1. INTRODUCTION

The climate crisis is not a gender-neutral phenomenon[1] — women and girls disproportionately bear its greatest burdens. This can be attributed to their overrepresentation among the world’s poor, their domestic and caregiving responsibilities, and their dependence on climate-sensitive natural resources for food, energy, and livelihood.[2]  In Africa, these gendered impacts are compounded by the high percentage of women in the labour force, particularly in agriculture.[3] In Southern Africa, women’s vulnerability to climate change is exacerbated by limited ownership of resources and economic opportunities.[4]

Laws may enable women’s participation in climate governance, establish rights and obligations that reinforce gender equity in the context of climate change, and ensure ‘gender-based climate initiatives in climate laws’.[5] This is evident from Article 31 of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development which reinforces the obligations that State Parties have in adopting gender-sensitive measures to address climate change. Read together with other provisions of the Protocol, the SADC supports gender equity in climate governance and provides a framework for women’s inclusion in climate action.

2. THE DISPARATE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON WOMEN IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

Climate change refers to the alteration of the climate, attributed either directly or indirectly to anthropogenic action, which  interferes with the global atmospheric composition and  is observable over comparable intervals.[6] The deleterious effects of climate change, including ‘persistent drought and extreme weather events, land loss and degradation, sea level rise, coastal erosion, ocean acidification and the retreat of mountain glaciers’,[7] have greatly contributed to food insecurity and worsened pre-existing socio-economic vulnerabilities.[8] For women in Southern Africa, climate change is a threat multiplier since it worsens existing social, economic, and environmental challenges.

2.1 Climate Change and Women’s Role in Agriculture

Due to increased rainfall variability, declining soil fertility, and fluctuating crop yields, households are forced to cultivate more land.[9] As men in low and lower middle-income households are forced to migrate in search of off-farm work,[10] the burden of agricultural labour shifts to women. This is because agriculture is the most sustainable means of securing income and resources for their households.[11] The shift conversely puts pressure on girls to leave school in order to replace their mothers in gender-determined household activities such as childcare and food preparation,[12] reinforcing cycles of gender inequality.

2.2 Climate Change and Women’s Health

Extreme weather events as a result of climate change affect maternal and foetal health. Women’s exposure to above-average temperatures and below-average rainfall significantly reduces their fertility rates and negatively affects birth weight.[13] Lower crop yields lead to nutritional deficiencies in calcium, folate, thiamine, and pyridoxine, which are essential for women during pregnancy.[14] They may also suffer from chronic malnutrition because they are more likely to skip meals in order to feed their families during periods of hunger, consequently impacting breastfeeding.[15]

Since they  comprise the majority of agricultural workers, they are disproportionately affected by extreme heatwaves[16] which are directly linked to health issues such as exhaustion, psychological stress, cardiovascular, and respiratory health problems.[17]

2.3 Climate Change and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

Climate-induced migrations or displacement may force women and girls into camps with inadequate privacy and security. Reports indicate that in emergency camps or tents, cases of sexual violence frequently occur during daily activities such as sleeping, washing, bathing, and changing clothes.[18] The situation is worsened by the limited access of economically disadvantaged and marginalised women to sufficient economic resources and access to law, policy and decision-making processes.[19] As such, they do not receive the adequate and immediate response required, allowing perpetrators to walk scot-free, and enables repeated behaviour.

Climate change-induced food insecurity may also force women and girls into exploitative relationships, child marriage, and survival sex[20] - situations that expose them to heightened risks of gender-based violence due to power imbalances.

3. THE SADC PROTOCOL ON GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT AS A RESPONSE TO THE DISPARATE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON WOMEN

The disproportionate effects of climate change on women and girls necessitates their inclusion in climate action. National laws could effectively enable this participation.[21] However, this has not been the case since historical biases in climate governance have often assumed a male-centered legal framework, [22] despite the essential roles that women play as actors and agents of change in climate action.[23]

The SADC supports gender equity in the climate change framework and gives women room to participate in climate governance. Article 31 of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development acknowledges the relationship between gender, the environment, sustainable development, and climate change. It specifically provides that ‘State Parties shall […] adopt measures to: (a) address the impact of climate change and environmental degradation on gender […]’.

3.1 Gender Mainstreaming in Climate Action

Gender mainstreaming is the process of identifying gender gaps and ensuring that the concerns and experiences of women, men, girls and boys are incorporated into the ‘design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes’ for their equal benefit.[24] In the context of climate change, it involves recognising the disproportionate effects of climate change on men and women and ensuring that these differences are integrated into the formulation of response strategies.[25]

Gender mainstreaming is essential for the success of climate change adaptation and mitigation in Southern Africa, and is supported by Article 31 of the Protocol, which calls on State Parties to address the gendered effects of climate change; ensure the active inclusion of all gender in the mitigation of climate change; develop ‘policies, strategies and programmes that address gender issues with respect to climate change’; and research into the differential gendered impacts of climate change.[26]

Other relevant provisions further reinforce the need for institutionalised gender mainstreaming in climate governance, such as Articles 12 and 13 on representation by and participation of women in governance and decision-making respectively, and Article 33 on gender sensitive and responsive budgeting and planning. Read against the backdrop of Article 31, these provisions also imply the participation and leadership of women in climate or green technology.

3.2 Challenges in Implementation

In light of developing policies, strategies and programmes that address gender issues with respect to climate change, the SADC came up with the SADC Gender Responsive Disaster Risk Reduction Strategic Plan and Action Plan 2020 – 2030 (GRDP). The GRDP acknowledges that women are often excluded from participating in the preparation, response, relief and recovery from climate change, and seeks to enable equal opportunities for their participation in decision-making.  It also mandates sex-disaggregated data to interrogate the impact of initiatives on women, men, girls and boys so as to equitably lower disaster risk. However, it lacks actionable gender-responsive measures for effective and meaningful participation of women in climate action.

3.2.1 Lack of Gender Action Plans Specific to Climate Change

Within the SADC region, only Zambia and Zimbabwe have developed Gender Action Plans specifically addressing climate change. Zimbabwe has developed the Climate Change Gender Action Plan of 2022 which provides action-oriented gender-responsive recommendations for climate change adaptation and mitigation. The Action Plan focuses on four sectoral interventions in energy, industrial processes, agriculture, and waste management. While this is commendable, the Action Plan fails to include climate-specific education initiatives, limiting women's effective and informed participation in climate governance, policymaking and advocacy.

On the other hand, Zambia’s Climate Change Gender Action Plan advocates for the integration of climate education into the national curriculum and outlines comprehensive long-term strategies. However, it falls short in recognising the rich indigenous climate knowledge held by rural women and lacks detailed provisions for the inclusion of women with disabilities in climate action.

3.2.2 Lack of Gender-Responsive Climate Financing

Gender-responsive climate financing is also a challenge. While States Parties to the Protocol have recommended funding models in their climate change gender action plans, many lack clear implementation strategies. An example is South Africa’s Draft Gender Action Plan of 2022 which includes a Gender Climate Budget Tagging policy framework, but does not detail clear enforcement mechanisms or structures of accountability.  Further, reliance on the goodwill of investments by donors does not ensure sustainable means of climate financing, therefore impeding gender-responsiveness of States Parties to climate change.

3.2.3 Lack of Enforcement Policing Mechanisms

That the SADC Protocol lacks enforcement policing mechanisms is also a setback. Without mandatory reporting phases, compliance with Article 31 remains largely voluntary and dependent on the goodwill of States. As of today, issues such as land ownership by women still face resistance in some SADC Member States, yet resource allocation is one of the means of addressing the gender-climate nexus. If there were clear policing mechanisms, this problem could have been addressed.

4. CONCLUSION

Climate change is not gender-blind, and its disparate effects on women demand targeted enforceable state interventions. While Article 31 of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development provides a strong legal foundation for gender responsive climate action, implementation gaps persist.

To counter these gaps, States Parties must actively pursue gender-sensitive climate education through incorporation into national curricula and vocational training programmes. This can only be achieved through smart and enforceable gendered climate finance models reinforced by proper accountability mechanisms. Further, it is not enough that states recognise gender disparities in climate change, states must also develop and implement their gender-responsive climate action policies, strategies and programmes. In furtherance of the spirit of the Protocol, states must put in place land ownership reforms by granting women legal rights to land as a foundation for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

[1] UN Women, ‘Explainer: How Gender Inequality and Climate Change are Interconnected?’ (28 February 2022) < https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/explainer/2022/02/explainer-how-gender-inequality-and-climate-change-are-interconnected> accessed 13 March 2025.

[2] Erika Techera and Anabahati Joseph Mlay, ‘Women, Climate Change and the Law: Lessons for Tanzania from an Analysis of African Nationally Determined Contributions’ (2024) 68(2) Journal of African Law 181, 182.

[3] Techera and Mlay (n 2) 184.

[4] Ogechi Adeola, Olaniyi Evans and Innocent Ngare, Gender Equality, Climate Action, Technological Innovation for Sustainable Development in Africa (Palgrave Macmillan 2020) 61.

[5] Techera and Mlay (n 2) 184.

[6] United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Resolution Adopted by the General Assembly, A/RES/48/189, 20 January 1994 <https://www.refworld.org/legal/resolution/unga/1994/en/26583> accessed 13 March 2025. 

[7] UNGA, ‘Request for an Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change’, A/77/L.58, 1 March 2023, 3. 

[8] African Union (AU), ‘The African Union (AU) Delivered a Landmark Oral Statement at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Climate Justice’ (10 December 2024) <https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20241210/african-union-au-delivered-landmark-oral-statement-international-court#:~:text=The%20proceedings%20aim%20to%20provide,these%20proceedings%2c%20and%20by%20Prof.> accessed 15 March 2025.

[9] Valerie Nelson and Tanya Sathers, ‘Resilience, Power, Culture, and Climate: A Case Study from Semi-Arid Tanzania, and New Research Directions’ (2009) 17(1) Gender and Development 81 < https://doi.org/10.1080/13552070802696946> accessed 19 March 2025.

[10] Alex Awiti, ‘Climate Change and Gender in Africa: A Review of Impact and Gender-Responsive Solutions’ < Frontiers | Climate Change and Gender in Africa: A Review of Impact and Gender-Responsive Solutions> accessed

[11] UN Women (n 1).

[12] Awiti (n 10).

[13] Awiti (n 10).

[14] Awiti (n 10), citing Mia Blakstad and Emily Smith, ‘Climate Change Worsens Global Inequality in Maternal Nutrition’ (2020) 4(12) Lancet Planet Health 547 < https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(20)30246-1/fulltext> accessed 19 March 2025.

[15] Cecilia Sorensen, Virginia Murray, Jay Lemery, and John Balbus, ‘Climate Change and Women’s Health: Impacts and Policy Directions’ (2018) PLOS Medicine < https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002603> accessed 20 March 2025.

[16] Adeola, Evans and Ngare (n 4) 10.

[17] Adeola, Evans and Ngare (n 4) 10.

[18] Bharat Desaia and Moumita Mandal, ‘Role of Climate Change in Exacerbating Sexual and Gender-Based Violence against Women: A New Challenge for International Law’ (2021) 51 Environmental Policy and Law 137, 140 < https://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/report/role-of-climate-change-in-exacerbating-sexual-and-gender-based-violence-against-women-a-new-challenge-for-international-law/epl_2021_51-3_epl-51-3-epl210055_epl-51-epl210055.pdf> accessed 20 March 2025.

[19] Desaia and Mandal (n 18) 140.

[20] Pooja Agrawal and Others, ‘The Interrelationship between Food Security, Climate Change, and Gender-based Violence: A Scoping Review with System Dynamics Modeling’ (2023) 3(2) PLOS Global Public Health < https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0000300> accessed 04 April 2025.

[21] Techera and Mlay (n 2) 182.

[22] Patricia Kameri-Mbote and Nkatha Kabira, ‘Gender Equality and Climate Change in Plural Legal Contexts: A Critical Analysis of Kenya’s Law and Policy Framework’ in Cathi Albertyn and Others (eds), Feminist Frontiers in Climate Justice (2023 Elgar Online) 167.

[23] UN WomenWatch, ‘Factsheet: Women, Gender Equality and Climate Change’ < https://www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/climate_change/downloads/Women_and_Climate_Change_Factsheet.pdf> accessed 24 March 2025.

[24] Article 1(2) of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development.

[25] Michael Addaney and Chantelle Gloria Moyo, ‘Women’s Rights, Gender and Climate Change Law in Africa: Advancing an Equity Agenda’ (2018) 5(1) Journal of Law Society and Development 1, 10.

[26] Article 31(1)(a) - (d) of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development.