Global warming, which is the long-term increase in temperature of the earth’s surface as a result of greenhouse gas emissions, is the leading cause of climate change. Climate change refers to shifts in average weather patterns and temperature over time with the attendant increase in extreme weather conditions such as drought, floods, heatwaves, storms, wildfires, and hurricanes. According to experts, average world temperatures as observed since 1850 are at their highest due to the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide trap the heat of the sun on earth, creating warmer temperatures. Global warming is the result of human activities such as burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrialization, and if left unchecked is expected to further heat the world from the 2°C obtainable today to 5°C by the end of this century. Climate change negatively impacts every aspect of human life and is a threat to the survival of our planet. Water resources, biodiversity, agriculture, air quality, human health, culture, infrastructure, and the economy are threatened by the hazards and environmental degradation that signal climate change. Nigeria as a developing country is more vulnerable to the effects of climate change owing to its limited infrastructure and a heavy reliance on natural resources. With a population of over 200 million people, over 40 percent of which are poor and 46 percent living in rural areas, where social infrastructures and basic amenities are largely lacking, Nigeria is grossly deficient in the capacity to handle the challenges that climate change poses to our environment, health and way of life.
Women make up the larger portion of the poor in Nigeria and are bedeviled by negative sociocultural and religious gender norms, harmful patriarchal stereotypes and prejudices, and discriminatory laws which point to systemic and institutionalized gender inequality. From education to employment, healthcare, access to factors of production, and even political participation, Nigerian women suffer discrimination because of their gender. This preexisting gender inequality often intersects with the impacts of climate change in our communities to create a gendered experience for women, making them more vulnerable. Here are some ways that this is apparent:
In agriculture, women make up over 70 percent of the agricultural workforce in Nigeria and are heavily reliant on rain to water their crops. With poor access to land and capital, most women engaged in agriculture are smallholder farmers. Droughts, erratic rainfall, humidity, land degradation and floods affect agriculture, threaten their income, and lead to food shortages.
Natural Disasters: Women are 14 times more likely to die from extreme events caused by climate change. In Nigeria, floods are a common occurrence with the latest killing over 600 people and leaving over 1.3 million more homeless and displaced in 2022. Not only do natural disasters result in death and disease, they take a toll on the mental health of survivors. Nigerian women and girls in Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) camps are also faced with sexual and physical violence which causes them further distress and exposes them to the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.
Increased labour for women: Some of the consequences of climate change are loss of water sources and desertification. With Nigeria having the highest rate of deforestation in the world, forests are shrinking. The implication of these for women and girls who are culturally tasked with the duty of fetching water and firewood for household use is that they have to walk longer distances and spend longer hours to access them. Not only does this put more physical strain on them, it also exposes them to the risk of physical and sexual violence as they travel to fetch these household supplies. Additionally, the time spent could have been put to use in other productive and empowering ventures.
Effects on women’s health and well-being: Extreme weather conditions can result in increased morbidity and mortality for women. Women face risks associated with exposure to air pollution from cooking with fossil fuels, exposure to contaminated water sources and are more likely than men to die from heat waves. Climate change poses a risk to pregnant women and can result in infant and maternal mortality.
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The educational gap between women and men limits women’s ability to adapt: With sociocultural gender norms that place little value on the education of the girl child, and other factors such as early marriage, pregnancy, and poverty, the educational gap between men and women in Nigeria can be seen in the disparities that exist in school enrollment and secondary school completion for boys and girls. This disparity is also evident in men and women’s access to the internet. The result of these is that women are often left in the dark about important issues such as climate change and do not know how to adapt to the challenges it brings.
Erosion of the rights of women and girls: Because of preexisting gender inequities in our society, the harsh effects of climate change further erodes the human rights of women and girls. UN Women posits that climate change will push 158 million more women and girls into poverty by 2050 and cause 232 million to face food insecurity, while UN Environment says that women and girls make up 80 percent of all persons displaced by climate change and face greater risks of poverty, violence and unintended pregnancies as they migrate.
Low representation of women in politics results in climate policies that are not gender sensitive: With women’s representation in Nigeria’s parliament a paltry 4.2 percent and political appointments into ministerial offices at only 17.8 percent, there is no gainsaying that policies and legislation in Nigeria will be gender blind and unable to address the peculiar ways that climate change affects Nigerian women.
Since women are disproportionately affected by climate change, it is only appropriate that they take the lead in climate action. This can only be possible if the barriers to their equal participation in family decision-making, education, economy, employment, agriculture, politics, and all facets of social life are removed. Nigerian feminist organizations such as the Dorothy Njemanze Foundation who are at the forefront of the push for the entrenchment of the core principles of feminist leadership, inclusiveness, accountability, transparency, collaboration and shared power as a vital ingredient for the sustainable development of Nigeria, should not be deterred by the drawbacks experienced, but continue to push for gender democracy.
The Climate Change Act of 2021 should be prioritized and adequately funded through budgetary allocation, private sector and foreign investment so as to achieve its broad aims. The Ministry of Agriculture needs to create more credit schemes that are specially for women farmers, provide improved and adaptable seedlings, as well as education on adaptive farming practices. Governments at all levels should improve the living conditions of communities by providing basic amenities such as electricity and potable water. The present administration should look into creating a program to improve awareness on the need to use clean energy sources for cooking and this should go hand in hand with the distribution of clean energy cookers for the poorest of the poor both in rural communities and urban cities. Furthermore, relevant agencies should inculcate gender-sensitive emergency response and disaster management practices to lessen the degree to which disasters and disaster response entrench existing gender inequality and further dis-empower women and girls.
There is also a need to prioritize climate change awareness for women and all population groups. Climate change mainstreaming should be at the forefront of climate action in Nigeria. It should be taught from the basic education level, and climate change desks should be established in all local government secretariats and relevant government agencies across the country. Social media and other traditional media should also be leveraged upon to spread the message and provide information.
*Edet is a feminist, women’s rights advocate and social worker affiliated with the Dorothy Njemanze Foundation
