Climate change impacts women more: PM Hasina

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said structural inequalities in society along with inherent social customs are causing disproportionate impacts of climate change on women.

"Generally, women across the world don't have equal access to resources. In addition, in many societies, they don't have the decision-making power and are often engaged in low-paid and unpaid jobs and activities. All these factors contribute to more adverse impacts of climate change on women than on their male counterparts," she said.

The prime minister said this while addressing the Women's Climate Leadership Event-COP26: High-Level Panel on Women and Climate Change at Scottish Pavilion in Glasgow.

She said the most vulnerable and marginalised people around the world are also the greatest victims of the adverse impacts of climate change for a number of socio-economic and cultural factors.

"We believe recognising the vulnerabilities of women in climate change response is critical," Hasina said.

She said the Bangladesh government is fully committed to making women part of the solutions to climate change by creating space for them to contribute to all aspects of sustainable development.

"I call upon all of you, especially the women leaders, for taking bold and decisive actions in this COP for a global compact to build communities resilient to climate change in a way where everyone -- both men and women -- can participate equally," she said.

"Bangladesh has already secured women's leadership from the national parliament to the grassroots levels of decision-making processes," she said.

Hasina mentioned that the National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) of Bangladesh has incorporated gender in a comprehensive manner as part of adaptation solutions.

"We've prepared the National Climate Change and Gender Action Plan to ensure gender equality in climate change-related policies, strategies, and interventions," she added.

She said the current updated Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP) includes gender as one of the core strategic areas to undertake practical and action-oriented programmes to tackle climate change.

"Most importantly, my government has introduced Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB), allocating around a 30 percent share of expenditure on women's development to mainstream gender in all policy and decision-making processes," she said.

Hasina argued that it is a scientific fact that women are more resilient than men. Even in the most difficult cases of natural calamities, it is women who first of all take care of their families and household.

"Therefore, starting from policy-making to the ground response, to climate-led disasters, we're ensuring equal participation. In climate disaster prepared programmes, we've engaged 76,000 volunteers and 50 percent of them are women," she said.

The premier said Bangladesh's disaster preparedness programme is a success story as it reduced the death toll from half a million in a cyclone 50 years ago to only a couple of hundreds during a recent cyclone a year ago.

She also said the government is going to implement the "Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan".

In this plan, a strong role of women in the journey of climate vulnerability, to climate resilience, to climate prosperity has been mainstreamed, she added.

Hasina said it is high time to connect the climate change ambition with a future that will be inclusive for both men and women.

She said women should be included in the driving role in every level of initiatives, starting from the planning to resource allocation, and implementation. "Therefore, financing gender responsive adaptation and mitigation measures will be the key."

The prime minister urged all to amplify the voices of women across the world to ensure equal access to finance to address the needs and priorities of women on climate change issues.