Climate Change Impacts Women Disproportionately — and They Know It

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Every Monday, in Climate on the Ballot, we pass along a topic to help you integrate climate into your newsroom’s campaign reporting. Share this newsletter with your colleagues on the politics beat. Vea la versión en espa?ol de “El clima en la boleta.”

This Week: Women & Climate

Throughout his presidency, President Joe Biden has called the climate crisis the “existential threat of our time.” In this election, limited polling, data, and analysis on how climate change is affecting the electoral decisions of different subsets of voters makes gender a ripe area of exploration for journalists.

We know that women are disproportionately vulnerable to climate impacts in myriad ways. A growing body of research highlights the adverse effects of climate change on the reproductive health of women over the course of their lives. Women of color, who are more likely to live in low-income areas that face increased risks of climate-related disasters , are more vulnerable than white women. Younger women will face more climate impacts in their futures, due to their age and the fact that climate change is accelerating. It’s not surprising that young women like Greta Thunberg, the Sunrise Movement’s Varshini Prakash and Aru Shiney-Ajay , Xiye Bastida , Quannah ChasingHorse , Wawa Gatheru , and Leah Thomas are passionate leaders in the fight against climate change.

We also know that registered women voters are more “worried” (70%) than male voters (58%) about climate change, according to Yale Program on Climate Change Communication polling . Out of all Americans, the same poll finds that Gen Z and Millennial women of color are the most climate concerned.

So, how could this bear on electoral politics? After people under 30 largely backed Biden in 2020, a recent Wall Street Journal poll reveals a new gender divide: A majority of men under 30 support former president Donald Trump and a Republican Congress, while an overwhelming number of young women support Democrats. One of the reasons? “Young women see more urgency to address climate change.”

Reporting Ideas

• Report on how climate change disproportionately affects women. “For the first time, a national climate assessment has included a section dedicated to women’s health,” reports The 19th . Dig into the report, and talk with experts about all the ways in which climate change is a threat multiplier worsening gender inequality.
• Talk to mothers working on climate solutions in your region. Groups like Moms Clean Air Force , which boasts 1.5 million mom (and dad) members, and regional groups like Mothers Out Front and Mountain Mamas are focused on creating a healthy, safe, and livable planet for future generations. Interview them about how climate will factor into their voting decisions this November.
• Talk to young women about how climate change figures into their plans for the future. Gen Z and Millennials (60%) are more likely to be either “Alarmed” or “Concerned” about global warming than any other generation, according to Yale’s Six Americas survey . Will the stark difference on climate policy between the two parties affect how these generations vote in November?
• Explore how the CHIPS and Science Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act are working to place more women in clean jobs. “Women comprise just 31% of workers in green energy,” reported The Guardian in December 2023. Federal programs like the American Climate Corps program , Million Women in Construction Initiative , and the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations program aim to boost that number. Groups like New York City’s Nontraditional Employment for Women are helping women enter skilled blue-collar careers. Are there similar groups in your region?

Take Inspiration

• In the first Republican presidential debate of the 2024 cycle, Nikki Haley — the only woman on the stage — was also the only candidate who acknowledged that climate change is real. That mattered to Republican and Independent women , wrote Amanda Becker and Jessica Kutz for The 19th News.
• Bloomberg News ’s Sharon Chen talks with Black Girl Environmentalist ’s Wawa Gatheru about the gendered inequities of climate change.
• “Race is a key factor in climate-driven reproductive anxiety and is shaping some young people’s plans to have fewer children,” author Jade Sasser tells The New Republic ’s Anna Sussman the new republic in this piece about how climate change is already “transforming the family .”
• “The American Climate Corps program aims to recruit a diverse workforce. But it will face challenges including low pay, the need for child care, and historic discrimination against women in the trades,” writes The 19th News’s Jessica Kutz .

Spotlight Piece

“Donald Trump is vowing to dismantle the heart of Joe Biden’s governing legacy — the effort to spend more than $1 trillion on a pro-climate reshaping of the American economy,” write Kelsey Tamborrino , Timothy Cama , and Jessie Blaeser at POLITICO . The piece explains what Trump could do quickly and what might require legal and legislative maneuvering.

Check Out Locally Sourced!

CCNow’s biweekly newsletter, Locally Sourced, helps journalists localize the global issue of climate change in ways that resonate with local audiences. The first issues focus on urban forests and local sports . Sign up.

Climate on the Ballot Summit

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