Release of UN Women’s “Gender Equality in the Age of Climate Crisis” fact sheet at COP31

– As global leaders gather in Antalya, Türkiye, for the thirty-first UN Climate Change Conference (COP31), UN Women warns that the climate crisis is deepening gender inequality.

On 10 November, UN Women will release the “Gender Equality in the Age of Climate Crisis” fact sheet that examines who is driving the climate crisis, who bears its costs, and what it will take to build a transition that is both green and fair.

On the current trajectory, the world is headed for a minimum of 1.8°C of heating, unleashing even more devastating droughts, floods, wildfires, and cyclones, and creating irreversible loss and damage to communities and ecosystems. The consequences of the climate crisis exacerbate existing inequalities, reaching every aspect of women’s lives.

The fact sheet, which builds on data from a forthcoming report on climate and gender equality, shows how climate change is deepening the inequalities women and girls already face. It finds that the crisis is pushing more of them into poverty and hunger, adding to the unpaid work of collecting water and caring for families, and magnifying the drivers of gender-based violence and child marriage. Yet too many climate plans overlook addressing gender quality in their climate action plans.

The fact sheet also highlights that women remain largely excluded from climate decision-making, and that those who defend their communities and the planet face harassment and even death. UN Women calls on world leaders to put women and girls at the heart of climate action.