In this article for GPPi’s PeaceLab, CIPÓ directors Maiara Folly and Adriana Abdenur address the disproportionate climate related risks borne by the women of the Amazon basin, their key role in responses and the need for international cooperation to support gender-sensitive efforts.
The impacts of climate change in the Amazon basin interact with, and are exacerbated by, a historical pattern of low state presence and a national vision of development that pits the forest against development. The effects of this combination, far from being evenly distributed across the population, are deeply gendered – one of many social cleavages that also include race and ethnicity, class, and geography. Women and girls in the Amazon – especially of indigenous and quilombola origin – are disproportionately affected by the deadly combination of historical inequalities, intensifying climate change, rampant environmental crime, and exacerbating disputes over natural resources.
