Climate Change: Inclusion of Gender and Cultural Diversity in Climate Change Actions

Introduction

Climate change has influenced horticulture fundamentally, especially diminishments in soil water accessibility, impacts of hoisted CO₂ movements of warm and dampness limits to cropping, effect on drought, warm anxiety and different extremes, impacts on nuisances, weeds and ailments, and effects on soil fruitfulness. The question is no longer how much global warming and climate change rather what are the impacts and what ought to be done about it? To the later, the only way is by choosing to act with a sense of urgency starting from encouraging awareness of importance of gender and cultural diversity inclusion in climate actions, to energy policy reform down to mitigation and Adaptation measures (OECD/IEA, 2001).

However, Martin-Luther king’s words four decade back still hold an intense reverberation in this twenty-first century where we are still faced with the savage urgency of a crisis that connects today and tomorrow; that is climate change crisis (UNDP, 2007/2008). Climate change is the characterizing human advancement issue of our age. All development is eventually about growing human potential and extending human freedom. It is about individuals building up the abilities that engage them to settle on decisions and to lead experience that they esteem. Climate change debilitates to dissolve human freedoms and limit choice. It raises doubt about the principle rule that human advance will make the future look better than the past (UNDP, 2007/2008). Moreover, since the peak of public mindfulness in the mid-1990s the global environmental issue known as climate change has been developing and changing quickly as of late (Sanderson et al., 2007). One of the most important factors, has been the inclusion of gender and cultural diversity in climate actions which in the past was either disregarded or given as an after-thought in the overall environmental change debate, while now it has become a more important hypothetical and policy issues (UNDP, 2011).

As climate is changing, culture is changing also (Wisner B., 2010). Across cultures, the effects of environmental change influenced women and men differently. Although women are excessively affectd by environmental change, they assume a key role in adapting and mitigating climate change (UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub, 2019). For example, in the developing nations, women typically have the responsibility of gathering and generating food, collecting water and sourcing fuel for heating and cooking but with environmental change extrem events, these duties become harder to some women in the globe. Due to the above mentioned activities of some of these women in the globe, they are exposed with the knowledge and understanding of what is required to adapt to altering environmental circumstances and discovering pratical solutions (UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub, 2019). Culture according to van den pol is generally defined as a total of meanings and knowledge that human beings required to operate in a certain situation, for example, understanding of language, practices, rituals, views, values & norms etc. (Van den Pol, 2010).

Cultural diversity and climate change are two inseparable situations in the sense that, due to global warming: horticulture decreases and the generation of environmental refugees increases as a result of search for food and greener pastures, disruption of cultural continuity due to enhanced mortality from infectious diseases, mental dysfunction, stunted child development from malnutrition and the disruption of family life (Hoff, 2002). Knowing the importance of gender and cultural diversity, this article tends to promote more awareness to the importance of its inclusion on climate actions. Also note, that environmental change and climate change will be used in this paper as a synonym; the word ‘Inclusion’ also refers to ‘consideration’ in this paper.