
In Search of Shelter: Mapping The Effects of Climate Change on Human Migration and Displacement
May 2009-06-25

The World Bank: Climate Change and the World Bank Group, 2009-06-25

Dr. Jyoti Parikh, Director, IRADe, Is Climate Change a Gender Issue ?

http://www.care.org

MA. ANGELICA H. VERAIN 0404286
EXEC 4- MSN MCN PROF. NIERRAS

ANSWER #1

People’s vulnerability to risks depends in large part on the assets they have available. The feminization of poverty and gendered divisions of labor present clear differences in how climate change impacts women and men, and their respective capacities for coping with and adapting to climate’s changes.

Women are the majority of the 1.3 billion people living in the deepest poverty worldwide, and people in poverty bear the brunt of climate change impacts. They are most dependent on the environment for livelihoods, food, fuel and medicine. Climate change can have disproportionate impact on women’s well-being. Through both direct and indirect risks, it can affect their livelihood opportunities, time-availability and overall life expectancy. Each year, some 50 million women living in malaria endemic countries become pregnant; half of them live in tropical areas of Africa with high transmission rates of the parasite that causes malaria. An estimated 10,000 of these women and 200,000 of their infants die as a result of malaria infection during pregnancy; severe malarial anemia isinvolved in more than half of these deaths.

Climate disasters amplify inequalities and directly affect already impoverished or under-employed women. Women tend to have limited access to physical, financial, human, social and natural capital that would increase their ability to adapt to climate change. These include assets such as land, credit, decision making bodies, agricultural inputs, technology and extension and training services. Client change is exacerbating the problems and inequities that women already face. Women are generally bound by the need to collect food, fuel and water as well as the cultural mores that may prevent them from being educated and owning land.

The impact to women following climate disasters is disproportional no matter where the geographic location. Women's livelihoods are more dependent on natural resources, which are threatened by climate change. Women are responsible for food, fuel and water in most households in developing countries. When weather patterns are erratic, women spend more time on each of these tasks, which then means less time spent on education, family and health. Girls are often taken out of school either to help with the additional burden the climate crisis has placed on the mother or because there is no longer discretionary income to pay for her education. Statistics show that more women died than men during crisis because women stayed behind to rescue children and the elderly. More women die because they cannot swim are not allowed to leave the house or have not been warned.

ANSWER #2

Women have a strong body of knowledge and expertise that make them not only victims of climate change but also effective agents of change in relation to mitigation and adaptation. Their knowledge and skills can be used in climate change mitigation, disaster reduction and adaptation strategies.

Despite many challenges that women face, they are playing a vital role in developing strategies to cope with disasters and crisis. They have been leaders in community revitalization and natural resource management. Women globally have demonstrated their capacity to adapt. In Micronesia, women used their experience working the land to dig into the ground and create a new well filled with drinkable, fresh water. Planners and decision makers had not considered their possible contributions. "We have seen time and again that communities fare better during natural disasters when women play a leadership role in early warning systems and reconstruction." In Uganda, members of a woman’s cooperative successfully campaigned to build a borehole, reducing their seven hour walk for water to 30 minutes round trip. "Women's carbon footprint has been shown to be smaller than men's. At the same time women have led many of the most innovative responses to environmental challenges." (Oxfam)

Though women are typically seem as victims of climate related disasters, they can effect change by their own way of how to adapt and find ways to cope during those circumstances. Women could play an important role in the mitigation of climate change by initiating buying habits, educating family members, promoting conservation efforts and willingness to take action. In order to effect change, women must take on more leadership roles in their fields.

ANSWER #3
Yes, women in the Philippines are affected by climate change particularly those who are poor and in rural areas where most of their resources come from the land. More women are engaged into livelihoods that are dependent on natural resources which may be threatened by climate change.

The Philippines accounts for 0.3 percent of global GHG emissions—an increase from its 1990 emissions share of 0.2 percent (WRI 2008)1 but still relatively low. In 2000, unsustainable land use, agriculture, and forestry were responsible for 56 percent of its emissions, while the energy sector contributed 46 percent (WRI 2008). Agriculture alone accounted for 33 percent through rice cultivation and livestock production, use of fertilizers, and biomass burning (Habito 2002). Massive deforestation due to commercial logging activities and conversion to other land uses is also an important factor (Lasco et al. 2004).There are actually three factors associated with climate change in the Philippines. These are: its location and geography; its economic dependence on climate sensitive agriculture and fisheries, agro-industry, and tourism; its developing country status and worsening problem that translate to lack of capital, technology and human resources to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Women farmers in Amulong Cagayan often have to take out loans at exorbitant interest rates from village money lenders before every planting season to purchase fertilizers and other farming inputs due to their limited resources. However, intense rains and sudden floods, followed by an unexpected drought and an unusually high incidence of insect infestations, caused their maize harvests to fail three seasons in a row, which meant they have not been able to pay their debts. The creditors have sued them for estafa (swindling), resulting in some women going to jail. In the province of Pampanga, the soaring cost of rice has led some women farm workers who have lost their livelihoods to resort to providing sexual favors in order to save their families from starvation.

The said situations entails that climate change can not only affect the livelihood of women and their economic status, but moreover it can also affect their way of life.


ANSWER #4


• Amihan has the overall goal of empowering women through organization and collectively advocating for alternative policies and strategies that respond to their particular situation as peasants and women. The organization has been conducting research and advocacy on issues around trade liberalization, particularly the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Agriculture and its implications for food sovereignty and impacts on women farmers. Recently the organization has begun to examine the issue of climate change.

•The Presidential Taskforce on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation (PTFCC) addresses the impacts of climate change, paying particular attention to ensuring compliance to air emission standards and combating deforestation and environmental degradation in general.

•USAID has funded environmental programs that have reduced growth in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while promoting energy efficiency, forest conservation, biodiversity, and other development goals.

•UNDP’s climate change initiatives are integrated into its sustainable energy and environment practice area. Effective responses to changing climate conditions include actions to preserve and manage natural resources more effectively, and to increase the availability of alternative energy services that do not contribute to the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

•The Philippine Climate Change Adaptation Project Phase 1 includes the design of cost-effective adaptation measures in agriculture and natural resources management.

•The government-owned Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) offers weather related crop-damage insurance, but small farmers have limited access to the fund since they cannot afford the premiums (PIDS-ACIAR, date unknown). The World Bank and ProVention Consortium-funded Agriculture Climate Risk Assessment Project will explore the possibility of pilot-testing a weatherbased insurance system (Garcia Rincón and Virtucio 2008).

•SBN 1890, renamed SBN 2583 or “An Act Mainstreaming Climate Change into Government Policy Formulations, creating for this Purpose the Climate Change Commission, and for other Purposes” incorporates some positive changes. SBN 2583 has the key objective of systematically integrating the concept of climate change in government policy formulation, development plans, poverty reduction strategies and other development tools and techniques.

References:

Aguilar L., 2009. Women and Climate Change: Vulnerabilities and Adaptive Capacities. Available at: www.worldwatch.org/files/pdf/SOW09_CC_women.pdf

Lasco, R. D. , F. B. Pulhin, P. A. Jaranilla-Sanchez, K. Garcia, and R. V. Gerpacio (2007), Mainstreaming Climate Change in the Philippines, World Agroforestry Center Southeast Asia Regional Research Programme: Laguna.

Lasco, R.D. and F. B. Pulhin (2008), “Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change through Agro-forestry Systems”, paper presented at the 3rd Conference of the Resource and Environmental Economics Foundation of the Philippines, 10 June 2008, Manila, Philippines.

Peralta A. 2008. Gender and Climate Change finance. Heinrich Boell Foundation. Available at: http://www.boell.org/docs/DoubleMainstreaming_Final.pdf

Powers J. 2009. Women and Climate Change: Issues of Imapct, Equity, and Adaptation. Available at:
http://www.celsias.com/article/women-and-climate-change-issues-impact-equity-and/

Sarmiento p. 2008. PHILIPPINES: 'Women Take the Brunt of Climate Change' from http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44431

As women is considered "the world's principal producer" especially in developing countries, the issue on climate change affects women significantly.
Effects of biodiversity is seen worldwide and this is a fact made known to all. Women suffers most being the one responsible for preparing the families basic needs. Scarcity of water supply would force a woman to walk farther than the usual or even dig for a deeper well (which actually happened in the midst of drought in Micronesia). It may sound absurd for most of us who live in a country where men and women are of equal footing. But not for those who are still forced to live up with the tradition, culture which dictates woman's role and misunderstood beliefs. The issue on climate change is magnified by political, social and socioeconomic inequalities where oftentimes women is seen only as a victim; not as an agent for change. Why not take advantage of woman's knowledge on where natural resources are?

Yes, in most part of the world, man dominates. But woman is the most influential person to a man. Do you know why mother's ideas are always heard? Because there's always a wisdom on it. Empowerment begins with the self. I always admired women who makes use of whatever is recyclable and has value. Women of Payatas makes a good living out of rugs - which turned out as bags, wallets, home decors. These women initiated change in their lives! This effort made an influence to the world to have a "social conscience". Isn't that hitting the issues of gender inequality, climate change, poverty and woman empowerment all at same time?

While I was walking around Robinson's place Manila, a woman approached me if I can donate at least P10 a day to save mother earth. In an instant, I did not make a commitment. That's P300 in a month deducted to my budget. On the second thought, I gave in and signed in to become a regular donor of the GREENPEACE. Why? climate change is a social issue. Being part of this society, I must have been one of the reasons who created this problem. Therefore, part of that solution should begin in me. I hope everybody would come to realize that...

Ma. Cristina D. Arroyo Women’s Health
MSNMCN E4 Prof. Mae Nierras

WOMEN AND CLIMATE CHANGE


What makes women vulnerable to climate change?

Globally, women are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to our different social roles and status (Women’s Environmental Network, 2007). Millions of women, in developing countries are the first line victims of climate change (Legarda, 2009). Women are particularly vulnerable to climate change because they are more prone to the adverse impacts from climate change. Their limited adaptive capacities arise from prevailing social inequalities and ascribed social and economic roles that manifest itself in differences in property rights, access to information, lack of employment and unequal access to resources. Further, changes in the climate usually impact on sectors that are traditionally associated with women, such as paddy cultivation, cotton and tea plantations, and fishing. Women are responsible for 70–80 percent of household food production in sub-Saharan Africa, 65 percent in Asia, and 45 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean (Canadian International Development Agency). More women than men work in household/micro and small enterprises, they are often worst hit and least able to recover as a result of disasters. Natural hazards cause women to lose jobs and work longer and their conditions of work often deteriorate (Thanh, 2008). Climate change means increased hardship for women. For example, studies show that climate change has an adverse impact on fishing, as the sea level rises and saline water enters into freshwater systems, making fishing difficult. Further, in extreme events more women deaths are observed for women’s inability to swim or run or lack of strength to withstand physically demanding situation such as storms, floods, typhoons etc. From a long term perspective, this will have serious implications for gender relations, as women may end up spending more time on tasks that reinforce stereotypical gender roles. Thus, women are faced by a situation where their ability to adapt is low (due to a number of pre‐existing factors), but the share of the adaptation burden falling disproportionately on them. This makes the consideration of the impact of climate change on gender most imperative (Parikh, 2003).

Women make up a large number of the poor in communities that are highly dependent on local natural resources for their livelihood and are disproportionately vulnerable to and affected by climate change. 70% of the world’s poor, who are far more vulnerable to environmental damage, are women (Women’s Environmental Network, 2007). Women’s limited access to resources and decision-making processes increases their vulnerability to climate change. Women in rural areas in developing countries have the major responsibility for household water supply and energy for cooking and heating, as well as for food security, and are negatively affected by drought, uncertain rainfall and deforestation. Because of their roles, unequal access to resources and limited mobility, women in many contexts are disproportionately affected by natural disasters, such as floods, fires, and mudslides. It is important to identify gender-sensitive strategies for responding to the environmental and humanitarian crises caused by climate change (Commission on the Status of Women, 2008).


How can women effect change in the face of this crisis?

Women across the world have a key role in tackling climate change as consumers, educators and ‘change agents’ in our homes and communities. Women can be real agents for change in their homes, their communities, and in the society as a whole. They can take over new renewable forms of house hold energy, such as biomass, biogas, solar. They tackle climate change as consumers, as educator. Through their specific role in educating their children, they can promote behavioral change in human or economic and environmental activities (Wallström, 2009). They can encourage the adoption of lower carbon lifestyles and passing on green values to the next generation. Although gender inequality still exists in this field, women as the most vulnerable population being affected by climate change, are also the most influential people to advocate this particular issue.
Adaptation to climate change or indeed climate variability is dependent on issues such as wealth, technological power, access to information, all of which are major problem areas for women. However, women can be key agents of adaptation and mitigation to climate change. Their responsibilities in households, communities and as stewards of natural resources position them well to develop strategies for adapting to changing environmental realties (Parikh, 2003).

Women also have a role deriving from their own strength. Women are engaged in a number of activities such as brick‐making, charcoal‐making waste management and agro‐processing where energy efficiency can lead to CO2 mitigation and their role in mitigation in these areas can be vital. The development of Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM), through carbon sequestration from afforestation and reforestation can also be done by poor rural women. Women in urban areas can implement energy efficiency programmes at the household level ‐ lighting, the use of appliances etc, while women in rural areas may be encouraged to use biomass and biogas (for fuel generation), and switch to solar energy. Poor women, without access to modern energy fuels are faced with problems relating to indoor air pollution and bear huge health burdens as a result‐ there is a high incidence of bronchitis, asthma and other health problems. While women should not be denied the use of fossil fuels like LPG or Kerosene, yet at the same time appropriate technologies that take into account the specific socio‐economic realities of different rural areas, reduce women’s workload, free‐up time and enable them to pursue income generating or other activities need to be developed (Parikh, 2003).

Most of the indigenous peoples have been creative and developed sophisticated strategies to adapt. Indigenous women are crucial biodiversity managers, traditional custodians of seeds and experiment with a diversity of seeds, keep sophisticated water management systems and agricultural technology in order to adapt to the changing conditions (IUCN, 2009).


Do you think women here in the Philippines are affected by climate change (urban vs rural area)?
The Philippines is an archipelago with a total discontinuous coastline of 32,400 kilometers, the longest in the world. About 70% of the country’s 1,500 municipalities share the coast, deriving numerous benefits and opportunities offered by the coastal zone and near-shore areas. At present, approximately 50 million people live in the Philippine coastal areas and are at risk from the impacts of natural hazards and extreme climatic events, sea level changes and degradation of coastal and marine ecosystems (Perez, 1999).

Philippines has been ranked as the top victim of extreme weather events in the world in 2006. Philippines was the most affected among the countries that suffered storms, floods, and extreme weather events. Greenpeace released a briefing paper, which approximated that close to 700 million square meters of land area in the country will gradually be submerged as global temperatures increase due to climate change, causing water expansion. The entire Philippines is a climate hotspot, as the country is vulnerable to the worst manifestations of climate change. The Philippines was ranked 51st in its Global Climate Risk Index in 2005. The report said that in the Philippines, a series of storms left a death toll of at least 1,267, equivalent to 1.46 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, and losses totaling $4.5 billion. The report also said that in 2006, some 8,568,968 Filipinos were affected by extreme weather events (Adraneda, 2008).

Other factors that contribute to environmental problems are increasing urban and industrial wastes. Such unmanaged or untreated wastes pollute water, air, soil, and coastal resources, and have severe social and environmental impacts. These impacts are reflected in increasing health care costs, a growing natural resources export sector, and reduced workforce productivity. These sources of excessive atmospheric pollution not only contribute to global warming but also discourage foreign investment (USAID).

Women in developing countries are the most vulnerable to climate change because of the roles they play as a wife, as a mother, as a women in the society. It is they who fetch the water, cook the food, plant the rice, care for the sick children, educate them and manages the household and its finances. They are the main and the more prodigious, producers of staple crops. Any extreme weather event that affects agricultural production - whether it is a drought or rampaging floods - gravely affects the women tillers of the land. A starving mother carrying her ailing child is often the public face of famines and food shortages (Legarda, 2009). These are very common scenarios of roles of women here in the Philippines. Women are responsible for a lot of things that when climate changes occur, they happen to be the first victims, they receive the greatest brunt of climate changes.
Given the geography of the Philippines, I think, the whole of the population is affected by the climate change. If source of livelihood will be the one to be taken as a consideration, then, women in the rural areas are most likely to be affected since they are the ones who are the main workers and producers of stable crops that are obviously affected when climate changes exist. But then again, climate change would not talk about if you are in rural or urban area. Everyone is affected. Every woman is affected - before, during and even after climate changes. On the climate change event itself, women’s role shifts from being a victim to caregiver. In times of disaster and economic stress, women are the primary caregivers. They also carry out much of the household workload after a disaster.



What programs have been instituted to aid women in this crisis at the local and international level?

· Global Index Reinsurance Facility(GIRIF): In collaboration with the World Bank, IFC is creating this facility to establish technical and intermediation capacity to reinsure such weather / catastrophic event risks (CAT) as well as create the policy background from a regulatory viewpoint.
· Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR): The World Bank is cooperating actively with the GFDRR, which aims at integrating hazard risk reduction strategies in development processes at local and national levels. The potential exacerbation of extreme climatic events as climate changes suggests significant overlap between the areas of adaptation to climate change and disaster risk reduction.
· Global Environment Facility (GEF):The GEF is the financing mechanism for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as well as other key international environmental agreements. As a GEF implementing agency, the World Bank helps identify, prepare and implement projects that reduce poverty and benefit the local and global environment. Climate change was the second-most active focal area of the GEF active portfolio at the end of FY2006.
· United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): The UNFCCC is an international treaty through which countries consider ways to reduce global warming and cope with inevitable temperature increases. The World Bank is an observer to the UNFCCC and also takes part in a number of technical discussions conducted by the UNFCCC Secretariat, such as by the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA). 
· Philippine Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reporting Program(PhilGARP). a collaboration among the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Department of Energy (DOE), the World Resources Institute (WRI), the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the Philippine Business for the Environment (PBE), and the klima Climate Change Center of the Manila Observatory (klima–MO). It is being supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
· Philippine Climate Watch Alliance. Nationwide network of grassroots and community-based organizations, scientists, and environmental advocates, was launched last 19 November 2008 at the Balai Kalinaw of the University of the Philippines in Diliman.

· USAID’s partners in climate change activities in the Philippines include:
o At least 80 Provincial and municipal local government units
o Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI)
o Philippines Department of Energy
o Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
o Philippines Department of Interior and Local Governments
o US Department of Energy (USDOE)
o Winrock International


[b]

> What makes women vulnerable to climate change?

Though climate change has been affecting both men and women in the process, women are frequently and usually pointed out as someone that’s vulnerable on it’s devastating effects (Lambrou and Piana, 2005; United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, 2008). In many parts of the world, women constitute the population most vulnerable to Climate change and Climate Variability, due to certain inequitable conditions and situations (vulnerability factors) that place them at risk (Enarson, 2000; Lambrou and Piana, 2005; R¨ohr, 2007).

One identified risk of vulnerability to the effects of climate change is the economic status. The poorest populations and marginalized groups are found to be mostly affected (Enarson, 2000; Lambrou and Piana, 2005; R¨ohr, 2007). Both men and women of this stratum are primarily affected; however, it was revealed that though men and women are both directly and indirectly involved in the issue of climate change, a large portion of women are being affected since women are expected as someone staying in the household, taking care of the children and looking after the chores and the home in general that leaves them unemployed and incapable of securing descent income for themselves & the family as well as in charge of making sure that no member of her family maybe affected by environment-related diseases like malaria and water-borne diseases; adding to this is that women are expected to be performing domestic responsibilities and in this event, more women are resorting to livelihood resources such as paddy cultivation, cotton and tea plantations, and fishing (Dr. Jyoti Parikh) and sometimes caused them to be responsible to look for food, potable water supply and energy for cooking and heating (United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, 2008).

Moreover, existing gender biases and gender inequalities that surfaced bringing women underprivileged to access and control resources. Empirical evidence shows that
they suffer a greater impact in a disaster or emergency (Enarson, 2000) particularly to natural disasters such as floods, fires, and mudslides. Though, they have unique capacities as community leaders or managers of natural resources, however, they are underutilized in strategies for managing emergencies (Cupples, 2007) making more of women die when natural calamity strikes (United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, 2008).



>In this male-dominated world( do u agree?), how can women effect change in the face of this crisis?

Multiple authors report that women have been capable of mobilizing the community in the different phases of the risk-management cycle (Guha-Sapir, 1997; Enarson, 2001; Yonder et al., 2005).

In their professional development or in their domestic activities, women are often in a better position to note certain environmental hazards. They are aware of the patterns of sicknesses in the children in the neighborhood, and they can quickly detect changes in the water when they wash clothes or strange smells in the ground where their children play (Harding, 1998). At local levels, are the women who have greater clarity about what diverse social groups lose in the short term after a cyclone or an earthquake, who in the community are at risk and what is needed, and which native trees should be protected (Enarson and Fordham, 2001).

They develop a broad knowledge and experiences regarding their environment (Ariyabandu, 2004), which are being evaluated constantly and changed when the environmental and social conditions of their surroundings vary – product of the responsibilities that they assume within their families and in their communities. This knowledge is proving to be ever more valuable in developing countries (Harding, 1998) and should be taken into account in the adaptation of vulnerable communities to Climate Change and Climate Variability.


>what programs have been instituted to aid women in this crisis at the local and international level?

In the International Conference on Population and Development (1994), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002), and the 2005 World Summit recognized the essential role women play in sustainable development and highlighted the need to “involve women actively in environmental decision-making at all levels; integrate gender concerns and perspectives in policies and programmes for sustainable development; and strengthen or establish mechanisms at the national, regional and international levels to assess the impacts of development and environmental policies on women”


References:

Y. Carvajal-Escobar, M. Quintero-Angel, and M. Garc´ıa-Vargas (2008). Women’s Role in Adapting to Climate Change and Variability. Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia. Copernicus Publications.


Gender perspectives on climate change. 2008. 52nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

RAIZA JOY S. LIBO-ON, RN
EXEC 4 MSN-MCN

1. What makes women vulnerable to climate change?

Basically, all articles that I have read states that the reason why women are vulnerable to climate changes is because they have limited adaptive capabilities that arises from social inequalities, social roles and economic roles. Sen. Loren Legarda in her speech in the 14th congress Last March 8, 2009 stresses out that women in developing countries are the most vulnerable to climate change because it is they who fetch the water, cook the food, plant the rice, care for the sick children, educate them and manages the household and its finances.

Climate change can give rise to a number of socio-economic related problems which can have an adverse effect on human security. It is argued that it has severe impact in the lives of poor women who form the majority in the developing world due to a number of different reasons.

• First and foremost comes the issue of malnutrition.
In many poor countries it is often the case that women are forced to eat less than men and it is therefore anticipated that in cases of scarcity of resources or natural disasters caused by climate change, it will again be women to be malnourished, something extremely dangerous, especially during pregnancy.

• In the event of natural disasters it will be more often them who are vulnerable, since they have to save both their children and themselves[/b]

[b]• Exposure to increase risks.
Also women and children refugees created by natural disasters or conflicts caused by scarcity of resources, are exposed to increased risks compared to male refugees, be it in refugee camps, or in their resettlement areas, or even in countries where they seek asylum.
Women and girls, in particular, are vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking and other forms of gender-based violence, while children can also be the prey of military recruitment and abduction.

Climate changes has a direct effect in the health of women:

(1) Thermal Extremes
In a warmer world, heat waves are expected to become more frequent and severe. The young, the elderly, the poor, the frail, and those who live in the top floors of apartment buildings and lack access to air conditioning, especially in large urban areas are particularly vulnerable. Men and women differ in their response to extreme heat due to the fact that women sweat less, have a higher metabolic rate, and have thicker subcutaneous fat that prevents them from cooling themselves as efficiently as men, therefore, making them less able to tolerate heat stress. In 1984, average daily temperatures rose from 21.1 C to 28.9 C during a heat wave in New York. Elderly women were at highest risk of heat-associated death: among those aged 75-84 years, death rates rose 39% for men, and 66% for women; among those over 85 years old, increases were 13% for men and 55% for women. More recently, a heat wave struck France in August 2003. Excess mortality in August was 14 802; in all age groups female mortality was 15-20% higher than male mortality.

(2) Extreme Events
With increased temperatures, extreme weather events are likely to increase. Gender significantly affects the daily lives of women and men, before, during, and after an extreme event. Women who are battered, immigrants, indigenous, isolated, poor, refugee, and seniors are particularly vulnerable to such events. Gender-specific health impacts of extreme weather events include: mental stress as a result of providing emotional care during and after the crisis, and increased violence. Police reports of domestic violence following the 1980 Mt. St. Helen's volcanic eruption increased by 46 %. Following the 1993 Missouri floods, the turn-away rate at shelters rose 111%, programmes sheltered 400% more flood-impacted women and children than anticipated and in 1998, a Montreal Police Chief reported that 25% of calls received during the 1997 ice storm were from abused women. Gender-based violence may lead to psychological distress. A recent study found that 30-40% of all battered women attempted to kill themselves at some point in their lives.

Indirect effects to health

(1) Nutritional Health
In developing countries, particularly in Africa and Asia where women farm cash crops and cultivate paddies, women are responsible for up to 80% of food production. Food production may be undermined, both directly and indirectly through plant or animal diseases and pests in regions vulnerable to climate change. Some studies indicate that the number of hungry and malnourished people in the world could increase by ~10% due to climate change. Consequently, women are likely to experience a decrease in nutritional health, as they are often the first to go hungry in an attempt to protect their families.

(2) Respiratory Health
Climate change is likely to increase acid precipitation, particulates, and smog. Current health effects of air pollution range from severe, uncommon events (e.g. death) to mild, common events (e.g. throat irritation). Air pollution currently harms more than 1.1 billion people each year, and kills three million annually. Ninety percent of these deaths occur in developing countries, where air pollution is at its worst. Women and children do most of the cooking in developing countries. About 2.5 million women and children die each year from respiratory infections due to indoor air pollution. Traditional cook stoves produce carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, pollutants, and smoke that affect the health of those who tend the stoves. (More than two-thirds of deaths are associated with indoor air pollution, which affects mostly women and children. )
In rural Mexico, coal smoke exposure can increase lung cancer risks by a factor of nine. Air pollution may affect females more than males: females may inhale particles deeper into their lungs, and since they have fewer red blood cells, they may be more susceptible to the toxicological influences of air pollutants. Worsening air quality due to climate change will therefore further impair the health of women and children who already suffer from indoor air pollution.

(3) Vector-borne Disease
An estimated 20% of the world's population is at risk of contracting malaria. The disease causes more than 300 million acute illnesses and kills at least one million people every year. Malaria kills an African child every 30 seconds, and remains one of the most important threats to the health of pregnant women and their newborns. Malaria is particularly sensitive to weather and climate. Precipitation, for example, determines the presence or absence of mosquito breeding sites.
All models predict increases in transmission of malaria in a warmer world. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to malaria because they are twice as attractive to malaria-carrying mosquitoes as non-pregnant women. Moreover, pregnancy reduces a woman's immunity to malaria, making her more susceptible to malaria infection, and increasing her risk of illness, severe anaemia and death. Maternal malaria increases the risk of spontaneous abortion, premature delivery, stillbirth, and low birth weight - a leading cause of child mortality.

(4) Water-related Diseases
Schistosomiasis is a water-based infectious disease caused by five species of the fluke (parasitic worm) Schistoma. Symptoms vary but include bloody urine and liver disorders. The occurrence of schistosomiasis is particularly linked to agricultural, and water- development schemes. High-risk groups for schistosomiasis are school- age children and specific occupational groups such as irrigation workers and women who use infected water for their domestic purposes.
It is a sad reality that those with the least resources have the least capacity to adapt and are the most vulnerable. Vulnerability is likely to be differentiated by gender.


2. In this male-dominated world(do u agree?), how can women effect change in the face of this crisis?

I do believe that women play a very crucial role in initiating the first step to change, since they are considered as the primary home maker in their community. According to Amartya Sen, "The voice of women is critically important for the world's future - not just for women's future." The equal participation of women is absolutely necessary to meet changing climatic conditions. The involvement of women in areas of environmental management and governance should not be perceived as an afterthought. Women's roles are of considerable importance in the promotion of environmental ethics. Their efforts in waste management through recycling are re-use of resources are an indication of the extent of their significant input to community development. Women in rural areas, due to their daily contact with the natural habitat for the provision of food, fodder and wood, tend to have sound ecological knowledge that could be useful in environmental planning and governance. I guess, it all boils down to empowering these women with the proper information and involving them in activities that promotes proper management and governance of the environment. And as of now, there are organizations of women all over the world that does this.

3. Do you think women here in the Philippines are affected by climate change (pls consider if it is in the urban or rural area)?

Yes, I personally believe that women here in the Philippines (including me of course) are very affected by the changes in the climate.
• In coastal areas, among the fishing communities of the Philippines, women are now grappling with the harsh impact of climate change, according to a report presented by the Centre for Empowerment and Resource Development Inc. (CERD), a Manila-based NGO that implements community-based coastal resource management
• Women in the agriculture and fisheries sectors are more vulnerable to climate change. Women employed as farm workers neither own land nor have access to credit and technology that can help adapt to the effects of climate change.


4. What programs have been instituted to aid women in this crisis at the local and international level?

• Daryl Leyesa, Rural Women Centre Coordinator of the Philippine Centre for Rural Development Studies, said women farmers’ organisations are actively campaigning for sustainable agriculture and protecting natural resources.
• Rodriguez said CERD is supporting some women of the coastal community in southern Philippines to protect mangroves. By protecting the mangroves, Fernandez said, these women can protect their communities from waves, tidal currents and typhoons; and also boost fish production.
• LAKAMBINI as a women-farmer organization is actively lobbying against the patenting of seeds
• WEDO and Heinrich Boell Foundation partnered with Athena Peralta—a Manila-based advocate on ecology, economy and gender—to document the gender impacts of climate change on women in the Philippines and assess how decision-makers at the national-level are addressing gender roles and women’s rights, lives and livelihoods in climate finance policy
• Along the Coco River, on the North Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua, MADRE partners with Indigenous Miskito women to provide agricultural trainings and resources for small-scale organic farms. We worked with our longtime local sister organization, to make sure the program, Harvesting Hope, would be responsive to women in the community. There are almost 100 women involved. In total, they are respsonible for feeding about 600 people in a dozen or so small communities. Harvesting Hope emphasizes sustainable land use methodologies, safeguards traditional Indigenous knowledge of natural resource management, and strengthens women’s economic self-sufficiency.
• Working with MADRE, the women also organized a seed bank, so they could save and share local, organic seeds from one growing season to the next. In 2007, after Hurricane Felix destroyed 90 percent of the community’s bean harvest, the women were able to turn to their collective seed bank for a new supply of seeds. Encouraged by this store of resources, they felt able to face the challenge of replanting their crops and rebuilding their homes and community. Now we’ve expanded the project and are working to reclaim the trees that were felled in the storm and use the lumber to build new homes that can better withstand the hurricanes that Nicaragua is more prone to than ever because of climate change.

REFERENCES:
An Interview with Yifat Susskind, Communications Director of MADRE – Q&A with Anna Lappé retrieved June 24, 2005 from http://www.takeabite.cc/interview-with-yifat-susskind/

Women and Climate Change: Interview with Ms. Esmao, farmer leader from PAKISAMA, Philippines ( 2009) retrieved June 24,2009 from http://asianfarmers.org/

Global Climate Change and Women's Health retrieved June 24, 2009 from http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/890479
/global_climate_change_and_womens_health/index.html

HUMAN SECURITY AND THE CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ON VULNERABLE GROUPS retrieved June 24, 2009 from www.humansecuritynetwork.org/docs/20071120_hsnconcept.doc

Sarmiento , P. (2008) PHILIPPINES: 'Women Take the Brunt of Climate Change' retrieved June 24, 2009 from http://ipsnews.net/news.asp

WOMEN ARE THE MOST VULNERABLE TO CLIMATE CHANGE – LOREN LEGARDA retrieved June 24,2009 from http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2009/0308_legarda1.asp

New Case Study: Gender and Climate Change Finance, Philippines retrieved June 24, 2009 from http://www.wedo.org/learn/library/media-type/pdf/new-climate-change-case-study

PORTILLO, Maria Santa R.
MSN – MSN: EXEC 4


>> I agree that this is an interesting topic. Most of us are aware that even if the world specially the Philippines is blessed with abundant natural resources, due to our own wrongful doings, we may lose them. And today, we are hunted by our insensitiveness about our environment. Climate change is one of them. This leads to consequences that affect everything around us – the natural resources, weather, and the prime stakeholders – the women.

1. What makes the women vulnerable to climate change?

The readings cited various reasons why women are susceptible with this phenomenon. This is rooted to the social and economic roles that women are expected to play as well as the social inequalities which is manifested in differences in access to education, property, employment and resources.

• Use of natural resources for food and livelihood by being the one’s in charge of the household chores

- Women are a big part of the poor communities living in rural areas. Part of their duties as the ones in the household is to fetch for water and use energy to cook for food. Women would be really affected if water resources are becoming scarce due to climate change. In some areas, tilling the soil and planting crops are being done by women to provide for the family’s food and to add up to the family’s income. Depletion of our natural resources deprives them with harvest and income.

• Role of a mother taking care her husband and children in times of sickness
- What is alarming today is the emergence of new strains of diseases. Such diseases are believed to be caused by climate change. Most who suffer are the family and this could include the woman herself. Yet, to care for the sick family member adds up to the burden of a caring mother.

• Lack of access to information and lack of mobility by being immersed with her roles
• Poor nutritional status and state of health
• Gender inequity among patriarchal cultures
- Climate change brought about natural disasters and calamities like strong typhoons, floods and drought. When these occur 85% of people who die from climate-induced disasters are women. Some due to her body state cannot withstand the disaster. Others would think first of the safety of the family before herself. Worst, in some societies, men are likely to receive preferential treatment in rescue efforts and women are likely to suffer more from shortages of food and other resources in the aftermath of disasters. Women made up 90 per cent of the 140,000 people who died in a 1991 hurricane in Bangladesh. African-American women made up the majority of those killed and injured by Hurricane Katrina. In the 2006 tsunami that killed scores in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, male survivors outnumbered the female survivors 3 to 1 or 4 to 1.

-After the disaster and women have survived, they become refugees in camps. The living condition makes the women to suffer from abuse and violence.


2. How can women affect change in this time of crisis?

>> Though women are the one’s greatly affected, they can play a crucial role in affecting the change needed. With the role of women in the home and in the community – they are in a great position to be great change agents. Also, since they are the ones who are exposed to it and who have experienced it, they can add up to the body of knowledge that will be necessary in exploring this phenomenon with the aim of finding solutions and measures to deal with it.

>> Women can start small steps at home. Since they are the ones using the energy sources and water; the ones who does the shopping and cook food for the family; and even the ones who discard the household wastes – they can start the change within themselves to follow the “green lifestyle” or the “low carbon diet”. Also, she is in the position to model such behaviour and eventually influence her family members. According to Dr. Jung-Sook, president of the Center for Asia Pacific Women in Politics (CAPWIP), during the Global Forum on Climate Change 2008, “Women’s roles are of considerable importance in the promotion of environmental ethics ... their efforts in waste management through recycling and reuse of resources are an indication of the extent of their significant input to community development” (David, 2008).

>> On the big picture, women can work for reforms and participate on ongoing discussions about climate change. This is the ones which is really lacking as of now. The UN Conference on Environment and Development notes the key role ascribed to women as principal actors in the management of natural resources and the development of sustainable and ecologically sound policies, even if they are not formally recognized by scientists and policy-makers.

3. Do you think women in the Philippines are affected by climate change.

Definitely yes. The effects of climate change are not limited by to a particular geographic location. Its effects are worldwide and in all countries since we are just living on the same planet. So, since climate change is there, so thus its effects on women.

>> The Philippines with its geographic location, contributes a lot to its vulnerability to climate change. The Philippines lies along the western rim of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a belt of active volcanoes and major earthquake faults, and the Pacific typhoon belt. It is one of the world’s most natural disaster-prone countries due to a combination of high incidence typhoons, floods, landslides, droughts, volcanoes, earthquakes and the country’s considerable vulnerability to these hazards (Virtucio & Ricon, 2008). Natural disasters greatly affect women both in the urban and rural. It can destroy their livelihood and even their homes.

>> Asia’s 4 billion people are fed by women. The women ensure that there is food on the family’s dining table. In rural Asia, most of the farmers are women. Usually, they prepare food they have grown themselves together with what they bought at the local market (Penunia, 2009). In the country, the effect climate change with agriculture is through increased temperature which damages crops and animals; increased outbreaks/incidences of pests and diseases; more severe droughts and/or floods; deterioration of land cover/land resources; changes in water resources (irrigation) (Lasco et. al., 2007). With the participation of women in agriculture, they are really affected with these changes.

>> According to Lasco et al., (2007), climate change has brought about increased incidences of diseases and illnesses caused by vectors and environmental extremes. It is part of the women’s role to care for her sick children and husband. But, even the woman herself can be a victim of these emerging diseases.

4. What programs have been instituted to aid women in this crisis at the local and international level?

>> Internationally, the organization Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) has been reaching out different agencies to provide forums for widening awareness on the role gender plays on climate change.

>> In UK, the member organizations of the coalition Stop Climate Chaos – Women Environment Network (WEN) and National Federation of Women’s Institute (NFWI) has published the Women’s Manifesto on Climate change to present the key roles played by women in climate change and demand for women acknowledgement and involvement in this area of discussion.

>> In Africa, a local women’s rights organization called the Salima Women’s Network on Gender (SAWEG) build “women’s farmers club” who meet every month to discuss strategies of new agricultural methods against the climate change.
In the Micronesia, women farmers have developed their own useful knowledge of the islands' hydrology, enabling them to find water and dig out water wells during droughts.

>>A gender sensitive community education in Honduras, one that focused on warning systems and hazard management overseen by women, led to the prompt but orderly evacuation of the communities hard hit by Hurricane Mitch in 2004.

>> Kenya's Greenbelt Movement, relying on cadres of women engaged in massive reforestation, hopes to capture 350,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, check soil erosion and revive lost ravaged watershed areas.

>> In the Philippines, efforts are being made to make this issue known to all, the 3rd Global Congress of Women in Politics organized by Center for Asia-Pacific Women in Politics (CAPWIP) and the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (UN/ISDR) was held last October 2008 with the theme “Gender in Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction.” The over-all purpose of the said congress is to provide a forum for legislators and decision-makers in national governments and leaders at all levels in formulating gender-responsive legislation and programs related to gender in climate change and disaster risk reduction.

>> Also in the country, women make up a sizable portion of workers, supporters and volunteers of Luntiang Pilipinas, a tree-planting and seed-donating foundation which is now one of the most active organizations in the country's tree planting and reforestation work.

>> Small organization of farmers in the Philippines like LAKAMBINI or Lakas ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan [Strength of Women in the Countryside], which is affiliated with PAKISAMA or Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahang Magsasaka [National Movement of Peasant Movements] are practicing sustainable agriculture in response to climate change.


References:

David, R., 2008. What does gender got to do with it?. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved June 24, 2009 from http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20081015-166411/What-does-gender-have-to-do-with-it

Lasco, R. D., R. V. Gerpacio, M. R. N. Banaticla and A. G. Garcia. 2007. Vulnerability of Natural Ecosystems and Rural Communities to Climate Change: An Assessment of Philippine Policies and their Impacts.

Magturo, T.C., Rosete, J., Relox, N., 2007. Presentation on Philippine Country Report on Climate Change and Health Effects. Retrieved on June 24, 2009. Available at http://www.wpro.who.int/NR/rdonlyres/E4F88B5B-7787-4F0E-AA86-8F765BE8BBEC/0/CCpptPhilippines.pdf

Rincon & Virtucio., 2008. Climate Change in the Philippines: A Contribution to the Country Environmental Analysis. Retrieved on June 24, 2009 from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPHILIPPINES/Resources/WBPhilippineCEACCFINAL.pdf

Women and Climate Change: Interview with Ms. Penunia, AFA Secretary General. 2009. Retrieved June 24, 2009 from http://asianfarmers.org/?p=637

Women in Malawi Adapt to Climate Change. 2008. Retrieved on June 24, 2009 from http://us.oneworld.net/article/357923-women%E2%80%99s-network-malawi-adapts-climate-change

Women’s Environment and Development Organization Website. Available at http://www.wedo.org/

>what makes women vulnerable to climate change?
Globally, women are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to our different social roles and status. In the UK and other developed countries, increasing costs for energy, transport, healthcare, and nutrition are likely to affect women, including single mothers, more than men. In developing countries, women are already suffering disproportionately more as a consequence of climate change:
• 70% of the world’s poor, who are far more vulnerable to environmental damage, are women
• 85% percent of people who die from climate-induced disasters are women.TPF6FP

Women are particularly vulnerable to climate change because they are more prone to the adverse impacts from climate change. Their limited adaptive capacities arise from prevailing social inequalities and ascribed social and economic roles that manifest itself in differences in property rights, access to information, lack of employment and inequal access to resources. Further, changes in the climate usually impact on sectors that are traditionally associated with women, such as paddy cultivation, cotton and tea plantations, and fishing. This means increased hardship for women. For example, studies show that climate change has an adverse impact on fishing, as the sea level rises and saline water enters into freshwater systems, making fishing difficult. Further, in extreme events more women deaths are observed for women’s inability to swim or run or lack of strength to withstand physically demanding situation such as stroms, floods, typhoons etc. From a long term perspective, this will have serious implications for gender relations, as women may end up spending more time on tasks that reinforce stereotypical gender roles. Thus, women are faced by a situation where their ability to adapt is low (due to a number of pre‐existing factors), but the share of the adaptation burden falling disproportionately on them. This makes the consideration of the impact of climate change on gender most imperative.

>In this male-dominated world(do u agree?), how can women effect change in the face of this crisis?

Women are the ones who are most likely to take action to change their lifestyles and encourage their families to do likewise: • 94% say they have recently begun to make lifestyle changes • Recycling (98%), refusing plastic bags and excess packaging (87%) and energy efficiency (86%) are the most popular actions now being taken and levels of activity are high in virtually all areas except growing your own food (41%) and switching to green electricity (23%). Women want to go green but need more help to get there. It needs to be easier for women to take actions themselves: • 34% of women say it’s not that easy to go green, 50% say it’s quite easy • The areas of support which women want the most to reduce their impact on the environment are more green products or carbon labelling of goods (85%), lower prices for environmentally friendly products (85%) and more government grants and incentives (eg for energy efficiency and microgeneration) to reduce carbon emissions (82%).

>do you think women here in the Philippines are affected by climate change (pls consider if it is in the urban or rural area)?
Yes I do believe that women in the Philippines are affected by climate change. Like for example climate change can reduce crop yields and food production and most women in rural areas are responsible household food production. You will noticed that as you go to rural areas mostly women are involve in planting crops, plants and in taking care of domestic animals and these serve as the sources as their household food. Traditional food sources may become more unpredictable and scarce as the climate changes. Women’s specific knowledge of maintaining biodiversity, through the conservation and domestication of wild edible plant seeds and food crop breeding, is key to adapting to climate change more effectively.,
Water and other resource shortages
Climate change may exacerbate existing shortages of water. Women, largely responsible for water collection in their communities, are more sensitive to the changes in seasons and climatic conditions that affect water quantity and accessibility that make its collection even more time-consuming.
Health
Climate change may affect human health in a variety of ways, including:
• increased spread of vector- and water-borne diseases;
• reduced drinking water availability;
• food insecurity due to reduced agricultural production in some regions; and
• increased cases of heat stress and respiratory illness.

As primary caregivers in many families, women may see their responsibilities increase as family members suffer increased illness. Further, in the developing world, women often have less access to medical care than men.

>what programs have been instituted to aid women in this crisis at the local and international level?
A cap-and-trade system is intended to limit greenhouse gas pollution. A government authority establishes a mandatory cap on carbon emissions. It divides the emissions cap into individual allowances, or permits, which give the owners of those allowances the right to pollute the amount of that allowance. Companies are free to buy or sell allowances. These trades establish the market price for greenhouse gas pollution. A company decides whether it is cheaper to buy a permit or reduce pollution. Some may find it more profitable to reduce their pollution and can sell their allowances to others who face higher costs. Each year, the cap is tightened, and the number allowances on the market declines. As a result, the price of allowances, or the price of greenhouse gas pollution, will increase each year. The key is flexibility. Under a cap-and-trade system, companies could plan when, how and at what price they would make the switch to clean energy.
Global Reporting Initiative (Sustainability Reporting guidelines)
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001
environmental management standard
United Nations Global Compact which guides corporate
commitment to social and environmental issues in the form of 10 principles.
An international agreement linked to the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC).Sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that amount to an average of 5% against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012 Makes environmental sustainability a top business concern owing to new national legislative and regulatory measures that aim to address climate change/global warming as the greatest “market failure” of all time.

2. For the local, the government implemented on the following acts and laws to care for the environment such as the Philippine Clean Water Act, Philippine Clean Air Act and the Philippine Renewable Energy Law.

At a greater picture hope you can express your own experience as to how YOU are affected PERSONALLY by climate change and what you can do at your level to make a change.

Yes I am somehow affected by the climate change especially when it comes to my health. There are times because of the climate change I am suffering from sickness such cough, cold and fever etc and now I see to it that I take a lot of water every day, eat fruits and take some vitamins and have sufficient rest to avoid these illnesses especially at this time wherein AH1N1is spreading widely in four corners of the world.

References:
Women’s Manifesto on Climate Change
Gender 2 pdf
Wat:ahtstpt:/e/w wMw.asonftwaagree60m2.ceonm/t Law
Gndr_climt07.pdf

Hello everyone!

Welcome to day 3 of our online discussion.

We will be discussing on women and how they are affected by global climate change. In our yahoo group I will upload several readings on the topic (they are not lengthy promise).

I thought this topic would be interesting and yes, it is.

At the end of this session I hope you will be able to answer the following:
>what makes women vulnerable to climate change?

>In this male-dominated world(do u agree?), how can women effect change in the face of this crisis?

>do you think women here in the Philippines are affected by climate change (pls consider if it is in the urban or rural area)?

>what programs have been instituted to aid women in this crisis at the local and international level?

At a greater picture hope you can express your own experience as to how YOU are affected PERSONALLY by climate change and what you can do at your level to make a change.

I'd like to leave you with this.

Key facts
• Women are the main producers of the world‘s staple crops,
providing up to 90% of food for the rural poor and producing
60–80% of the food in most developing countries.

• Women already struggle to cope with year-to-year variability of
maize, sorghum, millet and groundnut yields associated with
the El Niño Southern Oscillation. Crop productivity in extreme
El Niño years is expected to drop a further 20–50% in southern
Africa.

• Women are already more vulnerable to nutritional problems.
50% of the women and children in developing countries are
anaemic.

• Climate variability plays an important role in initiating malaria
epidemics in the East African highlands and accounts for 70%
of variation of recent cholera outbreaks in Bangladesh. This
increase has more severe impacts on women who often have
less access to medical services than men. Women’s workloads
also increase as they spend time caring for the sick.

• There is decisive evidence that gender differences in deaths
from natural disasters are directly linked to women’s economic
and social rights. In societies that are more inequitable, men
are likely to receive preferential treatment in rescue efforts and
women are likely to suffer more from shortages of food and
other resources in the aftermath of disasters. Women made up
90% of the 140,000 people killed in the 1991 cyclone disaster
in Bangladesh. During Hurricane Katrina in the USA, African-
American women faced greater obstacles to survival.

• Many key decision-making institutions related to climate
change have a male-dominated hierarchical structure. At
the COP 7 meeting in Marrakech, the ratio of male to female
professionals deciding on forestry and energy projects was
11 to 1.

• Women’s empowerment is now being linked to climate change
solutions. In November 2006, Kenya’s Greenbelt Movement,
founded by Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai, and the
World Bank’s Community Development Carbon Fund signed
an emissions reductions purchase agreement to reforest
two mountain areas in Kenya. Women’s groups will plant
thousands of trees, an activity that will also provide income
to poor rural women. Women’s empowerment through this
process will also capture 350,000 tons of carbon dioxide,
restore soil lost to erosion, and support regular rainfall essential
to Kenya’s farmers and hydro-electric power plants.

The Link Between Women and Climate Change

Climate change and environmental policies must be intrinsically linked with gender, as women are often the first to be affected by our changing environment.

The Women’s Environment and Development Organization’s (WEDO) 2007 report on Changing the Climate: Why Women’s Perspectives Matter stated that women are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

According to WEDO, women’s historic disadvantages – their restricted access to resources and information and their limited power in decision-making – make them most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Effects of Climate Change on Women

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) 2001 State of World Population Report found that deforestation or contamination increased the time women spent looking for fuel wood or safe, clean water and also women’s risk of water-borne disease.

In Gender and Environment (2000), author Susan Buckingham-Hatfield found that women in the state of Gujarat, India now spend four or five hours each day collecting fuel wood, where previously they would have done this only every four to five days.

According to the Human Development Report, global warming changes affecting weather patterns in the Horn of Africa would mean that crops fail and people go hungry, or that women and young girls must spend more hours collecting water.

The Human Development Report also established that long-term damage generated through climate shocks could have devastating impacts, especially on poor and rural communities. Poor and vulnerable households and communities are the first exposed to climate shocks and increased pressure on coping strategies could steadily erode human capabilities.

Women and Environmental Decision-Making

Studies showed that while women are responsible for managing household resources, they typically don’t have a say in the use and management of environmental resources integral to their households and communities.
Governments and other stakeholders should ensure gender equality is at the forefront of climate change initiatives, according to the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO).

The UNFPA 2001 State of the World Population Report also stated that sustainable development demands recognition and value for the multitude of ways in which women’s live intertwine with environmental realities.
Fighting Climate Change and Involving Women

The Human Development Report made the following recommendations:

• Develop a multilateral framework for avoiding dangerous climate change under the post-2012 Kyoto Protocol.

• Put in place policies for sustainable carbon budgeting – the agenda for mitigation.

• Strengthen the framework for international cooperation.

• Put climate change adaptation at the centre of post-2012 Kyoto framework and international partnerships for poverty reduction.
While these recommendations are important for fighting climate change, a gender dimension to these policies should be considered. WEDO recommended that governments ensure that women have access to participate in decisions related to climate change and that gender equality is incorporated in climate change initiatives.


There's more...
In our yahoogroups I have uploaded more researches , I hope you could browse through them particularly the Manifesto.