For Climate Action
Rachel Reinhard
Climate Change is Not Gender Neutral
Defining the Problem
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Climate change affects everyone, however, it is the world’s most disadvantaged that are impacted the most. And as climate change exponentially abounds, the severity of vulnerability will only increase. In the majority of the world these people are women—women who are the sole care takers and food producers for their families, those who don’t have the socio-economic privileges to maintain security over these resources in the future.
Our Voice
The voice of women around the world has been silenced for centuries. The effects of this have shaped the inequity and the global influence of women around the world. Recognition of woman’s abilities and the depth of their experience and knowledge often does not make its way to the political decision makers of our world. Studies such as the Overseas Development Institute’s: The Power to Decide have shown that only about 17% of global leaders are women. While this 2018 figure varies per country from Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, and Vanuatu at 0% to Rwanda at 61%, women remain as a silenced minority at the decision table.
Call to Action
Women provide boundless service to their families, communities, and economies that goes unrecognized and unpaid. It is time to recognize women that women have value. Time to give them a voice so they can share the depth and wealth of their knowledge. Time for equitable access to capital and education so that women can thrive and cultivate a life of well-being. It’s time to recognize that climate change is not gender neutral.
Hypothesis
(scroll down to view dynamic system model)
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The goal of this model is to better understand the dynamics around what keeps women vulnerable and how climate-related threats interact to exponentiate the challenges. It serves to reveal leverage points for action in policy, programming, and spatial design.
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As provided by the United Nations Development Program, the degree of vulnerability comes to three factors:
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1. Women’s Access to Capital and Assets
2. Women’s Access to Education and Climate Change Education (survival and sustenance)
3. Number of Women in Decision and Policy Making Positions
By targeting these three indicators the development will be more socially, ecologically, and economically equitable.
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But which indicators is most valued? Which has the most impact? This is what the systems dynamics model can reveal.
Proposing a Solution:
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Location: Uttar Pradesh, India
Programs:
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Securing women in leadership & decision making positions ($50M)
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Providing climate education to women ($25M)
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Securing women’s access to capital & assets ($25M)
60% to rural populations / 40% to urban populations
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The Green New Deal uses the findings of system dynamics model to propose a methodology for decreasing women’s vulnerability to climate change. The three leverage point variables that surfaced have been discussed in previous sections and are highlighted above.
These leverage points translate directly into budget priorities. In order to further determine hierarchy amongst the priorities, the system dynamics model was dissected for repeating variables amongst the various reinforcing loops. This repetition signals the variable with the greatest amount of leverage.
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For this model, women in leadership and decision making capacities surfaced as the most influential. In response, the budget proposes setting aside 50% of the funds to initiatives placing women in leadership positions and 25% for the remaining two. Through targeting the three variables, development will be more socially, ecologically, and economically equitable.
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Leadership Development Program - According to the systems dynamics model as well as the evaluation of costs, establishing more equal representation amongst leaders and decision makers is the largest leverage point. It appears in all reinforcement loops and begets equitable socioeconomic development perpetuating the loop.
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Education Program - Appearing in one of the reinforcing loops, an education program will in the long run ensure greater standards of living, a capacity to endure shocks and stresses, give women agency and decision-making capacities, and establish social capital within institutions.
