Research Proposal On Gender, Climate Change and Community based Social Adaptation
Climate change is a new challenge of this time. Scientific evidence shows that even if greenhouse gas emissions are cut to zero – a hypothetical situation which is far from the up to 40% cuts that are so controversial within the negotiations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – the world would still be on an inexorable course toward global climate change from the legacy of past emissions. The harmful effects of climate change will most acutely affect developing countries. Community-based adaptation is one such approach, as its culturally appropriate strategies and mechanisms promote adaptation and thus contribute to sustainable human development at the grassroots level.
At the same time, risks associated with climate change threaten to reinforce gender inequalities and even erode progress that has been made towards gender equality in many developing countries. Poor women’s limited access to resources, restricted rights, limited mobility and voice in community and household decision-making can make them much more vulnerable than men to the effects of climate change. Women are vulnerable not because of natural weakness (i.e., because of their sex), but rather because of the socially and culturally constructed roles ascribed to them as women (i.e., because of their gender). Given the severity of gender inequality, particularly in the developing world, climate change is likely only to magnify existing patterns of gender disadvantage. Several factors will exacerbate this: Limited access to resources, Dependence on natural resources and sexual division of labor, Lack of education and access to information, Limited mobility, and Limited roles in decision-making.
In general, around the world, women are poorer than men. Women are disproportionately employed in unpaid, underpaid and non-formal sectors of economics. Inheritance laws and traditions, marriage arrangements, banking systems and social patterns that reinforce women’s dependence on fathers, husbands, and sons, all contribute both of their unfavorable access to resources and their lack of power to change things. Gender-based inequalities interact with social class, race and ethnicity, and age, which put some women and girls especially at high risk. But gender specific risks and vulnerabilities differ from community to community because of community based disaster management.
Objectives of the Study
- To explore the risks of climate change on women
- To identify the gendered impacts of climate change on women
- To assess the capacities and vulnerabilities of the affected women
- To identify the gendered role in climate change adaptation
- To study the community based adaptation of climate change.