The Intersection of Environmental Protection & Women

Empowering women and girls in developing countries ranked second among 76 solutions for curbing global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, according to a new report by the climate research organization Project Drawdown. Drawdown estimates that girls’ education and family planning would reduce carbon by 85 gigatons by 2050. The report comes just before International Women’s Day on March 8.

Gender equality in health and education hasn’t received much public attention as a climate solution, even though it’s been on the global sustainability radar for years. In 2015, the United Nations included “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” in its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

The linkages between gender inequality and adaptive capacity to climate change relate to a large number of factors that differ across countries and over time, and also range from uneven access to resources to cultural norms. In addition, women’s representation in politics has been…