Rebecca Munro - Communications & Advocacy Director World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts

Climate change is supposedly indiscriminate, affecting us all equally and adversely.  Yet the reality is that climate change accentuates existing inequalities, resulting in youth, especially girls, being yet again disproportionately affected.

Climate change is supposedly indiscriminate, affecting us all equally and adversely.  Yet the reality is that climate change accentuates existing inequalities, resulting in youth, especially girls, being yet again disproportionately affected.

 

Girls and women already make up the majority of the world’s poor, represent the majority of the children that do not go to school and own only 10-20 percent of the world’s land and resources.  Simultaneously however, girls and women collect water and fuel, are responsible for a family’s food security and in many instances provide the labour for agricultural production. 

 

Climate change makes a bad situation even worse. Girls will need to walk further to collect water, take longer to collect fuel and therefore have less time available to go to school.  Without an education, employment choices are limited for girls and they remain in high risk and low paid jobs.  It is these livelihoods that are more vulnerable to climate change, exacerbating the already vicious poverty cycle.  When resources are scarce, girls and women are often the first to go hungry.  Further, their economic and social roles ensure that females are more likely to die in natural disasters, in some cases making up 80% of the fatalities.

 

Despite these cruel scenarios, females are not victims, but instead agents of change. Their proximity to and knowledge of the environment makes them the best witnesses to its change and the most effective implementers of grass-roots solutions. Their willingness to invest in their family’s education and future means that they actively pursue sustainable approaches to economic and social issues to build better futures for their children. Their community leadership often focuses on consensus building and the development of resilience for the most vulnerable elements of society.

 

Despite being most affected by climate change, and despite their valuable contributions in mitigation and adaptation to climate change, girls and women are often excluded from the decision making process - not only at a governmental level, but also at a community, school and family level.

This imbalance needs to be addressed, not only with respect to girls and women but to the youth in general. The youth of today will inherit the unhappy future of tomorrow. We must therefore provide them the skills and opportunities with which to become leaders of today and tomorrow. Further, youth participation is not just a moral decision; it is a practical one.  Youth bring to the climate change conversation great commitment, as well as approaches to negotiation and communication that are unique to their generation. Their influence over their peers is also more likely to result in the fundamental behavioural changes that are needed.

 

In a recent World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts survey conducted in over 100 countries, respondents identified children and youth as the group who should most decide what happens to our environment, followed by teachers, parents, politicians and scientists with equal weighting.  Yet the reality is less positive.  Only 7% of young respondents felt that they were consulted and only 9% felt that their opinion was valued by their government.

It is clear that the benefits of youth and female participation in the mitigation of climate change are considerable. We must listen to and involve females and young people in finding and agreeing solutions to climate change.