Strasbourg, 20/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament (EP) has drawn the attention of the Council and the Commission to the impact of climate change on women, and has called for the gender dimension to be taken into account in European climate change policies and how they are funded. On 20 April, the EP adopted the report by Nicole Kiil-Nielsen (Greens/EFA, France) by 418 votes to 87, with 36 abstentions.
First to suffer. Kiil-Nielsen said that her report “brings together statistical information that is not yet sufficiently well known. It highlights, for example, that 70% of human beings living on less than $1 per day are women and that women make up 90% of those killed in natural disasters.” The MEP took as her starting point that “globally, it is women who, through their work, for instance in agriculture, are the first to suffer from climate upheaval”.
Better reading. That is why MEPs say it is important to have a better understanding of the effects on women of the environmental problems resulting from climate change (for instance, in terms of migration, health and work, since women work overwhelmingly in food production). For this, they call for statistics and data collection that takes systematic account of gender. This dimension should also be taken into account in all policies on climate change drafted or implemented by the European Commission or member states.
Force for change. Kiil-Nielsen also wants to highlight that women “are also a powerful social force in the dissemination of good environmental practices in everyday life”. MEPs, then, backed the idea that women form at least 40% of European climatic diplomacy delegations, as recommended in the Durban conference resolution. MEPs want women to play a greater role in climate decision-making and to be involved in climate policy funding decisions. Similarly, MEPs want more women to follow technical and scientific careers, and call on the Commission and member states to encourage women to train in environmental and energy technology.
Among the string of proposals contained in the Kiil-Nielsen report, there is also the call for an environmental indicator other than GDP to assess how each society is influencing climate change. (MD/transl.rt)