“I’m using my voice, and it’s working,” says Fanta in Mali as she is advocating for climate change resilience and women’s rights with leaders in her community.
Raquel Vásquez in Guatemala knows there is an innate connection between the Earth and women: “They both feed the world. They both give life.” Raquel leads the grassroots organization Madre Tierra in Guatemala. “Considering that the destruction of the Earth is caused by human beings, the solution is in our hands.”
These women, and millions like them are standing up in the face of huge challenges. “Every fraction of a degree matters to the people already on the frontlines of the climate emergency,” says Chikondi Chabvuta, CARE regional advocacy lead. Those are the stakes for people around the world—food versus hunger, safety versus danger, war versus peace. Climate change is creating huge repercussions everywhere, and they are often hardest for the people who can least afford to face new crises.
Since 2015, CARE has helped 5.4 million people in 39 countries, 55% women and girls, to strengthen their ability to build climate resilience and reduce their vulnerabilities against shocks that affect them. In FY20, Climate Justice programs reached 2.6 million people directly, including 1.5 million women (54%) and 13.4 million indirectly through 221 projects.
What changed?
- People handle climate shocks better. 2.7 million people were able to build their resilience to the effects of climate change. For example, in Ethiopia, farmers were 40% less likely to lose crops because of the weather.
- People are taking charge of their own resilience. 3.6 million people actively worked to reduce their vulnerabilities to climate shocks. For example, in Malawi’s Enhancing Community Resilience Project people say, “No one died during the 2015 floods because [community] members went around in the night waking people up.” Community early warning helped keep people alive and provided a $4 return for every $1 invested.
- People advocate for change. People are coming together to create change in their own communities. Alvin in the Philippines leads an organization of small-scale fishers in their conversations with the government about opportunities and adaptation to extreme weather events. He says now they feel more prepared to deal with shocks. Fanta in Mali is lobbying for women’s access to land so they can use climate-resilient agriculture. “I’m using my voice, and it’s working,” she said.
- Women have more options. Using tools like solar kitchens in Uganda or portable gardens in Niger, women in CARE projects have opened up new options for dealing with the risks climate change causes them—from risks of violence when collecting firewood to losing crops with unpredictable rainfall.
- Global commitments improved. CARE actively engaged in the UNFCCC process and contributed dedicated advocacy efforts, along with other partners and vulnerable developing countries, to include the 1.5 C limit, gender references, principles of good adaptation and addressing loss and damage in the Paris Agreement. Right now, CARE teams and partners are at COP26, advocating for better financing, gender justice, and mitigation efforts.
- Policies changed. Canada has set a goal of 50% of its climate finance going to adaptation, partly because of CARE Canada’s multi-year advocacy strategy. So far, Canada reports reaching 54% adaptation finance in its report to the UNFCCC. New disaster risk policies in Education in Guatemala could provide impacts for 23 million people in the next several years.
How did it happen?
- Include gender justice at the core. 87% of projects were including gender equality as part of their programing. CARE’s climate work centers women in projects like scenario planning and climate analysis.
- Prioritize local voices. CARE supports local and national leaders—like Shakila Islam in the photo here, a leader and activist working to tackle the climate crisis, COVID-19, and also the Rohingya refugee humanitarian crisis. She is the Vice-Chair of the Protiki Jubo Sangshad (Bangladesh Model Youth Parliament), chief coordinator of YouthNet for Climate Justice, and a founding member of Fridays for Future Bangladesh movement.
- Get people access to information. In Vietnam, the agro-climate information services project provides weather information for more than 5,000 farmers to make more informed climate decisions.
- Think about funding for individuals. In Ethiopia and Malawi, savings groups are part of the core that women use to build resilience and prepare for emergencies.
- Advocate for systems to change. CARE consistently participates in global climate conferences like COP26, where we push for broader change. We also fund local partners to participate in these sessions so they have a voice at the table. We’ve also published a report card to show how national plans for climate change include gender equality.
- Integrate climate into our work: 36% of CARE projects have a strategy to address the problems people face because of climate change.