UN Women is urging governments at COP31 to incorporate women’s rights into climate policy, citing an estimated 1.5 billion women and girls exposed to climate hazards alongside economic vulnerability.
That figure represents more than one-third of women and girls worldwide, according to the agency. In affected communities, climate exposure compounds insecure work and gender inequality, its fact sheet says.
National plans acknowledge these risks more often than they address them in depth: 73% of countries identify gender-specific climate risks, but only about one-third take a comprehensive approach, UN Women said. Developing countries receive less than a third of the climate finance they need. Gender equality ranks as a priority in only 4% of climate-related official development assistance, the agency said.
In data covering 24 countries, a 1°C temperature increase was associated with women’s income losses being 34% greater than men’s. UN Women said fewer opportunities to move into nonfarm work or leave affected areas after crop failures may contribute to the gap.
The agency’s most severe scenario adds as many as 141 million women and girls to the population living in extreme poverty. Women and girls in countries least responsible for the climate crisis face especially severe effects, UN Women said. The agency estimates that investment could add 68 million jobs for women by 2035.
Climate-driven livelihood losses and displacement can intensify existing risks of gender-based violence, the agency said. Its analysis across 14 countries associated prolonged exposure to extreme drought with a 21% higher risk of sexual violence for adolescent girls and young women.
At COP31, UN Women is pressing governments to embed women’s rights in climate policy and fully fund and carry out the Belém Gender Action Plan. World leaders are scheduled to meet in Antalya on Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 11-12, and the conference is set to run through Nov. 20.
