by Ulrike Röhr, genanet

It is an indisputable fact that climate change will lead to more and more conflicts caused either by growing competition for access to and distribution of resources, such as water and arable land, or by the rising number of natural disasters. But in addition to these impacts, some of the instruments for climate change mitigation may themselves create conflicts. Emissions certificates tend to marginalize those who have no access to the market and are therefore unable to influence decisions on how emissions should be reduced or how they can be compensated through other mechanisms. This creates new, exclusionary forms of usage and ownership rights for a global public good, namely air. Large CDM projects in the South can have negative social as well as environmental impacts since every country is free to define the project criteria for sustainability. The affected communities are rarely consulted. Social and environmental criteria seldom receive the highest priority during project development, which is evident from the fact that out of 650 registered CDM projects only a handful are certified according to the more stringent requirements of the Gold Standard. The substitution of oil with biofuels impacts biodiversity, ignores the customary rights of indigenous peoples and can result in a conflict of interest between agricultural production for food and for mobility. And these are just a few examples. Each of these activities has an impact on local communities and consequently influences men and women differently given their gender-specific roles and the socio-cultural environment. If these aspects are not factored in during the planning stage the resulting impacts can be negative. A key question therefore is who takes decisions regarding such activities and on what experiences are these decisions based? In other words, are men and women equally involved in developing measures for climate protection and climate change and are their interests and living conditions taken into account?

Women are affected differently by conflicts than men. They are the ones who bear the responsibility for the survival of the family during and after conflicts. Their workload increases in crisis situations while their income opportunities simultaneously decrease. Family responsibilities tie women to a particular geographical region and limit their opportunities to migrate. Across the world, women make up a majority of the poor and are consequently least able to adapt to changing conditions or rebuild their livelihoods after destruction. Above all, they are the ones most vulnerable to sexual abuse and sexual violence during wars and natural disasters.

Such gender-specific impacts are generally perceived to occur mostly in the poorest countries of the South, where they are indeed far more dramatic and visible than in the industrialized countries of the North. However, as the after-effects of hurricane Katrina in New Orleans showed, women in industrialized nations face situations similar to the ones we have seen in developing countries.

The aftermath of natural disasters and conflicts reveals not just the specific requirements and risks as well as the knowledge and experience of individuals in their social roles – all of which are prerequisites for effective crisis management. They can, in fact, trigger a shift in gender equations with women taking on non-traditional roles. This however requires awareness of gender roles and active support for women from donor organizations.
UN Resolution 1325 on peace-building calls for greater women's participation in such processes. Although implementation still leaves much to be desired, a resolution ensuring the participation of women in all processes for preventing climate change, adapting to changing environments and dealing with increased natural disasters will go a long way towards an effective and socially just climate policy and the prevention of related conflicts.

Ulrike Röhr is a member of genanet and works on gender, environment and sustainability with a special focus on energy and climate protection.

For more information on the gender aspects of climate protection see     
www.genanet.de/klimaschutz.html and www.genanet.de/unfccc.html

Further information on CDM projects in developing countries is available at www.carbontradewatch.org/

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, Special Issue "Gender, Environment, Conflict"