Third World Women Suffer the Most from Climate Change While Bloggers Use Sex to Save the Earth

GREEN IS GOOD
by Margaret Smith

Is climate change a feminist issue?

According to the United Nation's Population Fund (UNFPA), yes. The link between climate change and feminism has been debated for a while now, and last Thursday the UNFPA released a report that proved what many already believed. The study, titled "The State of the World Population 2009", found that women bear a disproportionate burden of climate change, but so far have been largely overlooked in discussions on the environment, especially those problems that will affect them the most such as rising sea levels, drought, melting glaciers and other extreme weather conditions.

This is seen in developing nations more than anywhere else, as the extreme poor are especially vulnerable to the effect of climate change. Many people in third world countries make their living off of agriculture, and when floods, hurricanes, and droughts strike they have a greater chance of not only going hungry but also losing their entire livelihood. What's worse is that a majority of the 1.5 billion people living on less than $1 a day are women, and with fewer income-earning opportunities available to them, they are extremely susceptible to these conditions. Add family and household responsibilities on top of that, and you'll find that many women are trapped in their current conditions of poverty and deprivation.

"Poor women in poor countries are among the hardest hit by climate change, even though they contributed the least to it," said UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid in a statement accompanying the report.

So if climate change is a gender problem, than is there a feminist solution? According to the UNFPA, a combination of greater education, health access and awareness is the answer. These tools will empower women and give them the necessary knowledge on how to better their own lives and ultimately, benefit the environment.

"Girls with more education, for example, tend to have smaller and healthier families as adults," the report said. "Women with access to reproductive health services, including family planning, have lower fertility rates that contribute to slower growth to greenhouse-gas emissions in the long run."

Out in the media, though, we've seen a much different spin on the idea, and it has only one focus: sex.

Much like PETA's infamous "I'd rather be naked than wear fur" campaign, in recent months there have been a number of advertisements promoting green lifestyles by using sexual material. With the UNFPA's recent report advocating health awareness, family planning and reproductive services, some media outlets have jumped on the opportunity to point out the link between the environment, climate change and sex.

Take the Associated Press' article on the issue, for example. In addition to their traditional coverage, another article was printed with a blaring headline that reads "UN: Fight Climate Change With Free Condoms". The article goes on to discuss the link between population control and climate change, pointing out that some expert sources say that there is no direct connection between the two. Nevertheless, they decided to lead with an introductory paragraph that read this:

The battle against global warming could be helped if the world slowed population growth by making free condoms and family planning advice more widely available, the U.N. Population Fund said Wednesday.

The agency did not recommend countries set limits on how many children people should have, but said "Women with access to reproductive health services... have lower fertility rates that contribute to slower in greenhouse gas emissions."

The article was reprinted by other major new organizations, including the Huffington Post and CBS News.

The Sex and the Windy City blog from Chicago Now, a collection of blogs from Chicago that are under the Tribune Company, wrote a brief post on the issue, only they decided to omit all other facts about the issue. This is what they ended up writing:

Yesterday, the U.N. population fund suggested that giving away free condoms and promoting other methods of birth control is one way we can make a global effort to be more green.... I mean, is latex bio-degradable?

The media immediately jumped on the issue of giving out free condoms, completely missing the point of the entire report. Perhaps the UNFPA did say that making reproductive health services more widely available could help bring down global warming levels, but the real point is to empower women and give the tools they need to make their lives better. Just handing out free condoms was never the direct solution.

Want more proof that the "sex sells" campaign has finally reached environmentalists? I need only to point you to AngryGreenGirl.com. Featuring the "angry green girl", her friend Jessica, "Jamie the Intern" and "Can't Get Laid Guy", they're slogan is "hot, green and shameless." The group tries to teach practical lessons on how to save the environment, usually clad in nothing more than a bikini or a tank top and a pair of shorts:



350.org, the climate change organization responsible for the International Day of Climate Action, did their own version of the same ideas. One of their videos has a group of models taking off their clothes as a counter at the top right hand corner of the screen goes down from 390 parts per million to 350, the number climate change experts say we need to bring the earth down to. Then, right as they reach 352 in nothing but a bra and underwear the girls all say "Ok, so this is what 352 parts per million looks like. If you want to see 350, our natural state, you have to get your politicians to act now."



So if these writers want to talk about climate change and critique the UNFPA's ideas on population control, go right ahead. But perhaps there is a more tactful way to do it other than using flashy leads and headlines about sex that draw readers in while not even addressing the real point of the report that truly makes it a feminist solution. Providing health access, greater education and reproductive services can give these women better lives while benefiting the environment in the process, and that's not just about passing out free condoms.

GREEN IS GOOD

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