Why is Gender Equality Essential to Climate Action?

Extreme weather is an undeniably pressing matter. The flash flood in Nepal, wildfires across Southeast Asia and North America, droughts and heatwaves across Europe underscore the urgency of taking action for a sustainable future. As AI adds further environmental pressures through increased water, energy and land use, advancing gender equality is essential to ensuring climate solutions are inclusive, effective and resilient. 

Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by climate change. Gendered health and safety dangers, uneven distribution of care work, and social barriers to agency and participation are intensified by a shifting global climate. In Hong Kong, women earn less on average and face barriers to entering and staying in the workforce, leaving them more financially vulnerable. For low income women, this can make climate impacts such as extreme heat harder to manage, especially in poor housing conditions such as subdivided flats with inadequate ventilation and high air conditioning costs. These challenges are compounded by women shouldering the majority of caregiving responsibilities, including caring for older people who may face additional health risks during extreme heat. 

Despite these large-scale impacts, gender specific climate data remains limited. Factors like gender, class and living conditions affect how individuals are exposed to climate issues and their ability to cope with them. Collecting comprehensive data that reflects the unique challenges faced by women and girls in climate change is critical to designing inclusive environmental policies and initiatives. Targeted use of inclusive AI systems to assist in data collection can help improve gender-responsive climate action. 

Gender equality is also essential to stronger climate leadership and sustainable investment. Yet, women remain underrepresented in green occupations, making up only 28% of green-task jobs. Involving more women in environmental industries and green decision-making can grow the community of advocates who can support more responsive policies and promote more green investment. Hong Kong’s growing community of female professionals and leading environmental voices show the potential for inclusive climate action. Encouraging girls to explore sustainability through STEM can also help build a more innovative and resilient workforce to thrive in a changing landscape. 

All this underscores that climate action should not be treated as separate from gender equality. Organisations have a role to play in reducing environmental harm while also ensuring that women and girls are included in the decisions, technologies and workforces shaping the green transition. 

At TWF, we believe that empowering women and girls and building a diverse community of advocates and allies can create change. Here are some meaningful actions your organisation can take to progress gender equality and climate action together: 

Practice responsible AI use. Choose inclusive AI tools and systems, train teams to use them thoughtfully, and regularly review whether their benefits outweigh their environmental and social impacts. 

Advocate for diverse leadership. Promote women’s representation in senior leadership and climate-related decision-making, including through ESG and environmental risk reviews. 

Encourage young talent in sustainability and innovation. Create opportunities for young women to connect with climate action leaders, join mentorship communities and see sustainability as part of their future career and lifestyle.