Opinion: Addressing the toll of climate change on women’s health

In 2022, altered weather and rain patterns pushed Kenya into its worst drought in 40 years. Crop and livestock losses greatly restricted income and food access for rural communities, with women hit the hardest through exposure to malnutrition, dehydration, and extreme heat as they searched for resources such as safe drinking water. The crisis was exacerbated by the mass migration of thousands of East Africans, increasing the risk of resource-based conflicts and disease. This led to an alarming rise in gender-based violence, female genital mutilation, and child marriage.

Climate change is not gender neutral

Research from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and others has highlighted that women and girls face greater health risks from climate change and its devastating consequences.

The intricate linkages between climate change and human health follow various impact pathways, affecting physical health directly through extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heatwaves, or indirectly through exposure to altered natural environments, for example, air pollution or vector-borne diseases. However, to understand the increased risks for women and girls, we must look more closely at their unique contexts and barriers. Limited access to health care, education, and resources exacerbates their vulnerability to health risks during and after climate-related disasters. Climate change amplifies gender inequalities, inhibiting women’s resilience and intensifying social and economic marginalization.

Women face significant challenges in accessing maternal and reproductive health care services during and after climate-related disasters — such as floods or earthquakes — due to displacement, limited access to health care facilities, and interruptions in medical supply chains. The U.N. estimates that women and girls account for 80% of the people displaced by climate change, leading to severe implications for those requiring maternal health services. During the 2022 floods in Pakistan, 650,000 pregnant women in affected areas lacked maternal health services, with 1 in 5 needing urgent care and approximately 2,000 mothers giving birth in unsafe conditions daily. Health care supply chain disruptions can also limit access to sexual and reproductive health services, leading to unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, increase in sexually transmitted infections, and long-term consequences such as infertility.

Additionally, women are unequally affected by compromised access to clean water and sanitation facilities after disasters. Lack of access to sanitation, hygiene, and clean water is among the top five causes of women's deaths worldwide, associated with increased risks of urinary tract and other bacterial infections, diarrheal diseases, and menstrual hygiene challenges. Access to prompt and safe interventions to address such infections is often lacking, and the misuse of antibiotics enhances the risk of antimicrobial resistance in women, furthering the global threat.

Lastly, women and girls face amplified physical and mental stress as primary caregivers during adverse events. Increased household and resource-gathering responsibilities expose them to additional health risks such as vector-borne diseases, dehydration, heat strokes or indoor air pollution. A greater push into these roles can also limit their education and workforce opportunities, and raise the likelihood of child marriage and gender-based violence.

While conversations around climate and health are gaining momentum, it is notable that Sustainable Development Goal 13, which aims to tackle climate change and its impacts, currently lacks the inclusion of health- or gender-related indicators. To help ensure women are well-protected against climate change and disruptions to care, a multipronged approach is needed — prioritizing disaggregated data, mobilizing localized solutions, and advocating for the unique rights of women and girls.

Prioritizing disaggregated data

There is a growing recognition of the need to incorporate gender-disaggregated statistics into national programs to tackle gender-based health disparities, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. However, there remains a dearth of high-quality data for developing effective programs at the nexus of gender, health and climate change. Mainstreaming gender-disaggregated data would require a concerted effort across stakeholders to prioritize gender equality in data collection, analysis, and policymaking. For instance, in March 2020, the Global Health 50/50 initiative launched the COVID-19 Gender-Disaggregated Data Tracker, collecting and analyzing gender-disaggregated data on case and death rates. This open-access evidence base empowers policymakers, researchers and advocates to enable more equitable, gender-responsive pandemic recoveries.

Mobilizing localized solutions

The nature and severity of women’s health impacts from climate change are unique to their local contexts. Even within the same country, women and girls face different challenges based on varying access to food systems, housing, infrastructure, income and education opportunities, and community support. Such challenges require targeted adaptation-based solutions. However, national adaptation plans and policies often omit women as an explicit priority. A generalized approach to climate change adaptation might not be feasible, and it will be important to enable resilience and adaptation toward women’s health solving for their local needs and contexts. For instance, the Community Resilience Partnership Program of the Asian Development Bank aims to invest in and scale up climate adaptation measures, especially at the community level, addressing the nexus between climate and women’s health.

Advocating for the unique rights of women and girls

Women are often excluded from decision-making related to climate change response, leaving them more vulnerable to its impacts. Despite the increasing recognition of climate change and its health impacts, the unique challenges faced by women and girls still need to be elevated and addressed. Women’s perspectives — bolstered by data and evidence — need to be incorporated into policymaking, financing, health systems strengthening, and disaster relief and response. For example, the Women's Environment and Development Organization amplifies women’s voices in climate change policymaking and advocates for gender-responsive climate action.

Research shows that countries where women enjoy higher social and political status generally exhibit lower emissions and climate footprints. Women have a pivotal role to play in both climate change mitigation and adaptation. It is imperative that we recognize the ongoing marginalization and discrimination women and girls face, which exacerbate their vulnerability to the health impacts of climate change. We must prioritize gender-disaggregated, data-based solutions, emphasize localized resilience, and elevate the voices and perspectives of women and girls. These measures are crucial for achieving gender equality at the intersection of climate and health, and for building a sustainable and resilient future for generations to come.