by Mackenzie Andersen
Climate change affects all populations, but its impacts are far from equal. Recent studies have shown that not only are women more likely to be affect by climate change than their male counterparts, but the relationship between climate change and women is deadly. Increased climate change related events has led to rising sexual and gender-based violenceagainst women and girls. As the planet continues to heat up, women are facing the brute force of the consequences, especially in one of the world’s most climate vulnerable sub-regions, North Africa.
The UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) stated that in 2024 North Africa has the highest recorded temperature change at 1.28°C above the average from 1991-2020; this has made it the fastest warming region in Africa. Within North Africa, climate change is already deepening already existing inequalities. With fragile economies, limited infrastructure and agriculture dependency, extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, prolonged droughts, floods, coastline erosion, and water scarcity have a catastrophic effect on the livelihoods of millions. All of which have a devastating effect on agriculturally based jobs and women, as women across North Africa make up nearly half of the active population in agriculture and face unequal challenges. Yet women lack land rights, financial independence, and access to green energy alternatives, and when crop-yields fall short, and water scarcity threatens their towns and villages, it is women that are expected to work harder, walk farther, and even drop out of school to manage the increasing threat of climate change Women and girls are also uniquely affected as studies have shown that during times of climate instability there is an increased likelihood of child marriages and heightened reproductive health risks.
It is clear that the issue of climate change is no longer just a threat to women in North Africa, but the deadly reality for millions of women and girls. In addition, women are still underrepresented in climate change fighting policies and initiatives along with, women-led climate change solutions remaining minimal as well as investments. The main issue stays steady, many climate-adaptation focused projects have failed to address and grasp the gender dimension of climate change, but women are not only victims of climate change, they are the key to solving it.
To mitigate this, the UN Development Programme and the African Union must come together and launch a women-led green energy and climate resilience initiative. This initiative would focus on empowering women as leaders in green energy in North Africa through the funding of women-run green energy solutions that bring together international and regional bodies to increase community support. This initiative would implement solar, and wind powered energy cooperatives as well as using solar-powered water pumps and harvesting rainwater. This initiative empowers women as entrepreneurs and stakeholders in green energy with the tools to access financing, educational resources, and ensures that women have a voice in regional and international climate policy decisions.
This initiative strengthens community resistance to climate change through local women-led initiatives and supports international and regional cooperation and integrates the need for climate action while also address the gendered effects of climate change. This initiative, however, would require continuous and would require long-term funding, thus unfavorable for outside donors. This initiative would also require a large-scale project, across multiple countries with varying levels of support and infrastructure needs, but the cost of human lives and environmental effects is too high to remain inactive.
This initiative is not new, across the African continent, women have been leading the way for climate change resistance and programs centered on women-led climate solutions for years. These programs however are historically underfunded and lacking the support needed to integrate into larger society and regional bodies such as the African Union. The countries of North Africa have the ability to scale up projects and initiatives that work, and fight climate change with women at the center.
The first step would be consult with the African Union and state governments of North African countries to gather participating countries, as well as isolate and identify the most climate vulnerable regions within these countries and bridge the gap between local women and their governments.
The next step would be to source the funding; to ensure financial stability the initiative could draw from both public and private means of funding. The Green Climate Fund that was established within the framework of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change would be a fantastic option as it supports low-income and developing countries in their fight against climate change. The UNDPs Climate Promise Initiative would be another fantastic funding partner as it focuses on supporting climate action in more than 140 countries, and a portfolio north of $2 billion in grant funding. Lastly I would look at the African Development Bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa. This fund is a multi-donor fund contributed to by many developed countries such as the United States, The United Kingdom, Norway, and many others. This fund specifically contributes to access to affordable and sustainable energy service for all in Africa. These three funding contributors would give women in North Africa ample funding and support from fund and initiatives focused on supporting both local and regional governments in their fight against climate change.
While climate change is global, the fight against it starts locally. By concentrating on the unequal gendered impacts of climate change on women, we create more effective solutions that tackle multiple effects of climate change. North Africa has the chance to show the world how including women in the fight against climate change is not to be questioned, its required. By demonstrating that climate resilience and gender equality are not separate battles but one in the same, North Africa can combat climate change and support its most affected group, women.
The future of climate resilience relies on intersectionality and inclusion of climate-vulnerable groups, using sustainable solutions to tackle the devastating effects of climate change. The women in North Africa are ready to stand up and fight climate change; the question is, is the international community ready to support them?
About the Author
Mackenzie Andersen is a School of Diplomacy student who participated in the UN Field Seminar course in the Spring 2025 semester.