Worldwide, the average of women’s human development is behind men’s by 5.7% as a whole, based on: the ability to lead a long and healthy life, measured by life expectancy at birth; the ability to acquire knowledge, measured by mean years of schooling and expected years of schooling; and the ability to achieve a decent standard of living, measured by gross national income per capita. Gender inequalities shape people’s vulnerabilities to climate change. Women have less access to the development services and support – such as adequate healthcare, education and modern technology – that make people more resilient to climate change and other shocks and stressors. Women’s unequal access to resources, their disproportionate responsibility for care of dependents (typically unpaid), and the insecurity and precariousness of their paid labour all contribute to the feminisation of poverty and women’s heightened vulnerability to climate hazards. Climate change is a multiplier of existing vulnerabilities and threatens to reverse hard-earned development gains for all people, and particularly for women.
