Gender, climate and security: Sustaining inclusive peace on the frontlines of climate change

Climate change is now impacting every corner of the globe. In many regions, severe droughts and rising temperatures are leading to food insecurity and loss of livelihoods – threatening to reverse hard-won development gains. In fragile and conflict-affected settings, limited governance, political instability and violence leave communities particularly ill-equipped to cope with a changing climate. This in turn can compound existing tensions and exacerbate the complex emergencies we are witnessing today in the Sahel, the Middle East and Central America.

As our new report, Gender, climate and security: Sustaining inclusive peace on the frontlines of climate change outlines, climate change is already resulting in risks for the security of many millions around the globe. These risks disproportionately affect women and girls, who are key providers of food, water and energy, but have fewer resources with which to adapt to changing conditions. However, in some regions, the impacts of climate change are also leading to important socio-economic shifts that are transforming traditional gender norms around economic activity, decision-making and leadership. The report argues that such changes have the potential to open-up new spaces for more inclusive peace and development processes.

These gender dynamics are still relatively poorly understood at the international level – and they are generally lacking in climate-security policymaking and practice to date. This report fills a gap-inknowledge and offers a comprehensive, accessible framework to demonstrate how gender, climate and security are inextricably linked. It also highlights concrete ways to take advantage of these linkages to prevent conflict and foster lasting peace.

The United Nations (UN) is undertaking a range of actions to join the dots between climate change, gender equality and peace and security. This report stems from an initiative of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), UN Women, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) to address gender, the environment, peace and development as fundamentally interlinked issues. This Joint Programme on Women, Natural Resources, Climate and Peace recognizes that interventions around natural resources, the environment and climate change provide significant opportunities to empower women politically and economically, and to strengthen their contributions to peace.

As the UN System ramps up its efforts to better support countries and communities faced with the multi-faceted threats posed by our changing climate, partnerships such as these are needed more than ever. In this crucial Decade of Action for the Sustainable Development Goals, our experience shows that this inclusive approach is the only way to sustain peace on the frontlines of climate change.

In his 2019 Report on Women, Peace and Security, the UN Secretary-General declared an urgent need for better analysis of the linkages between climate change and conflict from a gender perspective. We believe that this report answers this call.

Special message by INGER ANDERSEN, Executive Director, UN Environment Programme, PHUMZILE MLAMBO-NGCUKA, Executive Director, UN Women, OSCAR FERNANDEZ-TARANCO, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support, ACHIM STEINER, Administrator, UN Development Programme

You can read and download the full report here: https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2020/06/gender-climate-and-security

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