This document discusses gender considerations in environmental concerns and plans, with a special focus on the role of women. It defines key terms like environment, gender, and environmental concerns. It explains how gender relations determine access to resources and power over the environment. Women are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and pollution due to their roles. The impacts of issues like climate change on women are outlined, as are critical areas of concern and responses through programs and policies. Case studies and ways to involve women in environmental efforts are presented before concluding that women can be the best protectors of nature due to their direct connections and ability to pass on knowledge.

1. GENDER CONSIDERATION
IN ENVIRONMENTAL
CONCERNS AND PLANS
SPECIAL FOCUS ON THE ROLE OF WOMEN
Made by;
Priya Upadhyay & Anupriya Banerjee
B-Plan 6th sem

2. WHAT IS ENVIRONMENT
• The natural world, as a whole or in a particular geographical area, especially
as affected by human activity.

3. WHAT ARE THE ENVIRONMENTAL
CONCERNS
• Environmental issues are harmful aspects of human activity on the biophysical environment like :
• Climate change
• Conservation of ecosystems , fishing , forests , natural resources , etc.
• Energy conservation
• Environmental degradation
• Environmental health
• Intensive farming
• Land degradation
• Soil – conservation/erosion/contamination
• Land use – urban sprawl ,habitat fragmentation , habitat destruction
• Overpopulation
• Pollution
• Resource depletion

4. WHAT IS GENDER
• Gender, originates in objective biological divergencies, goes far beyond the
physiological and biological specifics of the two sexes in terms of the roles
each is expected to play.

5. THE CONCEPT OF GENDER
"sex differences" "gender differences"
Social scientists and development experts use two separate
terms
biologically determined constructed socially

6. • Gender is not always the sensitive topic as
some claim it to be. With the right methods,
attitudes, and approaches, people can
discussion about the subject.
• Gender is not an imported, theoretical
concept, and women and men can address it
freely.
Gender Issues

7. RELATION BETWEEN GENDER AND
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
• Gender relations are defined as the specific mechanisms whereby different
cultures determine the functions and responsibilities of each sex.
• They also determine access to material resources, such as land, credit and
training, and power.
• As men and women have different roles in the family, community and work-
force, they are likely to have different personal attitudes, priorities and power
over resources when it comes to environmental protection.

8. • The impact of environmental degradation is gender-differentiated in terms
of workloads and the quality of life;
• Women are the first to be affected by the depletion of natural resources.
• In rural areas in most developing countries, women are responsible for the
daily management and use of natural resources.
• Widespread and growing deforestation and the drying-up of water sources
force women to range ever further afield, spending more time and energy
in producing and finding essential commodities.
WOMEN AND ENVIRONMENT

9. • Environmental degradation caused by poorly managed and utilized waste products
and pollutants can have a disproportionate impact on women, who seem to be
more susceptible to the toxic effects of certain chemicals.
• The health risk is even higher among the lower-income strata of the population,
who tend to live near industrial urban areas, or among rural people living near fields
that are sprayed from the air.

10. • In many countries the lives of rural people are wholly
dependent on the availability of natural resources.
• Both men and women overexploit natural resources in a
struggle for survival in which soils are depleted, wildlife,
plant and marine resources destroyed, and the quality of
water downgraded.
• Environmental degradation is most keenly felt by the
most vulnerable members of the community and those
who rely heavily on nature's bounty.

11. • According to United Nations Chronicle journal
researchers have found an association between breast
cancer and the pesticide DDT and its
derivative DDE.
• World Health Organization has found that women
who are exposed to pesticides face a higher risk of
abortion.
• These kinds of health problems cause
women to feel more responsible regarding
environmental issues.

12. IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
CONCERNS ON WOMEN
• Climate change threatens the security of livelihood in which women are often more
involved than men
• Women are often the primary users of water in domestic consumption, subsistence
agriculture, health and sanitation .
• Women in many cases also take the primary role in educating children and family health
• Women and men have different energy needs due to their differing household roles,
responses to crises.
• Increased costs of energy, transportation, health-care and food caused by the disrupting
effects of climate change disproportionately affect women negatively by increasing their
poverty and insecurity.

13. CONTINUED….
• Climate change can adversely affect crop yields and thus the livelihoods and
food security of rural women, who are largely responsible for food
production as well as family nutrition.
• Coping with the damage of extreme weather events linked to climate change
may also fall more on women who hold together families and households
• women are able to contribute significantly to mitigation of and adaptation
to climate change through their central role in food production and
involvement in agriculture and biomass energy

14. CLIMATE CHANGE IS A LASTING VARIATION IN
THE GLOBAL CLIMATE
Climatic changes affect weather patterns, increasing the frequency and
intensity of floods, droughts, and extreme weather events

15. • Natural disasters disrupt daily routines and complicate
gender and family roles, which can cause victims of
natural disasters to feel powerless and frustrated.
• Women and children in developed and developing
countries are at higher risk of sexual abuse during and
after natural disasters.
• Elderly women are also particularly at risk during natural disasters and times
of crisis because they are more susceptible to climatically-induced health risks
like disease and because they are often isolated from social support to which
men and some younger women have access

16. Climate Change
CROP FAILURE
FUEL SHORTAGE
SHORTAGE OF SAFE,
CLEAN WATER
RESOURCE SCARCITY
NATURAL DISASTERS
DISEASE
DISPLACE-MENT
CIVIL WAR / CONFLICT
Impacts on women
Household food provision;
Increased agricultural work
Household fuel provision;
food-fuel conflicts
Household water provision;
exposure to contaminated sources
Economic drawbacks; lack of land
tenure; resource-dependent
livelihoods; school dropouts, early
marriage
Greater incidence of mortality;
reduction of life expectancy
Lack of access to healthcare;
increased burden of caring for young,
sick and elderly
Loss of livelihoods; lack of adequate
shelter; conflicts
Loss of livelihoods and lives; sexual
violence and trauma

17. CRITICAL AREAS OF CONCERN
• The persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women;
• Inequalities and inadequacies in, and unequal access to, education and training;
• Inequalities and inadequacies in, and unequal access to, health care and related services;
• Violence against women;
• Inequality in economic structures and policies, in all forms of productive activities and in access to resources;
• Inequality between men and women in the sharing of power and decision-making, at all levels;
• Insufficient mechanisms, at all levels, to promote the advancement of women;
• Lack of respect for, and inadequate promotion and protection of, the human rights of women;
• Stereotyping of women and inequality in women's access to, and participation in, all communication systems,
especially the media;
• Gender inequalities in the management of natural resources and the safeguarding of the environment;
• Persistent discrimination against, and violation of the rights of, the girl-child.

18. RESPONSES
(PROGRAMS AND POLICIES)
• United Nations charter (1945)
• Universal Declaration on Human Rights (1948)
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) (1979)
• Convention on Biodiversity (1992)
• Chapter 24 of Agenda 21 (UNCED 1992)
• World Conference on Human Rights (1993)
• International Conference on Population and Development (1994)
• Convention to Combat Desertification (1994)
• World Summit for Social Development (1995)
• Beijing Platform for Action (1995)
• Millennium Declaration (2000)
• Johannesburg Plan of Action (2002)
• Hyogo Framework for Action (2005)

19. CASE STUDIES
1."women’s empowerment": here,
teenagers work on the rehabilitation of
the Caspian Sea region, Almaty, June 2008
2. Wangari Maathai successfully implemented the Greenbelt
Movement, now one of the leading worldwide climate change
projects
3. Women were the first to find potable water during a prolonged
drought in Micronesia
4. Khawla Al Sheikh explains that her role
in alleviating the scarcity of water is
important because “only a woman can sell to a
woman” and she believes that that’s why her
initiative has been successful.

20. HOW TO INVOLVE WOMEN IN
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
• Through community organisation and support of external experts
• Clarification and identification of issues affecting women and men, in order to reach an
appropriate environmental strategy for the settlement
• The grouping of the communities according to their origin resulted in strong community
organisations.
• The organisations maximized people’s participation and ensured efficient use of all available
resources.
• Gender sensitive improvement of environmental information and expertise involving women in
decision making
• Building institutional capacity for integration of gender in environmental planning and
management.

21. As it has been observed that women are more vulnerable to the environment for
being the
• Second sex
• Social limitations
• And biological reasons
• We can come to a conclusion that, being the worst sufferer can turn out to
be the best protector of nature.
• Women are directly in connect with the nature because of her household
responsibility.
• And the most important thing, her knowledge and care towards the
environment will be carried on by her children, which will keep the care alive
even long after she is gone.
CONCLUSION

22. BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Intergrating Gender Responsiviness In Environmental Planning And
Management
• Gender and Environment ; OSCE,EUROPE
• Gender and Environment ; University Of Nijmegen
• Gender and Climate Change ; WEDO
• A Gender Review ; national policy goal

23. The end