The Climate Crisis Is Not Gender-Neutral: Why Do Women Bear a Heavier Ecological Burden?

Abstract

Climate change and environmental degradation affect communities unevenly, and gender is a critical dimension of this unequal vulnerability. Women, particularly Indigenous women and women in coastal communities, frequently carry disproportionate responsibilities for food provision, water collection, household care, and livelihood adaptation while having limited influence over environmental decision-making. This article examines the gendered dimensions of ecological burdens in Indonesia by connecting experiences of coastal communities, Indigenous peoples, displacement, and extractive development. Cases such as Kawasi and the Balik community provide important entry points for understanding how environmental transformation affects women’s livelihoods, social reproduction, cultural practices, and political participation. The article employs feminist political ecology to analyze the relationship between environmental change and gendered power structures. It argues that relocation, pollution, resource scarcity, and ecosystem degradation do not simply affect households collectively; they can intensify women’s unpaid labor and reduce their economic and political autonomy. At the same time, women’s knowledge and experiences are frequently marginalized in formal environmental governance. A gender-just approach to climate policy therefore requires more than identifying women as vulnerable groups. It must recognize women as political actors and rights holders whose knowledge is essential to environmental decision-making. The article concludes that climate justice requires gender-responsive governance, protection of livelihoods, meaningful participation, and recognition of the unequal distribution of ecological labor and risk.