Orla O’Connor
Director, National Women’s Council (NWC)
Climate change is impacting us all, but the burdens are far from evenly distributed. Women and marginalised groups are hardest hit by the climate emergency.
The climate crisis has well and truly arrived in Ireland, and 2024 was the first year to pass the 1.5C global warming limit. Moreover, recent storms and floods are a stark reminder of Ireland’s vulnerabilities.
Unequal climate impact on women
To put it simply, women are poorer than men. They therefore have fewer resources to counter the impact of the crisis and invest in alternative, more sustainable products and solutions. Almost half of lone parents — mostly women — live in deprivation and private rented accommodation, struggling to pay rising energy costs and without access to retrofitting schemes.
Care work is another example of how climate and gender intersect. The vast majority of care work is carried out by women and changes the way energy and transport are used. For example, women rely heavily on cars to carry out caring journeys, with 95% of women outside of Dublin and 79% of women inside Dublin seeing cars as necessities. Yet, these challenges and inequalities do not feature in our current response to the climate crisis even though there is a focus on both energy and transport.
By failing to consider the lived reality of
women, current climate policies are
making the lives of many harder.
Importance of women’s lived realities
By failing to consider the lived reality of women, current climate policies are making the lives of many harder. This creates a negative perception of a transition, which could be a positive driver for change. Unfortunately, the new Programme for Government is unambitious in this regard. This is concerning. If we push ahead with a green transition without paying attention to the inequalities in our society, we will only ‘green’ existing injustice. We deserve better than ‘low-carbon’ homelessness and ‘sustainable’ sexism.
It is therefore crucial that the people most affected, including women in their diversity, have their voices heard and shape the decisions that will affect our lives. This includes public transport policies and investments adapted to women’s needs prioritising safety, accessibility and affordability. It also means delivering energy policies that support those who struggle the most with rising energy costs.
