Gender Responsive Climate Change Strategies for Sustainable Development

Attention to gender and changing climate has increased progressively over the last decade. Much of the recent literature is focusing on the nature of women's work, which is being used to justify placing women at the centre of climate change policy. However, in difference with the representation of the woman in earlier literature, policies typically portray her as vulnerable, weak, poor and socially isolated. Debatably, this is a reflection of the politics of gender slightly than the reality of the men and women who often experience and deal with changes of various kinds. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) acknowledges that climatic risk affects men and women differently on a number of levels, including politically, communally, economically and in terms of exposure to risk and risk perception. However, there is a deficiency in research on gender differences in vulnerability to and impacts of climate change, especially health-related impacts. Equity and social justice can be achieved by recognizing the differences in vulnerability and strengths of women and men and the diverse factors that contribute to vulnerability. Identifying these differences is an essential and important component of any forthcoming attempts to address the gender issues in a changing climate.