UN Women, the United Nations agency for gender equality, warned on Tuesday that climate change could push up to 141 million more women and girls into extreme poverty by mid-century under a worst-case scenario. The agency issued the warning in a new fact sheet released at the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Türkiye.
The fact sheet, titled “Gender Equality in the Age of Climate Crisis,” says the countries that bear the least responsibility for climate change are where women and girls suffer the most from its effects. It says roughly 1.5 billion women and girls, over a third of the world’s female population, live in what it calls “climate hotspots.” In these places, heavy exposure to dangers like cyclones and droughts is paired with unstable work and entrenched inequality between the sexes.
According to the fact sheet, current trends put the world on course for 1.8°C of warming by 2050. It says that would bring more severe droughts, floods, wildfires and cyclones.
On income, the fact sheet cites data from 24 countries. It indicates that each 1°C rise in average temperatures could leave women with income losses 34% larger than men’s. The document says this is likely because women have less ability to shift into work outside farming or to migrate when crops fail.
The fact sheet also says climate change is adding to women’s unpaid care work, including fetching water and fuel and looking after relatives once disasters strike. It says a warming world can worsen existing drivers of gender-based violence. In 14 countries, living through prolonged extreme drought was linked to 21% higher odds of sexual violence against adolescent girls and young women.
The document also points to risks for progress on child marriage. In 24 of 46 countries with relevant data, child marriage rates were higher in drier areas than in more humid ones. It adds that 326 million women and girls remain without electricity, at a time when artificial intelligence technology is raising energy demand.
On policy, the fact sheet says 73% of national climate action plans acknowledge the risks to women and girls, but only a little over a third deal with those risks in a thorough way. Women hold just 12% of energy portfolios, and just 4% of climate-focused official development assistance prioritizes gender equality. The fact sheet also says women who defend the environment face harassment and sometimes death because they stand up for their communities and the planet.
Sima Bahous, UN Women’s Executive Director, said women are already at the forefront of the effort to build a better future, in their communities, in laboratories, in parliaments and on the front lines of the climate crisis. “We must give women and girls equal rights, resources and the power to lead,” she said.
At COP31, UN Women is asking leaders to place gender equality and women’s rights at the center of climate action. That includes recognizing and guaranteeing women’s right to a healthy, clean and sustainable environment. The agency also calls for shielding women who defend the environment and for giving women and girls a bigger role in decision-making.