Women, largely neglected in environmental policies

How to explain this injustice? In the columns of ParisianAminata Niakaté, member of the EESC delegation for women’s rights and equality, discusses the findings of this new instructive report, published on 14 March 2023:

“They die in greater numbers during natural and industrial disasters because they are poorer, less informed and also less cared for. And in the event of a disaster, sexist and sexual violence against women multiplies. »

Le Parisien, 14 March 2023. “Climate change: women more affected than men”

You don’t have to dig very far to find evidence. Just look at the figures of the deadliest natural disasters in our history: 90% of the victims of the 1991 cyclone in Bangladesh are women, they also make up 70% of the victims of the 2004 tsunami, the 2003 heat wave in France caused an excess mortality of 60% in women against 40% in men…

This finding applies equally well to countries under development “, where women are more often employed in the search for water or in the cultivation of foodstuffs (and therefore victims of drought), than in the so-called ” rich where they are the first to live in poorly insulated homes or lose their jobs after a hurricane.

Women excluded from public environmental policies

As detailed by our colleagues at Parisian, ESEC regrets, however, that they remain ignored by mainstream public environmental policies. Experts recommend better integrating the ” particular situation of women in these policies, for example by establishing gender budgets in local authorities or by promoting “feminist diplomacy” during international negotiations.

Finally, while we can rejoice that the percentage of women attending COPs is increasing (12% in 1990 against 33% today), their speaking time is completely engulfed by that of their male peers. While they” more often than men they adopt environmentally friendly practices in their daily lives “, according to ESEC, perhaps it is time to listen to them?