Abstract. Given that women are engaged in more climaterelated change activities than what is recognized and valued in the community, this article highlights their important role in the adaptation and search for safer communities, which leads them to understand better the causes and consequences of changes in climatic conditions. It is concluded that women have important knowledge and skills for orienting the adaptation processes, a product of their roles in society (productive, reproductive and community); and the importance of gender equity in these processes is recognized. The relationship among climate change, climate variability and the accomplishment of the Millennium Development Goals is considered. 

M. García-vargas

M. Quintero-angel

Y. Carvajal-escobar

International audienceGiven that women are engaged in more climate-related change activities than what is recognized and valued in the community, this article highlights their important role in the adaptation and search for safer communities, which leads them to understand better the causes and consequences of changes in climatic conditions. It is concluded that women have important knowledge and skills for orienting the adaptation processes, a product of their roles in society (productive, reproductive and community); and the importance of gender equity in these processes is recognized. The relationship among climate change, climate variability and the accomplishment of the Millennium Development Goals is considered

Carvajal-Escobar, Y.

Quintero-Angel, M.

García-Vargas, M.

HAL-INSU

Women’s role in adapting to climate change andvariabilityY. Carvajal-Escobar, M. Quintero-Angel, M. Garc´ıa-VargasTo cite this version:Y. Carvajal-Escobar, M. Quintero-Angel, M. Garc´ıa-Vargas. Women’s role in adapting toclimate change and variability. Advances in Geosciences, European Geosciences Union, 2008,14, pp.277-280. <hal-00297112>HAL Id: hal-00297112https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00297112Submitted on 10 Apr 2008HAL is a multi-disciplinary open accessarchive for the deposit and dissemination of sci-entific research documents, whether they are pub-lished or not. The documents may come fromteaching and research institutions in France orabroad, or from public or private research centers.L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, estdestine´e au de´poˆt et a` la diffusion de documentsscientifiques de niveau recherche, publie´s ou non,e´manant des e´tablissements d’enseignement et derecherche franc¸ais ou e´trangers, des laboratoirespublics ou prive´s.Adv. Geosci., 14, 277–280, 2008www.adv-geosci.net/14/277/2008/© Author(s) 2008. This work is licensedunder a Creative Commons License.Advances inGeosciencesWomen’s role in adapting to climate change and variabilityY. Carvajal-Escobar1, M. Quintero-Angel1, and M. Garcı´a-Vargas21School of Natural Resources and Environmental Engineering, EIDENAR, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia2Institute of Research and Development in Water Supply, Environmental Health and Conservation of Water Resources,CINARA, Universidad del Valle, Cali, ColombiaReceived: 14 June 2007 – Revised: 12 January 2008 – Accepted: 15 February 2008 – Published: 10 April 2008Abstract. Given that women are engaged in more climate-related change activities than what is recognized and valuedin the community, this article highlights their important rolein the adaptation and search for safer communities, whichleads them to understand better the causes and consequencesof changes in climatic conditions. It is concluded that womenhave important knowledge and skills for orienting the adapta-tion processes, a product of their roles in society (productive,reproductive and community); and the importance of gen-der equity in these processes is recognized. The relationshipamong climate change, climate variability and the accom-plishment of the Millennium Development Goals is consid-ered.1 IntroductionClimate change (CC) is a reality recognized as the greatestchallenge for societies in the XXI century (Vincent, 2007).Although in recent years important advances have been madein reducing the losses in the face of the associated hazards,their impact continues being considerable (Thomalla et al.,2006), almost 90% of deaths in disasters today have a hydrometeorological origin (UNDP, 2004). Although adaptation isperceived as being very important to protect societies againstthe effects of climate variability (CV) and CC, the statisticsreveal a disproportionate impact in developing countries andon less-favored populations (Burton et al., 2006).Although the hazards associated with CC and CV im-pact societies all over the world, it is important to recog-nize that they have a different effect on men and women,ethnic groups, social classes, age groups, etc. Despite the im-portance of recognizing gender-related differences, both theUnited Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeCorrespondence to: Y. Carvajal-Escobar(yecarvaj@univalle.edu.co)and the Kyoto Protocol fail on referring the issue (Pandey,2005). However, women are more strongly affected by theeffects of CC and CV (Lambrou and Piana, 2005); but thestructures and the patriarchal ideology on which the devel-opment projects have been based have led to women’s invis-ibility.In the literature on gender and disasters, a call for adopt-ing greater gender awareness is perceived in disaster preven-tion and attention, recognizing important advances in the un-derstanding of the dimensions of gender. It is also statedthat women are more vulnerable in disasters; that they haveunique capacities as community leaders or managers of nat-ural resources and that they are underutilized in strategies formanaging emergencies (Cupples, 2007). Nonetheless, in thescientific literature on CC, it is beginning to be suggested thatwomen generally understand better the causes and local con-sequences of changes in the climatic conditions (Ro¨hr, 2007)and have the knowledge and skills for orienting the adapta-tion process (O’Connor et al., 1998).This descriptive research based in literature review and acritical analysis of authors, describes the impacts of CC andCV on one of the most vulnerable groups – women – andanalyzes both, their role on adaptation and their contributionto risk reduction, calling for equity in these processes.2 Impact of climate change and variability on vulnera-ble women in developing countriesThe impacts associated to CC and CV vary from one coun-try to another, from one region to another, and within thesame community as product of the magnitude and frequencyof hazards and of the existing vulnerability, which can havevarying degrees within societies. Generally the poorest pop-ulations and marginal groups are impacted the most; never-theless, there can be a differential effect on men and womenas a consequence of their social roles, inequalities in thePublished by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union.278 Y. Carvajal-Escobar et al.: Women’s role in adapting to climate change and variabilityaccess to and control of resources, and their low participa-tion in decision-making. In many parts of the world, womenconstitute the population most vulnerable to CC and CV, dueto certain inequitable conditions and situations (vulnerabil-ity factors) that place them at risk (Enarson, 2000; Lambrouand Piana, 2005; Ro¨hr, 2007). Empirical evidence shows thatthey suffer a greater impact in a disaster or emergency; andeconomic losses have a disproportionate effect on econom-ically vulnerable women (Enarson, 2000). Changes in theworkload suggest that disasters increase women’s responsi-bilities in the domestic scene, in many paid and unpaid work-places in the formal and informal sectors and in the com-munity during the stages of preparation and mitigation (pre-disaster), as well as in the reconstruction stage (post-disaster)(Lambrou and Piana, 2005). In the post-disaster stage theremay also be high levels of violence against women (Enarson,2000); Men frequently emigrate in search for work, leaving agross part of the processes of response and reconstruction inthe women’s hands (Rivero, 2004). Nonetheless, their workin disasters and in the adaptation processes to CC and CV isstill highly invisible.3 Recognition of women’s role towards adaptationDue to the dynamics and diversity of the risk associated withCC and CV, it is recognized that only with local participationand management is it possible to have awareness, knowledgeand incentives for risk reduction and control (Lavell et al.,2004). At this level, vulnerable women have played an out-standing role. Multiple authors report that women have beencapable of mobilizing the community in the different phasesof the risk-management cycle (Guha-Sapir, 1997; Enarson,2001; Yonder et al., 2005), also in the adaptation context(see: Both ENDS, 2007). In the Latin American context,it is possible to highlight some experiences (Shrader and De-laney, 2000; GWA and WSP, 2005; UNDP, 2005) and otherless studied cases such as in Ginebra, a municipality in, Valledel Cauca – Colombia (Carvajal and Quintero-Angel, 2007).Generally, women seek solutions to the lack of drinkingwater, access to health and education, reducing factors ofvulnerability of their communities in the face of hydrome-teorological events associated with CV, CC and other poten-tial hazards, establishing networks with other women that in-crease their social capital. In their professional developmentor in their domestic activities, women are often in a better po-sition to note certain environmental hazards. They are awareof the patterns of sicknesses in the children in the neighbour-hood, and they can quickly detect changes in the water whenthey wash clothes or strange smells in the ground where theirchildren play (Harding, 1998). At local levels, are the womenwho have greater clarity about what diverse social groupslose in the short term after a cyclone or an earthquake, who inthe community are at risk and what is needed, and which na-tive trees should be protected (Enarson and Fordham, 2001).They develop a broad knowledge and experiences regardingtheir environment (Ariyabandu, 2004), which are being eval-uated constantly and changed when the environmental andsocial conditions of their surroundings vary – product of theresponsibilities that they assume within their families and intheir communities. This knowledge is proving to be evermore valuable in developing countries (Harding, 1998) andshould be taken into account in the adaptation of vulnerablecommunities to CC and CV.Even though it is true that in some spontaneous adapta-tions, there is limited knowledge of potential hazards or al-ternative adaptation strategies, in other cases adaptation islimited by other priorities like, scarcity of resources, and eco-nomic or institutional barriers (Bryant et al., 2000). More-over, in many cases women’s knowledge and skills are nottaken into account in the planned processes, thereby affect-ing sustainability.4 Adaptation: a call for equityConsidering that the lack of equity with respect to gender re-lations has limited the contribution of women to better man-age hydrometeorological hazards in constructing processesof adaptation to CC and CV, it is necessary to recognize theproductive, reproductive and community roles that men andwomen play in the society; the practical and strategic gender-related needs (which include the material needs from menand women to satisfy the basic needs of life – water, shelter,food, income and health care, and their relative status andpower structures within the community, respectively. Strate-gic needs may include gaining legal rights, closing wagegaps, protection against domestic violence, among others,and its satisfaction requires structural and attitudinal changesin the community); the goods to which women and men haveaccess; and the management of power and decision-makingat all levels.The multiple family, community and productive functionsthat women perform in society are sources of knowledge andabilities to take action in the processes of adaptation andrisk reduction. At the same time, however, this can alsomake them more vulnerable if there is no equity betweenmen and women with respect to the responsibilities that theyshould assume in those processes. Adaptation strategies ledby women can benefit the household or the community, butcan have a negative effect on them, becoming an obsta-cle for accomplishing the Millennium Development Goals(MDG), which recognize that the lack of equity between menand women has a negative effect on countries’ development(UN/ISDR, 2003). Strategies of adaptation where women areoverburdened with work in the domestic, labor and commu-nity circles are an example.The foregoing demonstrates that, as in the case of naturaldisasters, the adaptation to CC and CV is closely related tothe processes of human development. On the one hand, theAdv. Geosci., 14, 277–280, 2008 www.adv-geosci.net/14/277/2008/Y. Carvajal-Escobar et al.: Women’s role in adapting to climate change and variability 279materialization of the risk associated with CC and CV endan-gers development; while on the other hand, the development-related decisions at all levels can generate new risks (UNDP,2004). However, the inclusion of adaptation and risk man-agement (RM) in the processes of planning for developmentcan reduce existing risk factors and avoid social constructionof new ones in societies.Bearing in mind that CC introduces new dimensions to thesocial construction of risk, it is important to approach it witha holistic vision; taking advantage of and linking the adap-tation to CC and CV, as well as to RM given that these areclosely related processes that will make it possible to reducethe vulnerability and benefit from past experiences to facethe new challenges that the accelerated change in the climateand world globalization create for the future.5 ConclusionsCC and the increased potential risk of disasters are closely re-lated; both are development issues that constrain the sustain-ability and the resilience of societies. CC, CV, and extremeenvironmental events leading to natural disasters clearly bearon development and have profound implications for accom-plishing the MDG. Only to the extent to which it is under-stood that CC, CV, natural disasters, management of waterand development are interconnected, will it be possible tostructure more effective strategies to confront the problem.As a product of their social roles, women perform a funda-mental role in their communities in reducing the risk of disas-ter and searching for strategies of adaptation. Faced with themanifestations of CV and CC, their knowledge and experi-ence should be taken into account when planning adaptationprocesses for vulnerable communities. However, it is impor-tant to consider that in these processes men also interveneand could play decisive roles. Therefore, it is necessary topromote strategies for adaptation through inclusive and con-sultative processes that give participation to both men andwomen exposed to risks, taking into account the needs andexpectations of both, and addressing a perspective of genderequity. In this sense, adaptation processes are an opportunityfor questioning and changing traditional gender relations insociety.Given the limited data currently available on gender andCC and the invisibility that women’s work still has in riskreduction and in the processes of adaptation, it is necessaryto promote for more and better documentation of experiences(best or lost practices) in this field.Acknowledgements. The authors are grateful to the Inter AmericanInstitute for Global Change Research (IAI) and the NationalScience Foundation (NSF) for financing this work, within theframework of the project “Useful Practices for Adaptation in Hy-drometeorological Events Associated with Change and CV in LatinAmerica and the Caribbean” and to the Research Group in WaterResources Engineering and Development of Soils (IREHISA), atUniversidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia.Edited by: P. LagosReviewed by: E. Enerson and P. AldunceReferencesAriyabandu, M.: Women, the risk managers in natural disasters, in:Gender Equality & Disasters Risk Reduction Workshop, avail-able at: http://www.ssri.hawaii.edu/research/GDWwebsite/pdf/Ariyabandu.pdf, 8 pp., 2004.Both ENDS.: Adapting to climate change: How local experiencescan shape the debate, Briefing Paper, available at: http://www.bothends.org/, 17 pp., 2007.Bryant, C. R., Smith, B., Brklacich, M., Johnston, T. R., Smithers,J., Chiotti, Q., and Singh, B.: Adaptation in Canadian agricultureto climatic variability and change, Clim. Change, 45, 181–201,2000.Burton, I., Diringer, E., and Smith, J.: Adaptation to climaticchange, international policy options, The Pew Center on GlobalClimate Change, Arlington, USA, available at: http://www.pewclimate.org/docUploads/PEW Adaptation.pdf, 36 pp., 2006.Carvajal, Y. and Quintero-Angel, M. Que viva la montan˜a, Casode Estudio Ginebra (Colombia), available at: http://climadapta.univalle.edu.co/casos.htm, 6 pp., 2007.Cupples, J.: Gender and Hurricane Mitch: Reconstructing subjec-tivities after disaster, Disasters, 31, 155–175, 2007.Enarson, E.: Gender issues in natural disasters, Talking points andresearch needs, in: Focus Programme on Crisis Response andReconstruction Workshop, 48, ILO, Geneva, 30 pp., 2000.Enarson, E.: What women do; gendered labor in the Red RiverValley flood, Environ. Hazards, 3, 1–18, 2001.Enarson, E. and Fordham, M.: From women’s needs to women’srights in disasters, Global Environ. Change B, Environ. Hazards,3, 133–136, 2001.Guha-Sapir, D.: Women in the front line: Women in developingcountries should be key players in disaster preparedness and re-lief, UNESCO Courier, Paris, 27–29, 1997.GWA and WSP: Construyendo una visio´n para la accio´n: Avancesy desafı´os de la transversalizacio´n del enfoque de ge´nero en lagestio´n integrada de recursos hı´dricos en Ame´rica Latina, avail-able at: http://www.agualatina.net/pdf-LAC/Water Sanitationand Hygiene/Water and Sanitation/genero GWA.pdf, 54 pp.,2005.Harding, S.: Women, science, and society, Science, 281, 1599–1600, 1998.Lambrou, Y. and Piana, G.: Gender: the missing component in theresponse to climate change, Food and Agriculture Organizationof the United Nations, Rome, available at: http://www.fao.org/sd/dim pe1/docs/pe1 051001d1b.pdf, 46 pp., 2005.Lavell, A., Mansilla, E., and Smith, D.: La gestio´n local del riesgo:Concepto y pra´ctica, UNDP-CEPREDENAC, Managua, 2004.www.adv-geosci.net/14/277/2008/ Adv. Geosci., 14, 277–280, 2008280 Y. Carvajal-Escobar et al.: Women’s role in adapting to climate change and variabilityO’Connor, R. E., Bord, R. J., and Fisher A.: The curious impact ofknowledge about climatic change on risk perceptions and will-ingness to sacrifice, Risk Decision and Policy, 3, 145–155, 1998.Pandey, N.: Societal adaptation to abrupt climatic change and mon-soon variability: Implications for sustainable livelihoods of ru-ral communities, Report, Winrock International – India, NewDelhi, available at: http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/archive/00001606/01/NPSocietal Adaptation.pdf, 228 pp., 2005.Rivero, R.: Ge´nero y desastres, in: El feno´meno El Nin˜o en Peru´ yBolivia. Experiencias de participacio´n local, Memoria EncuentroBinacional Experiencias de Prevencio´n de Desastres y Manejode Emergencias ante el Feno´meno El Nin˜o, Lima, Peru, 60–70,2004.Ro¨hr, U.: Gender, climate change and adaptation. Introduction tothe gender dimensions, available at: http://www.bothends.org/service/casestudy genanet.pdf, 11 pp., 2007.Shrader, E. and Delaney, P.: Gender and post-disaster reconstruc-tion: The case of Hurricane Mitch in Honduras and Nicaragua,The World Bank Report, 2000.Thomalla, F., Downing, T., Spanger-Siegfried, E., Han, G., andRockstro¨m1, J.: Reducing hazard vulnerability towards a com-mon approach between disaster risk reduction and climate adap-tation, Disasters, 30, 39–48, 2006.UN/ISDR: Women, disaster reduction and sustainable development,WMO Bulletin, 52(2), 150–155, 2003.UNDP: Reducing disaster risk, a challenge for development, aglobal report, United Nations Development Programme, NewYork, 2004.UNDP: Guardianas de la ladera, una estrategia preventiva y degeneracio´n de ingresos a grupos vulnerables desde la Alcaldı´ade Manizales, Gestio´n local del riesgo y preparativos de desas-tres en la regio´n andina, sistematizacio´n de buenas pra´cticas ylecciones aprendidas. United Nations Development Programme,Quito, 2005.Vincent, K.: Uncertainty in adaptive capacity and the importance ofscale, Global Environ. Change, 17, 12–24, 2007.Yonder, A., Akcar, S., and Gopalan, P.: Women’s participation indisaster relief and recovery, Seeds 22, Population Council, NewYork, 2005.Adv. Geosci., 14, 277–280, 2008 www.adv-geosci.net/14/277/2008/

Women's role in adapting to climate change and variability

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00297112

Women’s Role in Adapting to Climate Change and Variability

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

HAL-INSU