Women And Climate Change
I’m Jackie VanderBrug, an investment strategist at U.S. Trust. And I want to talk to you today about the intersection between gender, climate change and investing. Scientists believe extreme weather and changes to our atmosphere are at least partly the result of human activity. These changes affect all of us.
Yet women who live in poor and developing countries are especially vulnerable to the effects of extreme weather.1 Food and mobility are concerns. As climate change affects crops, livestock and water sources, women who run households will have to spend more time searching for food. In many regions, they already spend eight hours a day cooking and searching for food, water or fuel.2 And, families are often forced to move in the wake of a catastrophic event, such as a flood or drought. Poorer women often aren’t culturally allowed to own land and they may face difficulty re-settling.3 According to many international organizations, women can play a critical role in offsetting climate change.
Women can help reduce carbon emissions by using clean cook stoves that dramatically reduce soot. Bank of America Corporation is working with The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves to distribute clean and efficient cookstoves worldwide by 2020. And the role of women as farmers should prove more vital than ever. Women farmers have less access than their male counterparts to fertilizers and other key resources.4
With equal access, women farmers could increase their yields by almost one-third, reducing the need to cut trees for cropland.5 Despite the list of disadvantages they face, women can be a source of strength and knowledge for their communities— Especially in the aftermath of a major weather event. As we’ve seen, their experience and leadership are crucial to our collective success in dealing with, and limiting, climate change. Investors can support women affected by climate change through targeted investments. Thank you.
1 H.Con.Res.29 - Recognizing the disparate impact of climate change on women and the efforts of women globally to address climate change, The U.S. House of Representatives, 2015.
2India Cookstoves and Fuels Market Assessment, Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, 2013.
3 The World’s Women 2010: Key Findings for Asia and the Pacific, U.N. Statistics Division, 2011. (Latest available data.)
4 The State of Food and Agriculture, 2010–11, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2012.
5 Future Finance, Inter-American Bank (IDP), 2014.
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Jackie VanderBrug, an investment strategist at U.S. Trust, describes how women may be especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change but may also play an important role in reducing the production of greenhouse gases and deforestation. She also notes that investors can use targeted investments to help support women affected by climate change.
