UPSC EDITORIAL ANALYSIS : The climate crisis is not gender neutral
Kartavya Desk Staff
Source: The Hindu
• Prelims: Current events of international importance, G20, UNDP, NFHS, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), PM 2.5, SHGs, UNFPA, SDG, ILO etc.
• Mains GS Paper II & III: Bilateral, regional and global grouping and agreements involving India or affecting India’s interests.
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
• According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), women and children are 14 times more likely than men to die in a disaster.
• The Supreme Court ruled that people have a right to be free from the adverse effects of climate change under Articles 14 (right to equality) and 21 (right to life).
INSIGHTS ON THE ISSUE
Context
Impact of climate change on women:
• Climate-driven crop yield reductions increase food insecurity, adversely impacting poor households that already suffer higher nutritional deficiencies.
• Within small and marginal landholding households, men face social stigma due to unpaid loans (leading to migration, emotional distress, and sometimes even suicide),
• Women experience higher domestic work burdens, worse health, and greater intimate partner violence.
• National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 4 and 5 data showed that women living in drought-prone districts were more underweight experienced more intimate partner violence higher prevalence of girl marriages.
• more underweight
• experienced more intimate partner violence
• higher prevalence of girl marriages.
• For women, the increasing food and nutritional insecurity, work burdens and income uncertainties lead to poor physical health It impacts their mental health and emotional well-being.
• It impacts their mental health and emotional well-being.
#### Gender-based violence
#### ● A report from the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) in 2021 found that 75% of Indian districts are vulnerable to hydromet disasters (floods, droughts and cyclones).
#### ○ NFHS 5 data showed that over half of women and children living in these districts were at risk.
#### ● Studies are increasingly showing a direct correlation between these natural disasters and gender-based violence against women.
#### ● Extreme weather events and subsequent changes in water cycle patterns severely impact access to safe drinking water
#### ○ which increases the drudgery and reduces time for productive work and health care of women and girls.
#### ● Prolonged heat is particularly dangerous for pregnant women (increasing the risk of preterm birth and eclampsia), young children, and the elderly.
#### ● Exposure to pollutants in the air (household and outdoor) affects women’s health, causing respiratory and cardiovascular disease, unborn child
#### ○ impairing its physical and cognitive growth.
#### ● Emerging data from cohort studies in India show that for every 10 micrograms per cubic meter increase in PM2.5
#### ○ the risk of lung cancer increases by 9%
#### ○ the risk of cardiovascular deaths on the same day by 3%
#### ○ stroke by 8%.
#### ○ For dementia, the risk increased by 4% for 2 micrograms increase in annual PM2.5.
Why does climate action need women?
• Climate action requires 100% of the population to achieve the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rise to 5° C.
• Empowering women: provided with the same access to resources as men, women increased their agricultural yields by 20% to 30%.
• Tribal and rural women, in particular, have been at the forefront of environmental conservation. Giving women and women collectives (Self-help Groups and Farmer Producer Organisations) the knowledge, tools and access to resources would encourage local solutions to emerge.
• Giving women and women collectives (Self-help Groups and Farmer Producer Organisations) the knowledge, tools and access to resources would encourage local solutions to emerge.
• Adaptation measures will necessarily be different in rural and urban areas as exposure to heat, air pollution and access to water and food will vary by context.
Best Practices for the effective involvement of women in climate change plans:
• Charlot Magayi is assisting Kenyan women in switching from filthy cook burners to clean ones. In addition to enhancing community health outcomes, this lowers greenhouse gas emissions.
• In addition to enhancing community health outcomes, this lowers greenhouse gas emissions.
• An African programme run by women called Solar Sister assists localities in creating small-scale solar systems so they can become energy independent. These grids also lower greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.
• These grids also lower greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.
• In laboratories and research departments all over Africa, female scientists are bridging gender gaps by contributing first-hand knowledge of local conditions and agriculture.
• Gender and Climate Change Development Programme(Programme in South Asia): which aims to increase women’s influence in policy making by providing them with a stronger voice.
• In India, the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) teaches women farmers how to respond to shifting climate patterns to support themselves better financially.
Way Forward
• Reduce the impact of prolonged heat on priority groups (outdoor workers, pregnant women, infants and young children and the elderly).
• Urban local bodies, municipal corporations and district authorities in all vulnerable districts need to have a plan and provide training and resources to key implementers.
• Heat wave warnings (based on local temperature plus humidity), change of timings for outdoor work and schools, cooling rooms in health facilities, public drinking water facilities, and immediate treatment of those with heat stroke will minimize deaths.
• Urban planning to improve tree cover, minimizing concrete, increasing green-blue spaces and designing housing that is better able to withstand heat are longer-term actions. The Mahila Housing Trust in Udaipur showed that painting the roofs of low-income houses with reflective white paint reduced indoor temperatures by 3° C to 4° C and improved quality of life.
• The Mahila Housing Trust in Udaipur showed that painting the roofs of low-income houses with reflective white paint reduced indoor temperatures by 3° C to 4° C and improved quality of life.
• Traditionally, India had one of the most advanced systems for rainwater harvesting and storage with a system of ponds and canals. Work by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in a few districts of Tamil Nadu showed that using geographic information systems panchayat could map key water sources, identify vulnerabilities and climate hazards and develop a local plan to improve water access by directing government schemes and resources.
• Work by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in a few districts of Tamil Nadu showed that using geographic information systems
• panchayat could map key water sources, identify vulnerabilities and climate hazards and develop a local plan to improve water access by directing government schemes and resources.
• Convergence of sectors and services and prioritization of actions can happen most effectively at the village or panchayat levels.
• Devolution of powers and finances and investing in building the capacity of panchayat and SHG members can be India’s way of demonstrating how to build resilience in a community-led and participatory way.
• A gender lens needs to be applied to all State-action plans on climate change.
• The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) highlight the impacts on women. A review of 28 SAPCCs showed a lack of transformative approaches, with only a few recognising women as agents of change.
• A review of 28 SAPCCs showed a lack of transformative approaches, with only a few recognising women as agents of change.
• Recommendations for the ongoing revision of SAPCCs lay stress on the need to move beyond stereotypes, recognise the vulnerabilities of all genders, and implement gender-transformative strategies To ensure a comprehensive and equitable approach to climate adaptation.
• To ensure a comprehensive and equitable approach to climate adaptation.
QUESTION FOR PRACTICE
What is an Integrated Farming System ? How is it helpful to small and marginal farmers in India?(UPSC 2022) (200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)
Editorial Analysis – 10 April 2024