Barbara Lee Stands Behind Women Affected by Climate Change
Contact: Kristal DeKleer (202) 225-1882
Washington, DC – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) today introduced a Congressional resolution to bring attention to the greater economic, agricultural, and health-related hardships faced by women arising from climate change. H.Con.Res. 84 recognizes the disparate impact of climate change on women and the efforts of women globally to address this issue.
“The direct and indirect effects of climate change continue to have a disproportionate impact on marginalized women, including refugee and displaced persons, sexual minorities, religious and ethnic minorities, adolescent girls, women and girls with disabilities and those who are HIV positive,” said Congresswoman Lee. “While women are bearing the brunt of climate change’s effects, they are often underrepresented in the development of climate change adaptation policy. This is unacceptable.”
Due to climate change, women farmers, who are estimated to produce 60 to 80 percent of the food in most developing countries, face issues of scarcity and lack of accessibility to primary natural resources and arable land for food production. Also troubling, infectious disease epidemics, such as malaria, are expected to worsen and spread, due to variations in climate, putting women and children who do not have access to preventative and medical services at greater risk. Sadly, it is no secret that women and children are also more likely to die than men during natural disasters.
“Our goal is to empower women who are particularly vulnerable to climate change and to encourage a more gender-sensitive approach in climate change policy,” said Lee. “Women must be included in creating and implementing climate change policies and practices if we hope to help communities adapt to climate impacts and embark on a path towards clean and sustainable development.”
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