Gender mainstreaming for Climate Change Adaptation in an era of global financial challenges: a Carib

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Gender mainstreaming for Climate Change
Adaptation in an era of global financial
challenges a Caribbean perspective

• Marlene Attzs
• University of the West Indies
• St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

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Objective of Presentation

• To highlight the importance of gender
  mainstreaming in Adaptation to Climate Change
  (and disaster risk management)
• To review the impacts of CC on Caribbean
  countries (and hence the importance of gender
  mainstreaming)
• To sensitise the possible challenges ahead for
  adaptation and gender mainstreaming in an era of
  global economic stringency and slowdown

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Content

• Contextual Framework
• Summary socio- demographic info on the Caribbean
  re disasters
• Anticipated Climate Change impacts on SID
• Historical evidence of gendered impacts of
  disasters in Caribbean SIDS Hurricane Ivan
• Mainstreaming Gender into DRM and CC Adaptation
  Policy
• Whither Adaptation initiatives given current
  global financial challenges

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Major disaster events affecting the Caribbean
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Gender policies in the Caribbean

• Regional gender policies have traditionally
  overlooked the importance of including disaster
  risk management as part of the gender policy.
• Similarly national CC policies do not reflect
  gender dimensions of impacts
• Caribbean countries at varying stages of dealing
  with gender policies in general Domestic
  Violence, Equal Employment etc.

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Percentage of households headed by women, by size
of household (1990/91)
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Urban Unemployment Rates by sex selected
Caribbean countries
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Anticipated Climate Change impacts and the
Caribbean

• In the Caribbean it is anticipated that coastal
  tourism may also be adversely affected by
• CC particularly SLR and beach erosion
• Increase in windstorm related events
• Women are heavily employed in the regional
  tourism industry, then these predicted impacts
  could also adversely affect Caribbean women.

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Mainstreaming Gender into DRM/CC Adaptation
Ex Ante Adaptation
Ex Post Adaptation
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Summary of global financial situation

• The world's developed economies are headed for
  the first full-year of negative growth since
  World War II and governments should ramp up
  spending to support the global economy (IMF
  November 2008).
• The economy of the 15 countries in the Euro Zone
  declined by 0.2 between July and September 08
  compared with the previous quarter
• The OECD estimates the economies of Japan, the
  Euro Zone and the United States will continue to
  contract next year.

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Implications of Global financial crisis

• Adaptation Fund made up of global financial
  giants including G20 committed to addressing
  other critical challenges e.g. climate change
  after Washington Meeting
• How will priorities be determined?
• Will priorities change
• Possibility of shifting geo-political priorities
  among developing countries by donor agencies

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Policy Conclusions

• Research required on gendered sectoral impacts of
  CC since economically significant and highly
  gender biased sectors such as agriculture and
  tourism might be affected
• Multipartite approach to mainstreaming gender
  roles for Governments, Civil Society (incl pvt
  sector), individuals/communities

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Policy Conclusions

• Need to develop indicators to reflect unequal
  vulnerability to climate change (and disasters)
  e.g. GDI should be adjusted to reflect gender
  vulnerability to disasters (incl CC related) and
  GEM to reflect gendered approach to policy making
  on climate change.

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Way forward the short -, medium- and long term

• At COP 14 Poland priority issues should include
  
• the socio-economic implications of the global
• financial situation (crisis) on adaptation (and
• mitigation prospects given,
• Challenges of stimulating domestic growth
• The slow economic growth in several advanced
  economies
• Economic growth prescriptions may for some,
  including private sector, be considered
  inconsistent with climate change objectives
  (including gender mainstreaming)