The consequences of the growing climate crisis are by no means gender-neutral. Women worldwide, especially in rural and low-income communities, experience the most severe impacts of climate-related disasters and have the fewest resources available to recover. At the same time, women are among the most significant but little-known contributors to climate resilience. Any successful climate strategy must acknowledge this dual reality.
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Climate change is no longer a distant threat. It is one of the most urgent and far-reaching challenges facing humanity today. Although its impacts are global, they are not equally distributed. The most disadvantaged populations are disproportionally affected by the climate issue, which is actually a threat multiplier that exacerbates already-existing social, economic, and political inequities. Women and girls are among those most affected, especially in underdeveloped nations.
The Gendered Impact of Climate Change
Globally, women make up 70% of the world’s 1.3 billion people living in poverty, according to UN Women. In rural areas of low-income countries, many rely directly on natural resources, such as water, wood and land, for their families’ sustenance and livelihoods. However, rising temperatures, droughts, floods and weather patterns increasingly destabilize these resources. As a result, women must walk further to fetch water, grow less food due to soil degradation, and are often the last to eat in times of food scarcity.
Structural inequalities deepen these impacts. Social norms, gender-based discrimination, and limited access to education, land ownership, financial credit, and healthcare often leave them less equipped to cope with environmental shocks. For example, in the aftermath of climate disasters, women frequently face greater difficulty accessing humanitarian aid, are more exposed to health risks, and experience higher mortality rates. These vulnerabilities are deeply rooted in gender-based discrimination and unequal access to resources, education, and decision-making power.
Climate Change and Food Security
Agrifood systems employ more than one-third of all working women worldwide, yet their prospects, income, and productivity are limited by ongoing gender disparities.
According to a recent report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), women farmers produce 24% less than males on farms of the same size because they bear a disproportionate amount of unpaid care work and have unequal access to land, credit, training, and technology. In addition to earning over 20% less than men, women in the agricultural sector are more likely to work in unsafe, informal, or subpar circumstances.
Reducing these gender disparities, FAO says, might help 45 million people experience less food poverty and increase global GDP by around $1 trillion. In regions like South Asia, where agrifood systems employ 71% of working women, empowering them through targeted interventions could significantly improve household incomes and resilience.
Addressing these disparities is not only a matter of fairness but also essential for achieving global food security and sustainable development.
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The Overlooked Dimension: Climate Migration
As climate disasters intensify, millions are forced to leave their homes. In these contexts, women and girls face heightened risks of violence, exploitation, and limited access to healthcare, yet climate migration policies rarely account for these gender-specific vulnerabilities. Displacement strips many women of access to land, networks, and social protections, deepening their economic and physical insecurity.
Climate Action Needs Women at the Center
Despite these challenges, women are not just passive victims of climate change but powerful agents of adaptation and resilience, having the necessary talents essential to community resilience in rural areas and extensive knowledge of the local ecosystems. They are uniquely positioned to lead adaptation efforts because of their positions as resource managers and carers. Indigenous women, in particular, are often at the forefront of environmental conservation, drawing on ancestral knowledge to safeguard biodiversity and promote sustainability.
Beyond the farm, women play a pivotal role in the sustainability transition. According to the UN, women drive 70-80% of consumer purchasing decisions, even in higher-income countries. They are more likely to adopt sustainable habits, such as buying eco-friendly products, reducing household waste, and supporting climate-conscious policies. At the policy level, countries with greater female representation in national parliaments are more likely to ratify international environmental agreements and adopt stronger climate action plans.
Yet, women remain underrepresented in climate negotiations and ecological governance. For example, only 33% of delegates at recent UN climate conferences were women, and even fewer held leadership roles.
The Solar Mamas Initiative
A powerful example of women driving climate resilience is the Solar Mamas program by Barefoot College in India. Since 2004, it has been training rural women, many of whom are illiterate or have never left their villages, to become solar engineers.
Throughout the course of six months, Women from across the Global South, including countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America learn to install, repair, and maintain solar lighting systems. Upon returning home, they bring clean energy to off-grid communities, reducing dependency on fossil fuels and improving the quality of life for thousands of families.
The Solar Mamas initiative is especially impactful because it combines climate adaptation, women’s empowerment, and technology access in one model. These women bring renewable energy to remote areas and shift gender norms by becoming respected technical experts in their communities. The initiative illustrates how investing in women’s skills and leadership can produce scalable, community-rooted climate solutions that would otherwise be overlooked.
Unfortunately, women-led climate solutions remain woefully underfunded. According to the UN Development Programme, just 3% of global climate finance is gender-responsive. This undermines equity and hampers the overall effectiveness of climate interventions.
Investing in women’s access to land, education, technology, clean energy, and leadership roles is not just a matter of justice but a climate strategy. Empowering women means finding more inclusive, adaptive, and community-rooted solutions.
Featured image: Karen Toro/Climate Visuals Countdown.
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