Around the world, women are pulling above their weight to
sustain communities despite barriers in access to nearly everything: education,
information, paid work, credit, lands, freedom of movement, and resources such
as adequate seeds and tools. And while women often stand at the forefront of
climate change impacts, they are often excluded from the economic and political
fora shaping the future of the planet’s development.
Preserving
biodiversity and genetic plant resources
In developing countries, rural women make up almost
half of the agricultural labor force and play a major role in caring for
the natural resources on which their households depend, including fisheries and
forests. Compared to men, they are more likely to prioritize a healthy diet for
their children, and they have better knowledge of how to use herbal remedies to
treat sick relatives.
Women provide nearly 80 percent of the total wild
vegetable food collected in 135 subsistence-based societies, which contributes
to dietary diversity as well as traditional medicine, upon which up to 80
percent of people in many developing countries rely. “Women often have a more
specialized knowledge of various local and neglected species,” notes a UNEP
report
Yet, women
often have crop yields that are 20 to 30 percent lower than those of men –
known as a “yield gap” – due to inequitable access to adequate agricultural
inputs, such as fertilizers and improved seeds. In addition, they rarely
receive benefits from large-scale commercialization of products, such as
medicines and cosmetics, that are based on native species and the associated
traditional knowledge. Overcoming these gaps could greatly contribute to global
food and income security.
Exploring and sustainably using marine ecosystems
Ocean-based economic sectors are valued at USD 3 to 6
trillion per year globally, and marine ecosystems also provide essential
services to humanity for free. They produce oxygen, protect coastal areas from
flooding and erosion, and generate as much as 50 percent of animal protein for
human consumption in numerous countries.
Women contribute to ocean-based livelihoods, conservation,
waste disposal and disaster-risk reduction, but their efforts have been
typically ignored, undermining their ability to inform and benefit from marine
and coastal management.
They make up half of the workforce processing, cleaning and
selling fish, but they are “largely concentrated in low-skilled, low-paid,
seasonal jobs without health, safety and labor right protections,” illustrates UN
Women. “They also earn approximately 64 percent of men’s wages for the
same work in aquaculture and face the risks of ocean degradation with fewer
resources on hand to build resilience.”
In regions such as Asia-Pacific, some coastal areas are
becoming feminized as men move to cities to look for jobs, and the women who
are left behind are increasingly exposed to climate change impacts such as
natural disasters.
Meanwhile, some of the foremost leaders in ocean exploration
have been women, such as Sylvia Earle, who pioneered the development of
deep-sea submersibles; Marie Tharp, who produced the first world ocean floor
map, disproving theories of an entirely flat seafloor; and Cindy Lee Van Dover,
who has been unraveling mysteries of the deep sea through nearly 50
expeditions.
Embracing sustainable
energy to fight climate change
Consuming less energy and adopting more sustainable energy
sources are essential to mitigating global warming, and research has shown
that women are more supportive of these strategies than men.
Hence, women can be instrumental in shaping better policies,
opening new markets as energy entrepreneurs, and transforming energy use at the
household level. In adopting cleaner sources of energy and more efficient ways
to use them, women can also help fight indoor air pollution.
In Bangladesh, for example, air pollution contributes
to 49,000 premature deaths every year, and four out of ten households
use mostly firewood to cook. Improved cookstoves, biogas from manure and solar
panels are some of the innovations women across the world are introducing into
their communities, transforming habits and perceptions for a greener,
healthier, future.
Managing natural
resources to build peace
The more women can access and manage natural resources such
as water, land, minerals and forests, the more chances a country has of
recovering from conflict and setting the foundations for long-lasting peace.
Such is the realization that is guiding international
efforts to unlock the peace-building potential of women in war-torn countries.
In peace-building contexts, women are usually responsible for providing
families with water, food and energy, but do not have a voice in policy-making
or as forces for economic recovery.
Sustainable resource use and equitable benefit distribution
are fundamental to peaceful, prosperous societies. Failing to capitalize on
women’s roles in natural resource management can perpetuate inequity and
undermine recovery from conflict, point out UN agencies working at
the intersection of women, peace and the environment.
Building true
consensus on sustainable development
Sustainably using the world’s natural resources calls for
broad consensus. Women make up more than half of the world’s population, and
they are often the main users and custodians of the resources their families
depend on to survive. Making their perspectives, aspirations and experiences
count matters.
Finally, there is optimism that we are headed in the right
direction. This optimism will only be justified if efforts are sustained in
countries where the most progress has been made and intensified in countries
that are lagging behind. The current #SDGs are crucial in getting countries to
achieve the current progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment
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