这不再是理论上的:我们处于气候危机中。尽管世界上一些最优秀的思想正在努力制定避免迫在眉睫的灾难的最坏影响的策略,但他们经常忽略强大的气候解决方案:性别平等。
Women make up nearly half of the agricultural labor force in developing nations—yet in many countries they can’t even own the land on which they toil; they also often lack access to credit, education, and decision-making. On top of working on their farms, most women farmers must also care for children and fetch heavy loads of wood and water for household use.
气候变化使他们的困境恶化。最近出版的 report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature suggests that when climate change causes natural resources to become scarce, traditional gender roles intensify—as does violence against women. Such abuse can prevent women from pursuing work, education, and other opportunities.
剥夺妇女的权力和资源不仅是不公平的,而且是短视的。项目提取, the respected climate-solution research organization, ranks the education of girls as one of the ten most powerful ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Educated women have more productive agricultural plots, steward their land better, and have fewer children.
对于女性小农而言,项目的缩减指出,资产,投入和支持的不平等意味着妇女在相同数量的土地上产生的生产较少。缩小性别差距将改善妇女和儿童的生活,并打击气候变化。
实际上,由于增加女性农民的产量有助于保持森林的地位,因为农民无需在现有土地富有生产力的情况下将农作物扩展到附近的森林中 - 我们可以通过 2.1 gigatons of carbon dioxide by 2050. That’s the emissions equivalent of taking 445 million passenger vehicles off the road per year.
事实是,妇女拥有的权力越多,社区以及我们的气候就越健康。 According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, if women farmers were to have equal access to the same resources (such as trainings, financing, and property rights) as their male counterparts, they could increase their crop yields by 20%至30%, strengthening their livelihoods and their households. When women are able to earn their own wages, they typically reinvest 90 percent of those earnings back into their families and communities.
The benefits of gender equality are clear. At the farm level, we need to work with community leaders to make sure trainings and education are equally accessible to women. This starts by involving both women 和 men. We will only be able to implement viable, long-term change if men recognize the necessity of inclusion. At the Rainforest Alliance, we also work closely with local governments and organizations to support policy interventions and funding that prioritize women smallholder farmers. But much more needs to be done by us—and everyone else involved. An equitable future for women means a livable future for all of us.
图片由朱塞佩·西普里亚尼(Giuseppe cipriani)提供