Attachments
The Challenge
Not only do climate change impacts pose pressing threats to human health and well-being, they also jeopardize peace and security, and force communities to redefine what these concepts mean to them. The environmental and geopolitical contexts of the Asia-Pacific region — including extensive coastlines, rapid urbanization and dependence on vulnerable natural resources — make it particularly susceptible to climaterelated disasters. Further, as home to 10 of the 15 most climate change-affected countries globally, the climate crisis presents existential challenges in the region.
The effects of climate change, environmental degradation, and natural resource scarcity are increasingly exacerbating insecurity and instability worldwide. These challenges affect security through various pathways: altered migration and displacement patterns; intensified competition over land, water, and natural resources; diminished food security; shifts in the blue economy; and threats to national sovereignty. In Asia and the Pacific, the concept of climate security extends beyond the potential for violent conflicts, encompassing economic, political, and socio-cultural dimensions along the human security spectrum1 , which demands an equally comprehensive prFeventive approach.
Existing tensions and armed conflicts undermine climate action. Simultaneously, the security sector is a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions.
Recent developments within the UN Security Council, Peacebuilding Commission and UN Climate Change Conferences have further catalysed the understanding that the collision of climate change-related events and societal vulnerabilities deepen fragility, escalate tensions and lead to destabilization and potentially to conflicts, thus creating vicious cycles that further hamper societies’ abilities to adapt to new climate paradigms. It is also recognized that climate action, when undertaken in a conflict-sensitive manner, can serve as a powerful tool for peacebuilding, offering pathways to address and alleviate the interconnected challenges.
Climate security discourse in the region has been a double-edged sword; although it offers to amplify the urgency of taking climate action and move the needle on climate finance in countries left farthest behind, some countries have leveraged it to justify increased militarization.
Research and programmatic evidence have shown that gender roles, norms and power dynamics, often reinforced by legal and policy frameworks, shape how women and men of different backgrounds experience, respond, or contribute to, insecurity in a changing climate. In turn, insecurity further undermines people’s ability to respond and adapt to climatic changes and shocks.
Women, who are disproportionately represented among the poor and vulnerable populations, highly reliant on natural resources, and often excluded from environmental decision-making, are particularly affected by climate change. However, there is increasing recognition of their crucial role in achieving better environmental and peace outcomes. Women, often the first responders in disasters and humanitarian crises, use their unique community and environmental knowledge to play pivotal roles in response and recovery. Their involvement in food and water security – as producers, domestic suppliers, and distributors – equips them to foresee climate issues, promote better natural resource management, and participate in natural resource-related mediation and peacemaking. Similarly, recognizing the unique challenges men and boys face due to climate change and societal norms is crucial, as it aids in addressing behaviours that contribute to gender inequality and insecurity, such as climate-related genderbased violence and crime.
Understanding the gender dimensions of climaterelated security risks is essential not only to avoid exacerbating vulnerabilities but also to identify opportunities for promoting gender equality, enhancing climate resilience, and sustaining peace. As the need for climate change adaptation is increasingly recognized to address the root causes of conflict and vulnerability, the value of women’s and girls’ meaningful participation and leadership at the frontlines of peace, climate action, and natural resource management is evident.
A recent study by UN Women in the Sindh and Gilgit Baltistan regions of Pakistan suggests a crucial link between women’s greater agency and decision-making power and stronger climate resilience and human security within communities. Stronger agency of women translates into more adaptive and thus more resilient communities.
However, while climate disasters are forcing change in gender roles as women take on new responsibilities, the findings also reveal that this does not automatically translate to greater agency for women. In fact, these shifts may even lead to a backlash. A year after severe floods in Pakistan, women continue to report heightened mental health challenges and protracted stress due to heavier household burdens, and in some cases resort to negative coping strategies like sending their children to work. The situation underscores the urgent need to address women’s limited access to resources and involvement in decision-making, exacerbated by cultural constraints and a trust deficit in local government structures.
UN Women aims to support the Government of Pakistan in realizing its post-flood Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Framework by documenting the intersection of women’s climate change experiences and human security, their adaptation strategies and identifying opportunities for improved, government-led climate resilience in the flood-impacted provinces.
Federalist reforms in Nepal have reinforced historical patterns of discrimination and further deepened gender divides. Women, particularly those from traditionally marginalized groups, remain excluded from most decision-making processes and are usually sidelined in land and natural resource governance.
Despite being the primary users or caretakers of land and natural resources, women comprise only percent of landowners in Nepal and hold a mere four percent of arable land. This sort of systemic discrimination places women — and the households and communities reliant on them for basic necessities — at a disadvantage amid a scarcity of resources and a multitude of competing claims over them. When women, who are socioculturally responsible for securing domestic resources such as water or fuel, face competition with industrial and agricultural users, households’ resource security is at risk.
Women’s frequent reliance on forest resources situates them at the heart of increasingly politicized natural resource disputes. However, despite their extensive knowledge of these resources and proven mediation abilities, women are seldom involved in resolving such disputes.
UN Women aims to bolster resilience in Nepal by supporting eco-villages, fostering women’s leadership and enhancing women’s capacity to ensure food security. UN Women will also support efforts to document and amplify local women-led adaptation and resource management practices that contribute to households’ and communities’ collective well-being.