An often-ignored factor when examining environmental issues and climate change is the powerful role played by women. In the developed world, although women still struggle to achieve parity in issues of pay and opportunity, we typically hold the most sway in household decisions. According to the Wall Street Journal, women control nearly three-quarters of consumer spending in the US and two-thirds in the UK, including “making the decision in the purchases of 94% of home furnishings … 92% of vacations … 91% of homes … 60% of automobiles”.

This massive buying power means that most of the time, women hold the reins when it comes to making large, environmentally friendly decisions like deciding to vacation close to home rather than taking another long-haul flight, buying a modestly sized dwelling rather than a McMansion, and choosing a compact hybrid car rather than a gas-guzzling SUV.

In the workplace, too, women are greener: studies show that businesses headed by women are more likely to make environmentally friendly decisions. Whether it’s buying local produce or organizing e-cycling on a corporate scale, women simply seem more concerned about our collective impact on the environment and more willing to make changes to mitigate this impact.

But the difference between men and women in environmental issues doesn’t just come down to who controls the purse strings. Women are statistically more likely to believe the science about climate change in the first place and, what’s more, believe it will affect them personally. In a 2015 study examining attitudes about climate change, Pew surveyed 11 developed nations and asked people to rate their agreement with the statement: “Global climate change is a serious problem.” In the US, 83% of women stated this was a somewhat or very serious problem, compared to just 66% of men. In the UK, the gap was smaller but still significant: 81% of women vs 71% of men.

It’s tempting to chalk women’s increased awareness and concern for environmental issues up to some innate caretaking instinct or womanly solidarity. Nature is almost always characterized as female, after all. In Mother Nature v the human race, the actions we take against her are almost always framed as male: raping, pillaging, conquering, plundering. Doesn’t it make sense that women would empathize?

It’s a nice thought, this global sisterhood, but I don’t think it’s quite as emotional as all that. I think it’s pure practicality. Even in 2016, in the most democratic nations, our equality stands precarious, subject to the whims of shifting political tides. It’s not hard to understand that in the event of a global climate crisis, women will be immediately rendered one of the most vulnerable populations.

At the 2014 UN Climate Summit, the Chilean president, Michelle Bachelet, noted that women and children are 14 times more vulnerable than men in a climate disaster such as floods or droughts, especially in developing nations. Women are more likely than men to die in natural disasters, we’re more likely to become caregivers for the sick or wounded, and we’re more likely become the victims in climate change-induced violent conflicts.

Put plainly, perhaps women care more about climate change because we have so much more to lose.

And while it may seem like women in the west have more power – making major household financial decisions while poor women in developing nations are already suffering the devastating effects of climate change – women the world over are united in waging a long and frustrating fight to gain access to one of the most immediate and effective ways to reduce our environmental impact: safe access to birth control, abortion and reproductive health services.



We’ve discussed it before, and although overpopulation isn’t the only problem (how much each population consumes is almost equally important) it’s a big one. And unlike many issues related to climate change, it’s one which is incredibly simple to solve. David Attenborough states it plainly and often: “Wherever women are given political control of their bodies, where they have the vote, education, appropriate medical facilities and they can read and have rights and so on, the birth rate falls – there’s no exceptions to that.”

This is an issue in the developing world, but we’d be remiss if we acted as though it was a non-issue in western democracies. The United States is the largest democracy in the world, yet only 18 states and the District of Columbia require that information about contraception be taught where sex education is provided.

Unwanted pregnancies are the natural consequence of these oversights, and while abortion has been legal since 1973, individual states in the US have the ability to impose incredibly restrictive regulations on abortion providers, in some cases making it all but impossible to access a legal abortion.

Religion and morality are often given as reasons for denying women access to reproductive health services, but I think these justifications miss half the story. Sister Joan Chittister, a Catholic nun, says it perfectly when she states: “I do not believe that just because you’re opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed … That’s not pro-life. That’s pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is.”



It’s ridiculous to deny women information and access to birth control and then also deny them the right to terminate an unintended pregnancy. Cruel to restrict a woman’s access to abortion and then leave her to the task of raising a child alone, vulnerable, and without support. And it’s incredibly shortsighted to believe that we can tackle overpopulation without also enabling women the world over to become educated and empowered about their own bodies and reproductive health.

We cannot simultaneously champion fighting climate change without also fighting for the rights of women. The two are inextricably linked; they stand hand in hand. It’s about time we all stood up with them.