No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Gendered dimensions of climate change response in Swedish municipalities
Abstract
This article elaborates on and discusses gendered dimensions of climate change response in Swedish municipalities. There are indications that attitudes and behaviour to the environment and climate change are gendered. This evidence together with our own work further indicates that gender awareness is most probably an important influence on how municipalities respond to climate change. The aim of this study was to investigate if and how gendered aspects of climate change response are integrated in the Swedish response to climate change. The potential causal relationships between a high level of awareness of the gendered aspects of climate change and the levels of climate change response were investigated. We asked whether there is a positive relationship between gender awareness and the quality of the communities' climate change policies and practice. Indications of such a relationship prompt a change in research priorities – paying more attention to gender – and in subsequent policy developments.
... The importance of urban green spaces for improving resilience and adaptation to new challenges (i.e., climate change, urban growth, and social inclusion) has been recognized by several authors [4][5][6]. Moreover, these spaces provide many ecological, psychological, and social benefits [7,8]. For example, in 2020, Battisti et al. [9] showed that in an urbanized context (City of Turin) the ecosystem services provided by public green areas differed among neighborhoods and were related with socio-demographic conditions. ...
... Principal questions, taken from the four section in which the questionnaire was subdivided, were selected. Questions 4,7,8,9,10,14, and 16 were not selected because they were less significant for the general analyses. Answers were elaborated in form of percentages. ...
... Fewer answers were obtained from other Italian regions. Some of them were represented by less than 10 respondents: Abruzzo (8), Basilicata (8) and Molise (2). ...
The scientific community recognizes that urban green areas play an important role in supporting human wellbeing. Green spaces are used differently by citizens accordingly to their age, gender, education, or lifestyle. During the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic period in 2020, public green areas were closed due to the limitations imposed by social distancing in Italy and people were forced to stay at home. The aim of this research was to investigate the importance of public green areas in the life of the population in relation to the limits imposed during the first lockdown in Italy. A participatory approach was used, and an online questionnaire focused on people’s perceptions about the public attendance in green areas and their main uses pre-, during, and post-COVID-19 emergency period was administrated randomly to the adult population. The questions focused on the habit, frequency, and duration of park visits and about the individual perceptions and feelings about the green areas close (maximum 200 m distance) to their residences. A total of 3286 responses were obtained and analyzed at national and regional levels (Piemonte). In order to have a general national overview, a basic descriptive statistic was applied using all answers, elaborated in the form of percentages. At the regional level, questions were selected and compared to determine if answers were in related. Statistical analyses with chi-square tests and correspondence analyses were performed. The results indicated that the social distancing period for COVID-19 containment in Italy influenced perceptions about urban green areas. The importance of having outdoor green spaces was highlighted and an increase in interest about urban green areas was observed. Future planning strategies will have to consider the need of designing urban green areas for having more livable cities.
... A study on gender aspects in Scandinavian climate policy-making showed that even though women were represented in equal numbers as men, this did not automatically result in women influencing the climate policy-making [52]. These authors emphasize that masculine norms can be deeply institutionalized [52] and equal representation in planning and decision-making processes is not a guarantee for achieving gender awareness [53]. ...
... The largest differences between males and females were found regarding the environmental aspects of Energy, Transport and Land use & Ecology. Dymén et al. [53] proposed the possibility for the differences in attitudes and behavior in relation to environmental aspects, such as climate change, to be gendered. Before suggesting that the differences found in this study can be caused by gender-dependent differences, further investigation and research is needed. ...
... Thus, equality and equity in professional situations is an important aspect to consider in environmental, decision and gender studies. Dymén et al. discussed about gender-dependent differences in citizens' attitudes and behavior in relation to environment [53]. Therefore, involving both men and women in urban design processes is of importance. ...
Urban design professionals are key actors in early design phases and have the possibility to influence urban development and direct it in a more sustainable direction. Therefore, gender differences in environmental perspectives among urban design professionals may have a marked effect on urban development and the environment. This study identified gender differences in environment-related attitudes among urban design professionals involved in the international architectural competition ‘A New City Centre for Kiruna’ in northern Sweden. Participants’ self-rated possibility to influence environmental aspects was higher for males than for females. Conversely, the importance placed on environmental aspects had higher ratings among females, although the differences regarding the rating of personal responsibility were small. The gap between the participants’ self-rated belief in their ability to influence and rated importance of environmental aspects was larger among female participants. Females placed great importance on environmental aspects even though they felt that their possibility to influence these was rather low. Conversely, male participants felt that they had the greatest possibility to influence, although some males rated the importance of environmental aspects thelowest. The gender differences identified are important from an equality and environmental perspective as they may influence pro-environmental behavior among urban design professionals and ultimately influence the environmental performance of the built environment.
... The literature on gender, disaster management, and climate change adaptation is rather limited [1]. Nevertheless, it is known that women (and youth) can be vulnerable to extreme weather events because of their limited adaptive capacity and social-cultural discrimination, as evident within the context of post-Hurricane Katrina events in New Orleans, USA [2]. ...
... Men also talked about help coming from emergency workers, and this might be related to roads and infrastructure or property damage that they had to deal with. Dymén et al. [1] suggested that because men tend to drive more, they are more aware of issues related to transportation. The limited knowledge regarding community help among women may be due to their role closer to home. ...
... Men are more likely to be active and respond at the community level, and decisions made will often be related to their actions (such as the construction of protection walls). In Sweden, for instance, it has been shown that women have different perspectives on how climate change action can be executed, but have usually little power to change policies [1]. This re-emphasizes the concern of the lack of involvement of women in broader community discussions [31]. ...
This paper conveys the findings of the first phase of a longitudinal study into climate change adaptation in Atlantic Canada. Men and women from 10 coastal communities in three provinces (Quebec, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island) were interviewed to better understand how both sexes perceived and reacted to extreme weather events. Their responses were recorded based on their experiences, personal and community levels of preparedness, as well as help received and effects on their lives. Most importantly, the findings denote that more men were personally prepared and more active in the community than women. More men recognized a deficiency in help at the community level, and were critical of government in particular, addressing a lack of financial interventions and support. Women were forthcoming with their emotions, admitting to feeling fear and worry, and their perceptions in terms of impacts and actions were closer to home. The results support what others have shown that in rural and coastal communities the traditional division of labor may influence and lead to a gender bias in terms of actions and gradual adaptation in communities. There is a need to better understand how these sometimes subtle differences may affect decisions that do not always consider women's roles and experiences in the face of extreme events.
... This study formed part of a broader research project funded by the Swedish Research Council Formas and was carried out in different methodological steps. The first step was to assess current adaptation approaches using a meta-evaluation of existing single and cross-case studies published between 2008 and 2013 [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. These studies were identified through searching databases of scientific articles using the following search string: adaptation AND (Sweden OR Swedish) AND (urban OR city OR cities OR municipa*). ...
... Only one study mentions further ways of physical adapting urban planning to climate change, namely, the construction of escape routes, flood-proofed cellars, retention areas, improved storm water systems and urban drainage [25]. As regards extreme temperatures, the only measures found were the installation of air-conditioning on city buses and considering extreme temperatures when planning new buildings (e.g., through improved insulation) [21,57] (Table 1). ...
... This ignores the importance of the small green urban matrix (e.g., consisting of residential gardens and public green spaces) for creating a sustainable urban drainage system [19]. In contrast to climate change adaptation, small-scale measures for climate change mitigation that can be implemented by citizens are more widely supported [76] and discussed in literature [21]. ...
Climate change poses a serious challenge to sustainable urban development worldwide. In Sweden, climate change work at the city level emerged in 1996 and has long had a focus on mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. City planners’ “adaptation turn” is recent and still ongoing. This paper presents a meta-evaluation of Swedish municipal adaptation approaches, and how they relate to institutional structures at different levels. The results show that although increasing efforts are being put into the identification of barriers to adaptation planning, in contrast, there is little assessment or systematization of the actual adaptation measures and mainstreaming strategies taken. On this basis, opportunities for advancing a more comprehensive approach to sustainable adaptation planning at both the local and institutional level are discussed.
... Efforts to include women in transport planning by recognizing their conditions, values and preferences seems a logical step to counter this. We suggest that gender equality may be relevant to increasing energy efficiency in the transport sector, as there are large discrepancies in the sector along the lines of gender in travel patterns and choice of transportation means, as well as in attitudes and norms among citizens, planners and decision-makers [19][20][21][22][23]. ...
... It suggests that transport is a masculine-coded issue area, neither attracting female politicians nor implicitly working to exclude them. Indeed, the idea that transport is masculine-coded has been suggested in studies that have analyzed difficulties in restricting car use and linked to prevailing masculine norms embedded in the transport sector [20][21][22]. Johnston et al. [103] also suggested that "public bureaucracies are not gender neutral but rather the domain of masculinity" [103] (p. 537). ...
There are large discrepancies in the transport sector along gender lines in travel patterns and means of transportation used, but also in attitudes and norms among citizens, planners and decision-makers, with women generally more positive towards measures involving the lowering CO2 emissions. At the same time, the number of women involved in transport-related decisions is low. This is a problem for gender equality but possibly also for sustainability. A careful review of previous studies indicated a lack of analyses on the subject based on quantitative data at the local level. We investigated a possible link between women’s presence in local policymaking and more sustainable transport policies, and whether it is possible to capture such an effect. The main contribution of this paper is a methodological approach in which, besides generating unique data on representation in municipalities (confirming men’s dominance, specifically in transport policymaking), possibilities for quantitatively measuring gender and the level of sustainability in transport planning are discussed and tested. Challenges in collecting relevant data and analyzing possible covariances in the data set are discussed and presented as well as suggestions for further investigations into the possible link between gender and sustainable transport performance.
... 56 This perspective has been tested in the literature. In their study on driving and environmental awareness, Dym en et al., 57 for example, concluded that women are more environmentally friendly. They found that men in Sweden drove cars more often than women and that women used transportation in an environmentally friendly way. ...
... Women have further been found to be more concerned about the effects of pollution and climate change. 28,57 As our review of the literature on health and outdoor space has demonstrated so far, the meanings about and uses of outdoor space are highly gendered. Women use natural environments in a different way to men, and at the same time, their experiences are poorly represented in the literature. ...
Objectives:
Public health has recognized that nature is good for health but there are calls for a review of its gendered aspects. This review attempts to develop and explore a broad analytical theme - the differing interconnections between gender, health and nature. The paper summarizes the interconnections that have been subject to extensive academic enquiry between gender and health, health and space, and gender and space.
Methods:
A combination of key terms including place; gender; health; outdoor space; green space; natural environment; national parks; femininity; masculinity; recreation; physical activity; sustainability; ecofeminism; feminism; environmental degradation; and environmental justice were used to search the electronic databases Sociological Abstracts, Web of Science and Scopus to identify relevant articles. We took two approaches for this review to provide an overview and analysis of the range of research in the field, and to present a framework of research that is an analysis of the intersection of gender, health and nature.
Results:
Four dimensions are distinguished: (1) evaluations of health benefits and 'toxicities' of nature; (2) dimensions and qualities of nature/space; (3) environmental justice including accessibility, availability and usability; and (4) identification of boundaries (symbolic/material) that construct differential relationships between nature, gender and health. This paper offers an understanding of how environmental and social conditions may differentially shape the health of women and men. The dimensions direct analytical attention to the diverse linkages that constitute overlapping and inseparable domains of knowledge and practice, to identify complex interconnections between gender, health and nature.
Conclusion:
This review therefore analyses assumptions about the health benefits of nature, and its risks, for gender from an in-depth, analytical perspective that can be used to inform policy.
... Thus, environmental action that fails to problematise these assumptions, in the case of green growth, are considered ultimately doomed (Giampietro 2023). There are therefore calls to incorporate a wider range of perspectives into planning and governance (e.g., Thompson 2008;Dryzek 2013). Generalising, such authors argue that 'uncomfortable knowledge' -information that problematises the fundamental assumptions upon which a given situation is conceived -needs to be brought into policy processes (Rayner 2012). ...
Cities and their governance structures face myriad environmental and sustainability challenges and are often important sites for environmental action. This is the case for biodiversity protection, which is increasingly an urban policy focus. Concomitant to this are conceptualisations of human-environmental relationships. Exploring and problematising such relationships is an increasingly prominent concern within sustainability science, not least around urban planning. In this article, I explore how public officials at four Swedish municipalities frame biodiversity protection within urban planning. The article contributes by increasing knowledge of how the concept of biodiversity is applied at the level of local government. I apply Pálsson’s typology of human-environmental relationships. Analysis of these data reveals a predominance of paternalistic views of human-environmental relations. Biodiversity is considered a measurable indicator for wider nature; a feature of place; a source of value and something that can be engineered. Uniting these framings is the paternalistic view of ‘nature’ as a separate entity to ‘society’, and that biodiversity is framed as a largely technical issue. The implications of these framings are that alternative views of human-environmental relations and the diversity of society are currently occluded. This is relevant as the public officials participating in this study, including ‘ecologists’ and ‘landscape architects’, were equivocal about the prospect of combining biodiversity protection and urban development.
... This is important in no small part due to the strength of the argument that the only truly sustainable society is also a just society (Agyeman, 2010). Thus, for example, evidence from Sweden highlights how a positive relationship exists between gender awareness within municipalities and the quality of their climate change awareness and progress (Dymén et al., 2013). There is thus scope for connecting the lamps framework to the linked fields of environmental justice, political ecology and intersectionality theory (e.g., Malin et al., 2019). ...
Parris et al.'s seven lamps (principles) of planning for biodiversity in the city (2018) provides a framework for achieving two objectives. Firstly, to alter the normative basis on which urban planning is predicated by integrating a concern for nonhuman inhabitants. Secondly, it argues for the greater enrolment of ecologists and the field of ecology within environmental planning. It seeks to encourage a paradigm-shift to reorient society on a more sustainable path by demonstrating that planning for more-than-human cities does not require a conceptual leap, rather it resonates with extant planning concerns. It thus takes a pragmatic approach to radical change. However, I argue that this framework as originally stated insufficiently considers the diversity of society or the field of ecology and entails an anthropocentric worldview. This undermines the lamps framework's radical agenda. I argue that this issue could be ameliorated by developing two further principles, Justice and Contact. Integrating these concerns into the lamps framework will strengthen its ability to contribute to efforts to transition society into a sustainable state.
... In light of this, a protection gap is evident in the EPSR, in particular regarding the groups furthest from the labour market, including such vulnerable groups as migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers. Furthermore, a 'gender lens' is missing in the EGD, even though the existing literature demonstrates that climate change and adaptation/mitigation responses 'are, indeed, gendered' (Allwood, 2020: 175; see also Dymén et al., 2013). As women experience higher risks of poverty (especially single and older women), they are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change. ...
This article lays out an agenda for researching the social policy challenges facing the EU under the combined impact of a triple transition: green, digital and demographic. It takes as its starting point the double bind confronting the welfare state, pressured by increasing costs and serious socio-ecological concerns on the one hand, and the need, more daunting than ever, for protection against a vast array of imminent socio-economic, demographic and environmental risks, on the other. Against this background, it explores the complex web of synergies and trade-offs between the three transitions, examines the disjointed manner in which EU social policy has so far developed, and demonstrates the controversial stance of the EU’s overarching strategic framework – the European Green Deal – on the issue of a socially just transition. It also maps key research foci and gaps deserving further study, including the role of key players in the transition.
... Furthermore, a "gender lens" is missing from the EGD, even though the existing literature demonstrates that climate change and adaptation/mitigation responses "are, indeed, gendered" (Allwood, 2020, p. 175; see also Dymén et al., 2013). As women experience higher risks of poverty (especially lone and older women), they are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change. ...
This paper lays out a research agenda for the challenges faced by the EU under the combined impact of the “green and just transition”, the accelerating digital transformation and the unfolding of unprecedented societal complexities by the covid-19 pandemic. Over the last decade the multifaceted relations between environmental policies and social welfare have garnered increasing attention in the academic and policy debate. A key confrontation in this debate is between: (a) a sustainable development view that envisages a win-win situation between carbon-neutral growth and social justice outcomes; and (b) a radical “post-growth” perspective that considers the decoupling of growth from carbon emissions and consumption of resources as impossible, advocating a turn away from economic growth as a necessary condition for achieving environmental protection and the good-life goal. Our focus is not so much on engaging in a critical review of a variety of versions of the above approaches. But, in light of this debate our aim is to tease out, in empirical terms, major issues, concerns and gaps regarding the explicitly stated or implied links between the European Green Deal and the social policies intended to support it in a just and inclusive way.
The paper consists of three parts. The first part critically reviews the programmatic position of the EU on “green growth” and “just transition”, vis-à-vis the stance of other major supranational organizations (ILO, OECD, the UN 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals) with an emphasis on the breadth of distributional concerns. The second part deals with the under-researched relations between environmental policies, sustainability and the main social policy tools to be deployed for the green transformation. We highlight potential dilemmas, trade-offs and synergies between the environmental goals and the advocated social policy underpinnings - the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) and the Social Investment (SI) approach. We briefly assess whether these social policy tools can deliver on the Green Deal’s claims to address existing and emerging distributional challenges. Major questions are: How does the SI approach square with the EPSR? And, how can the EPSR be strengthened and bring centre-stage the nexus between social rights and environmental change? The urgency of the latter is strongly underscored by the pandemic. The third part, then, briefly looks at the role of major actors (national, sub- and supra-national) in the impending transformation, while the conclusion wraps up our main arguments.
... There are large discrepancies in the transport sector along the lines of genderin travel patterns, means of transportation, in attitudes and norms among citizens, planners and decision-makers (Dymén & Langlais, 2017;Dymén, Andersson, & Langlais, 2013;Dymén, Langlais, & Cars, 2014;Kronsell, Smidfelt Rosqvist, & Winslott Hiselius, 2016;Winslott Hiselius & Smidfelt Rosqvist, 2018). Women's transport patterns are on average more sustainable than men's. ...
Gender identities are relevant for sustainable transport. By analyzing the synergies between gender inequality (as a problem), and lack of sustainability (another problem), there is a potential to create an understanding of how these problems are linked. Our aim is to better understand how gendered norms find expression in transport policy and planning. Taking a starting point in gender studies we advance four ideal types on masculine and feminine norms and relate them to sustainability in transport. We advance a methodology for studying gender norms in relation to sustainability in terms of how they are expressed in the text. We contribute to a deeper understanding of transportation related to men and masculinity studies, and advance work by masculinity scholars to include sustainability in transportation issues. Through text analysis, we demonstrate empirically how four Swedish municipalities have developed their (sustainable) transport policies 2014–2018. Our results indicate that the level of sustainability, in plans and strategies, are related to the presence of diverse masculine and feminine norms rather than male and female bodies.
... Several studies have demonstrated that women are more strictly connected to nature and its values [39], and therefore they perceived and experiment higher environmental pollution and natural resources depletion [40]. Women are more sensitive to ecological aspects in mobility [41]; use distinctively natural space [42]; have a very impressive view of natural ecosystems [43]; and are deeply touched by climate change dynamics [44]. This study's findings on a gendered perception of esthetic quality of the protected area support conclusions developed by MacBride-Stewart and colleagues [45]. ...
The European Commission promotes management practices for nature conservation and human well-being, requiring the involvement of users in Natura 2000 sites. The research aim was to investigate the user’s aesthetic perception in relation to the adoption of different management measures, within an Italian metropolitan Natura 2000 site. The research was performed in La Mandria Park in 2018 (1780 ha). The method was based on a participatory approach (interviews, questionnaires and participatory mapping), involving both park managers and users. Four main landscape elements were identified: lawns, woodlands, lines of trees and water bodies. Questionnaires (N = 232) were analyzed by descriptive and regression analysis. Mapped preferred places were analyzed using ecological indexes on 500 m land use buffers. A gendered perception of the aesthetic quality was detected, demonstrating that women are more strictly connected to nature than men. Users involved in park activities better perceived the aesthetic quality, while regular visitors had a worst perception. From participatory mapping (N = 137), it emerges that the eight preferred places are characterized by a mixed land use with different maintenance regimes and ecological values. Users’ perceptions should be integrated in a co-management plan in metropolitan Natura 2000 sites, combining nature conservation with user enjoyment.
This article examines the presence of urban soil buried under anthropogenic debris in an air-museum park in the Madrid city center (Spain), and highlights the particularities of this singular urbanized setting to indicate ecological evaluation options for soils. The study of a soil profile (with a thickness of about 2.30 m), classified as Urbic Technosols, allowed us to devise that it is formed by a series of filled-in amounts of artifacts (construction debris and other anthropogenic waste) of about 10–30%, plus organic and mineral materials. These soils’ composition and morphology depend on the natural conditions of the territory and also on anthropogenic activities. The soil properties (analyzed by conventional techniques) are moderate in acidity reaction and have relatively higher organic matter content. The Pb, Cu and Zn concentrations in anthropogenic horizons do not exceed the approximate permissible concentrations by 1.5–10-fold. Over the course of time, the soil profile has been transformed as a result of the impact of pedogenetic processes developing under the Mediterranean climate and man’s hand. Although urban environments present a certain complexity, at least the role of soil should be recognized regarding flood mitigation, recycling of wastes and toxins, filtering of nutrients or carbon storage and GHG regulation. The analysis of our results concludes the need to better perceive this soil profile and its green space to improve the urban ecosystem and to ensure better citizen well-being.
For decades, feminist activists and scholars have stressed the importance of integrating gender perspectives into the most defining challenge of our time: the climate disaster. In this article, we analyze official Norwegian policy documents in the context of regional and supra-national levels. We identify a lack of connection between gender equality policy and climate policy in the Norwegian policy documents that is symptomatic of a general silence on gender in climate policy in the Global North. We argue that there is untapped potential for gender mainstreaming in Norwegian climate policy and suggest that gendered, disaggregated data on climate issues could be combined with scholarly insights about the Nordic gender equality model so as to further our understanding of the climate crisis. Finally, we ask whether the absence of gender perspectives in Norwegian climate policy may reflect an unrecognized contradiction between Nordic gender equality policy and sustainability.
After the approval of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, mainstreaming has regained attention as a key strategy to advance towards sustainable development (SD). Taking into account the multidimensionality of this societal aspiration and the indivisible nature of the agenda, the United Nations has developed a strategy encompassing mainstreaming, acceleration and policy support (the UN MAPS strategy). Both, SD as well as gender equality and women empowerment, crucial conditions for peaceful, inclusive and prosperous societies, have been subject to mainstreaming. Critics have considered it a weak strategy while other voices praise its potentiality for fostering change. This article analyses a particular case where gender and sustainability have been jointly mainstreamed by the Municipality of Ansoáin, in Navarra (Spain). The study enquires about the role of mainstreaming strategies in forging systemic changes. The findings are encouraging. There seem to be no blueprints but complex processes of policy-making and implementation at multi-level governance, where leadership, financial support and, in particular, combined gender strategies (mainstreaming and positive actions) with a transformational approach has been crucial in caring for people and the environment simultaneously.
(Please find the English version of the abstract below. The report is in German, a 15 pages summary in english. the guidance for the Gender Impact Assessment in Climate Policy is urrently translated into English )
Zielsetzung des Forschungsprojektes war es, den Mehrwert der Geschlechterperspektive für den Klimaschutz und die Klimaanpassung zu eruieren und umgekehrt darzulegen, inwieweit eine geeignete Ausgestaltung klimapolitischer Maßnahmen zur Geschlechtergerechtigkeit beitragen kann.
In einem umfassenden Literaturreview wurde ein Überblick über die Forschung zu Geschlechterverhältnissen und Klimawandel geliefert, der die Relevanz der Wechselwirkung zwischen diesen beiden Bereichen verdeutlicht. Es werden Erkenntnislücken der Forschung identifiziert sowie dort identifizierte Chancen für eine wirksamere und geschlechtergerechtere Klimapolitik aufgezeigt.
Angestoßen wurde die zunehmende Bedeutung der Geschlechterperspektiven für eine wirksamere Klimapolitik von den Beschlüssen und Mandaten zu Gender bei den internationalen Klimaverhandlungen. Um diese auf nationaler Ebene umzusetzen, wurden im Forschungsprojekt analytische Kategorien zur Untersuchung der strukturell ungleichen Machtverhältnisse zwischen den Geschlechtern sowie ihrer Ursachen und Ausprägungen in verschiedenen gesellschaftlichen Bereichen entwickelt, die sogenannten Genderdimensionen. Mit ihrer Hilfe werden potenzielle Wirkungen von Maßnahmen auf die Geschlechterverhältnisse identifiziert und klimapolitische Handlungsmöglichkeiten generiert.
Diese Genderdimensionen wurden für die Weiterentwicklung der Gleichstellungsprü-fung/gleichstellungsorientierten Folgenabschätzung (Gender Impact Assessment) für die Klimapolitik herangezogen. Als Ergebnis einer Test und Kommentierungsphase wurde eine praxisorientierte Arbeitshilfe entwickelt.
Im Zuge einer Wirkungs-, Daten- und Methodenbedarfs-Analyse wurden die sieben Genderdimensionen für die Analyse von drei klimapolitischen Programmen und Strategien (Klimaschutzplan 2050, kommunales Maßnahmenprogramm der Nationalen Klimaschutzinitiative (NKI) sowie Deutsche Anpassungsstrategie) genutzt, um Anregungen zu geben, wie diese gleichstellungsorientierter und klimapolitisch wirksamer ausgerichtet werden können.
Das Ergebnis zeigt Chancen zur Verbesserung der Geschlechtergerechtigkeit auf vielen Ebenen. Dabei werden Grundsätze zur Einbeziehung von Geschlechtergerechtigkeit in die Klimapolitik genauso abgeleitet wie konkrete Politikempfehlungen zum Klimaschutzgesetz und Gender Aktionsplänen etc. Wichtige Erkenntnisse ergeben sich auch für Methoden, Datenbedarfe und Datenerhebung sowie Forschungsbedarfe und -regularien. Schließlich werden Empfehlungen zu Finanzierungs- und Förderaspekten sowie Wissensverbreitung und Kompetenzstärkung gegeben.
English
The aim of the research project is to demonstrate the added value of the gender perspective for climate protection and adaptation and, conversely, to demonstrate to what extent the appropriate design of climate policy measures can contribute to gender justice.
A comprehensive literature review provides an overview of the state of the art of research on gender relationships and climate change, highlights the relevance of the interaction between these two areas, identifies gaps in knowledge and identifies opportunities for a more effective and gender-equitable climate policy.
The increasing importance of gender perspectives for an effective climate policy was triggered by the decisions and mandates on gender equality and justice in the international climate negotiations. In order to implement these at the national level, the research project developed analytical categories to examine the structurally unequal power relations based on sex and gender as well as their causes and manifestations in various areas of society, the so-called gender dimensions. Informed by analyses based on these gender dimensions, political impacts of measures on gender relations were identified and recommendations were generated.
These gender dimensions were also used for the further development of Gender Impact Assessment (GIA) for climate policies. As the result of a test and commentary phase, a practice-oriented guidance was developed.
In the course of an impact, data and methods needs analysis, the gender dimensions were used for the analysis of three climate policy programmes and strategies (Climate Action Plan 2050, NKI's Local Measures Program and German Adaptation Strategy) in order to provide suggestions on how these could be more gender-oriented.
The results show opportunities for improving gender equality at many levels. Principles for integrating gender equality into climate policy were derived, as were concrete policy recommendations on climate protection legislation and gender action plans. Important findings also arise for methods, data needs and data collection as well as research needs and regulations. Finally, recommendations are given on the financing and promotion as well as on the dissemination of knowledge and the strengthening of competence.
Das Forschungsvorhaben „Interdependente Genderaspekte der Klimapolitik. Gendergerechtigkeit als Beitrag zu einer erfolgreichen Klimapolitik: Wirkungsanalyse, Interdependenzen mit anderen sozialen Kategorien, methodische Aspekte und Gestaltungsoptionen“ hat zum Ziel,
► Einen Überblick über die Forschung zu Gender und Klima und Erkenntnisse zu liefern. Dieser systematische Literatur-Review ist die Grundlage der weiteren Forschungsarbeit und soll diese mit neueren Erkenntnissen aus der Gender & Klima-Forschung unterlegen und befördern, sowie der Identifikation potenzieller Anknüpfungspunkte für eine Integration von Genderdimen-sionen in die Klimapolitik dienen.
► Das Instrument Gender Impact Assessment (GIA) für den Klimabereich weiter zu entwickeln und exemplarisch für ausgewählte Maßnahmen zu erproben, bewerten und zu optimieren. Übergreifende Frage ist dabei, inwieweit die Maßnahmen zu einem Abbau von (Geschlechter-)Hierarchien beitragen, oder ob sie Machtkonstellationen, Ausgrenzungen und Abwertungen im Bereich der Klimapolitik verstärken.
► Mittels einer systematisierten Analyse der Wirkungsmechanismen zwischen Klimapolitik und Genderdimensionen die Frage zu beantworten, ob und in welchem Ausmaß eine geschlechtergerechte Gestaltung der Klimapolitik ihre Wirksamkeit erhöhen und damit zu zusätzlichen Ef-fekten bei der Verringerung von Treibhausgas-Emissionen führen, Vulnerabilität vermindern und Anpassungsfähigkeit erhöhen kann, und auch, inwieweit eine geeignete Ausgestaltung klimapolitischer Maßnahmen zur Geschlechtergerechtigkeit beitragen kann.
► Des Weiteren werden Datenbedarfe und Vorschläge für deren Erhebungsmethoden und Erhebungskontinuität entwickelt, und Handlungs- und Politikempfehlungen erarbeitet.
Im hier vorgestellten Arbeitspaket 1 wurde zunächst ein umfassender Literaturreview durchgeführt, mit dem der aktuelle Stand der Erkenntnisse zu den Genderaspekten des Klimawandels und deren Evidenz aufgezeigt wurde. Der Review umfasst die wesentlichen Handlungsfelder des Klimaschutzes und der Anpassung an den Klimawandel. Weiterhin wurden anhand der Literatur mögliche Hindernisse bei der Integration von Genderaspekten in klimapolitische Maßnahmen sowie mögliche Schritte zu deren Überwindung identifiziert.
Des Weiteren wurde untersucht, welche Strategien zur Integration von Gender in klimarelevanten UN-Organisationen und Institutionen angewandt werden und ob Aussagen über deren Wirksamkeit getroffen werden können.
Schließlich wurde eine Analysesystematik entwickelt, die dazu dienen soll zu erkennen, welche Genderdimensionen in den Portfolios von Klimaschutz- und Klimaanpassungsprogrammen relevant sind. Zweck der Analyse ist vor allem, Prioritäten bzw. Lücken im Sinne ungenutzter Potenziale zur Ge-schlechtergerechtigkeit in klimapolitischen Programmen zu identifizieren. Eine erste Einschätzung weist auf die dafür relevanten Genderdimensionen hin, zeigt aber auch die Limitierung mangels ent-sprechender Datenbasis auf.
Der Report ist auf deutsch hier verfügbar: https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/medien/1410/publikationen/2018-03-15_texte_23-2018_gender-klima.pdf
Research on gender dimensions of climate change response is needed if we are to succeed in providing decision-makers with a relevant scientific basis for climate change policy. Although action at the municipal level has become a high priority for Swedish climate change response, knowledge of how gender perspectives affect that response is scarce. This paper contributes knowledge of how to integrate a gender perspective in planning for climate change response, through the modification and application of a system of gender categorization that was originally developed for evaluating the World Bank's performance of environmental impact assessments. That system is used, in this paper, to analyse the Swedish component of a global citizen consultation, World Wide Views on Global Warming. The research is based on analysis of our participation in the World Wide Views as well as interviews and documentation. A conclusion from our analysis is that the Swedish part of the citizen consultation was driven by an approach that, according to the system of gender categorization, strongly demonstrated both feminine and masculine attributes. The results show that an approach that incorporates not only masculine attributes, but also feminine ones, is likely to generate a more robust and concrete climate change response.
Gesellschaftliche Genderprobleme und ungerechte Geschlechterverhältnisse weltweit sind mit verantwortlich für den Klimawandel. Dennoch wird in der Erforschung der Ursachen des Klimawandels nicht auf Geschlechterverhältnisse eingegangen und werden klimaproblematische gender-spezifische ökonomische und Entwicklungs-Paradigmen tabuisiert. Bei Methoden, Wissensproduktion und Grundlagen der Entwicklung von Maßnahmen im Kampf gegen die Erderwärmung besteht noch erheblicher Bedarf an Objektivierung, rationaler Enttabuisierung und genderverantwortlicher Entwicklung.
Der Text ist auf links.net verfügbar: http://www.linksnet.de/artikel/27213
Addressing unsustainable consumption patterns is an important target for fulfilling the goals set in , among others , Agenda 21 and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( 1993 ). Gender differences in consumption patterns and their environmental impact have so far been poorly investigated . Gender differ ences in traveling patterns in Sweden are explored using data from the National Travel Survey . Such differences are shown to be large , both in terms of distances traveled , modes of transport , and energy consumption and in terms of emissions of CO 2 . The average CO 2 emissions from mens ' mode of transportation was 53 % higher during 1996 compared to the CO 2 emissions from womens' mode of transpor tation during the same year . This is due to the fact that men travel farther , but also because men travel with more energy - demanding vehicles than women . It is argued that those differences cannot be explained by differences in employment rate , but possibly by differences in sectors of employment , holder of a driving license , income , and car ownership . Gender differences in social and cultural aspects affecting environmental impacts from consumption patterns and lifestyles should not be ignored in further work for a sustainable society .
Mitigation measures, especially municipal energy infrastructure transformation, have been the focus of Sweden’s climate change responses. Recently, adaptation measures have grown in priority and planners are challenged to integrate mitigation and adaptation. In our study, we observe how synergies and conflicts in adaptation, mitigation, and other social and economic dimensions of spatial planning are grappled with in municipalities. We draw primarily from interviews with municipal planners and regional agencies as well as a review of policy documents. Our conclusion is that municipalities could be assisted in their climate change planning by stronger regional and national involvement.
Various authors suggest that environmentalism differs by gender, but systematic empirical evidence for this assertion is limited. We compare women's and men's environmental activism and environmentally friendly behavior (EFB) using survey data from probability samples of three British Columbia forest conservation orga-nizations (n ¼ 381). The data were primarily analyzed using OLS multiple regression analysis. Findings show no substantial gender differences in level of activism, but reveal that women engage in significantly higher rates of EFB. Further, while level of activism is not a significant predictor of EFB among men, it is the strongest predictor among women. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed. Specifically, we argue that women may be more concerned about envir-onmental issues and committed to environmentalism, but their limited biographical availability (e.g., personal constraints that present barriers to participation—as entailed in the demands of the ''double day'' of paid and domestic work) constrains their activism (McAdam 1986). However, because many environmentally friendly behaviors can be undertaken in the context of domestic labor and everyday routines, biographical availability does not constrain their EFB.
Previous research has shown that white males have a relatively low perception of risks, known as the "white male effect" (WME). Many of the explanations of this effect refer to the privileged position of this particular demographic group in society, adducing white males' socio-economic resources, sense of control, worldviews, etc. It can thus be argued that inequality leads women and ethnic minorities to have higher risk perception than men and the ethnic majority. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the WME in a gender-equal country, Sweden, to see if the pattern is similar to previous studies from the comparably less gender-equal United States. The empirical analyses are based on a national survey (n= 1,472) on the perception of risk conducted in Sweden in the winter of 2005. The results show that in Sweden there is no significant difference between men and women in risk perception, while people with foreign backgrounds perceive risks higher than native people. The chief finding is that there is no WME in Sweden, which we concluded results from the relative equality between the sexes in the country. On the other hand, ethnicity serves as a marker of inequality and discrimination in Sweden. Consequently, ethnicity, in terms of foreign background, mediates inequality, resulting in high risk perception. Equality therefore seems to be a fruitful concept with which to examine differences in risk perception between groups in society, and we propose that the "societal inequality effect" is a more proper description than the "WME."
Research on risk perceptions are replete with race- and gender-specific hypotheses attempting to account for attitudinal variation. However, race and gender differences may mask more notable patterns across subgroups, patterns that lie at the intersection of race and gender. Recent national studies suggest that being a White male leads to lower risk perceptions and greater willingness to accept risks. This article extends this research by examining the "White male" effect in a chronically polluted context, an area where industrial pollution is palpable and well-documented. Data are drawn from a survey of a population living in "Cancer Alley," a stretch of the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. We find that women more than men and Blacks more than Whites perceive environmental risks as serious. Further, evidence suggests that these differences are mostly due to the relatively extreme perceptions of risk accepting White males and risk adverse Black females. After controlling for select variables in hierarchical multiple regression analyses, being a White male or Black female still has a statistically significant impact on risk perceptions.
Objective. Surveys demonstrate somewhat consistent gender differences in environmental concern, but there is no consensus on reasons for these differences. This research makes the case that differences in perceived vulnerability to risk explain the gender gap found in environmental surveys and other, quite distinct, areas of potential risk as well. Methods. Two national surveys, administered simultaneously and each involving very different environmental risks (hazardous waste sites and global warming), are analyzed in terms of gender differences. Results. In both surveys, in every question that involves reactions to a specific risk, women are more concerned than men. Standard deviations also are consistently smaller for women. When health-risk perceptions enter equations accounting for environmental concerns, however, the gender gap disappears. Conclusions. Questionnaire items that imply specific risks tend to produce significant gender differences. These types of survey results can be construed as communication events in which respondents who feel vulnerable answer in ways that urge caution on policymakers.
The research reported here examines the relationship between risk perceptions and willingness to address climate change. The data are a national sample of 1225 mail surveys that include measures of risk perceptions and knowledge tied to climate change, support for voluntary and government actions to address the problem, general environmental beliefs, and demographic variables. Risk perceptions matter in predicting behavioral intentions. Risk perceptions are not a surrogate for general environmental beliefs, but have their own power to account for behavioral intentions. There are four secondary conclusions. First, behavioral intentions regarding climate change are complex and intriguing. People are neither “nonbelievers” who will take no initiatives themselves and oppose all government efforts, nor are they “believers” who promise both to make personal efforts and to vote for every government proposal that promises to address climate change. Second, there are separate demographic sources for voluntary actions compared with voting intentions. Third, recognizing the causes of global warming is a powerful predictor of behavioral intentions independent from believing that climate change will happen and have bad consequences. Finally, the success of the risk perception variables to account for behavioral intentions should encourage greater attention to risk perceptions as independent variables. Risk perceptions and knowledge, however, share the stage with general environmental beliefs and demographic characteristics. Although related, risk perceptions, knowledge, and general environmental beliefs are somewhat independent predictors of behavioral intentions.
The research reported here examines the relationship between risk perceptions and willingness to address climate change. The data are a national sample of 1,225 mail surveys that include measures of risk perceptions and knowledge tied to climate change, support for voluntary and government actions to address the problem, general environmental beliefs, and demographic variables. Risk perceptions matter in predicting behavior intentions. Risk perceptions are not a surrogate for general environmental beliefs, but have their own power to account for behavioral intentions. There are four secondary conclusions. First, behavioral intentions regarding climate change are complex and intriguing. People are neither nonbelievers who will take no initiatives themselves and oppose all government efforts, nor are they believers who promise both to make personal efforts and to vote for every government proposal that promises to address climate change. Second, there are separate demographic sources for voluntary actions compared with voting intentions. Third, recognizing the causes of global warming is a powerful predictor of behavioral intentions independent from believing that climate change will happen and have bad consequences. Finally, the success of the risk perception variables to account for behavioral intentions should encourage greater attention to risk perceptions as independent variables. Risk perceptions and knowledge, however, share the stage with general environmental beliefs and demographic characteristics. Although related, risk perceptions, knowledge, and general environmental beliefs are somewhat independent predictors of behavioral intentions.
This study analyzes gender differences among state legislators. Based on psychological research of moral reasoning processes, two attitudinal constructs are developed to represent divergent attitude and value orientations relevant to the political context. The constructs are operationalized through a variant of discourse analysis used in sociolinguistics. This exploratory study applies the methodology to interview data with ten state legislators, with the result that the attitudinal constructs are able to describe differing policy approaches related to gender. Due to the small, experimental nature of the study, no generalizations can be made; but the preliminary results show promise for studying how gender differences impact public policy. A follow-up, more comprehensive study is being conducted under the direction and funding of the Center for the American Woman and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University.
Accumulated research findings show that women tend to express higher levels of concern toward technology and the environment than do men, but that the tendency is not universal. The findings are particularly clear-cut for local facilities and/or nuclear and other technologies that are often seen as posing nisks of contamination; findings appear to be more mixed for broader patterns of environmental concern. Although the differing patterns have been reported with enough consistency to be considered relatively robust, less progress has been made to date in explaining the underlying dynamics. Five main hypotheses can be identified. One hypothesis, the expectation that increased knowledge will lead to decreased concern, has received so little support, despite repeated examination, that it can be discarded. Another, that women tend to express greater concern than do men about the health and safety implications of any given level of technological risk, has received consistent support. The remaining 3 hypotheses require additional empincal examination.
At a first glance, the links between the results of the UN negotiations on climate change and gender issues may not be obvious. However, I believe that gender did indeed play a role in these discussions. This was not a role of the first order, but it was nonetheless a significant one. I would like to explain this impression by analysing briefly the three 'communities' which have shaped the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Kyoto Protocol. The first community consists of the different countries' governmental delegations, the most important players in the negotiations. The second community consists of business and its representatives, and the third consists of environmental NGOs.
There are several compelling reasons to expect that gender equality may serve to foster state environmentalism. However, most previous research on environmental politics has neglected gender. To help further our understanding of the connection between gender and environmental politics, the authors empirically assess the association between the representation of women in national Parliament and environmental treaty ratification, using a large sample of nations. The findings indicate that nations with higher proportions of women in Parliament are more prone to ratify environmental treaties than are other nations. The results point to the importance of considering the role of gender in analyses of state behavior and environmental politics and are consistent with the argument of some feminist theorists that the exploitation of nature and the exploitation of women are interconnected.
Purpose
A longstanding quantitative finding from surveys of public perceptions of hazardous technologies is that women and men respondents tend to express different levels of concern when asked about environmental and technological hazards. Traditional psychometric risk perception research has provided extensive empirical descriptions of this “gender effect”, but is criticised for having less success in developing substantive theory linking observations to socio‐cultural explanations to explicate this effect. The purpose of this paper is to build a theoretical platform to account for the existing empirical findings on gender and perceptions of risk.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a critical synthesis, drawing upon theory in contemporary risk research, gender theory, social studies of science and feminist studies of epistemology.
Findings
A theoretical platform is developed concerning the operation of gender as a regulatory process involving norms and discourse. The role is identified of moral discourses, hegemonic masculinities/gender authenticity, and epistemic subjectivities as plausible ways of understanding the gender–risk effect in risk perception.
Research limitations/implications
A novel theoretical exploration is provided of the relationship between gender and risk perceptions. Conceptual development in the gender and risk arena could be further refined by applying the theoretical platform developed here to empirical analyses and, to investigate its relevance to understanding how people discuss, deliberate and reason about risk issues.
Originality/value
Much of the existing literature fails to offer adequately grounded theoretical explanations for the observed empirical finding on gender and risk. This paper is the first to utilise a non‐essentialist reading of the gender‐risk effect by developing the “effects made by gender” approach.
Research on risk perceptions are replete with race- and gender-specific hypotheses attempting to account for attitudinal variation. However, race and gender differences may mask more notable patterns across subgroups, patterns that lie at the intersection of race and gender. Recent national studies suggest that being a White male leads to lower risk perceptions and greater willingness to accept risks. This article extends this research by examining the “White male” effect in a chronically polluted context, an area where industrial pollution is palpable and well-documented. Data are drawn from a survey of a population living in “Cancer Alley,” a stretch of the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. We find that women more than men and Blacks more than Whites perceive environmental risks as serious. Further, evidence suggests that these differences are mostly due to the relatively extreme perceptions of risk accepting White males and risk adverse Black females. After controlling for select variables in hierarchical multiple regression analyses, being a White male or Black female still has a statistically significant impact on risk perceptions.
A review of recent research (1988 to 1998) on gender differences in environmental attitudes and behaviors found that, contrary to past inconsistencies, a clearer picture has emerged: Women report stronger environmental attitudes and behaviors than men. Additional evidence of gender differences in environmental attitudes and behaviors was also supported across age (Study 1) and across 14 countries (Study 2). As a single variable, the effect of gender on proenvironmental behavior was consistently stronger than on environmental attitudes. Explanations for gender differences in environmentalism were examined in Study 3. It was found that compared to males, females had higher levels of socialization to be other oriented and socially responsible. Implications for theory, social action, and policy are discussed.
This paper discusses adaptation and mitigation strategies as outlined in climate change scenarios. The adaptive perspective is closely connected to the concept of resilience understood as different views on nature's capacity to absorb shocks, renewal and re-organization. In constructing normative scenarios images of the future are generated illustrating potential ways of living, travelling and consuming products and services where certain goals such as a reduced climate impact are fulfilled. This paper argues that tension arising from climate strategies relying on either adaptation or mitigation strategies, or combining the two strategies, warrant further examination. In this paper the inter-relationships between adaptation and mitigation are discussed by examining processes of citizen-participation in constructing scenarios and applying the concepts of resilience, vulnerability and adaptive capacity. We discuss this using the concept of deliberative planning processes as a means to achieve legitimate, effective and sustainable futures. As a part of this approach, we argue that methods for citizen-participation applied in exploring different science and technology options also provide useful insight for this type of planning processes. The theoretical arguments are combined with examples from environmental scenario construction in practice. The paper brings attention to tensions between sustainability content values, such as reduced climate impact, and more process-oriented values such as legitimacy, learning and participatory scenario construction. Moreover, the concept of open innovation processes is introduced to the context of participatory scenario construction comparing shared ground in terms of user-involvement in search of novel solutions and also increasing robustness of action plans implemented to reduce climate change.
The attainment of a sustainable transportation system necessitates changes in the travel behavior of individuals. In this article, a descriptive presentation of travel survey data as well as attitude surveys tests the hypothesis that women are potentially more adaptable to a sustainable transportation system than men are. This is accomplished in four parts. First, results from Swedish travel survey data have found that men travel more kilometers per year, use the car more than women with regard to the number of kilometers traveled per day, and make more trips as the sole occupant of a car. Second, results from attitude surveys show that women are more environmentally concerned and express more criticism of automobility than men. Third, women are more positive towards proposals that reduce or eliminate the environmental impact of car use to a greater extent than men. Fourth, women express more willingness to reduce their use of the car than men. In general, while there are not large differences between men and women and their attitudes towards automobility, women consistently show more support of ecological issues and are more positive towards measures which entail reductions in car use, such as improving and expanding public transportation. Women were furthermore more prepared to participate in ecologically benign activities to a greater extent than men, which included reducing car use. Because of the tendencies shown in the empirical results presented here, women are judged to have more potential for accommodating an ecologically sustainable transportation system in Sweden than men are.
From a Swedish regional development policy perspective, increased long-distance commuting is viewed as a means for creating larger local labour markets and thus stimulating regional economic growth. One of the prerequisites for such a development is that individuals are willing to commute longer distances. In the context of a relatively peripheral and sparsely populated area in northern Sweden, this paper aims to study commuting behaviour and factors influencing individuals’ propensities to commute longer distances. Using a longitudinal set of geo-referenced data, individuals’ commuting propensities were estimated in a binary logistic regression, and significant effects were found for a range of socio-economic and demographic factors. The results also show that the local labour market’s geographical structure is important. Overall, most individuals commute within their locality of residence and women commute shorter distances than men do – a pattern that has been relatively stable since the beginning of the 1990s. This article attempts to outline causes and effects of this commuting behaviour, which are important to understand in the development of regional development policies aimed at increasing geographical labour mobility.
This paper reports the results of a national survey in which perceptions of environmental health risks were measured for 1275 white and 214 nonwhite persons. The results showed that white women perceived risks to be much higher than did white men, a result that is consistent with previous studies. However, this gender difference was not true of nonwhite women and men, whose perceptions of risk were quite similar. Most striking was the finding that white males tended to differ from everyone else in their attitudes and perceptions--on average, they perceived risks as much smaller and much more acceptable than did other people. These results suggest that socio-political factors such as power, status, alienation, and trust are strong determiners of people's perception and acceptance of risks.
Recent research finds that perceived risk is closely associated with race and gender. In surveys of the American public a subset of white males stand out for their uniformly low perceptions of environmental health risks, while most nonwhite and nonmale respondents reveal higher perceived risk. Such findings have been attributed to the advantageous position of white males in American social life. This article explores the linked possibility that this demographic pattern is driven not simply by the social advantages or disadvantages embodied in race or gender, but by the subjective experience of vulnerability and by sociopolitical evaluations pertaining to environmental injustice. Indices of environmental injustice and social vulnerability were developed as part of a U.S. National Risk Survey (n= 1,192) in order to examine their effect on perceived risk. It was found that those who regarded themselves as vulnerable and supported belief statements consistent with the environmental justice thesis offered higher risk ratings across a range of hazards. Multivariate analysis indicates that our measures of vulnerability and environmental injustice predict perceived risk but do not account for all of the effects of race and gender. The article closes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for further work on vulnerability and risk, risk communication, and risk management practices generally.
Objective. This article presents a cross-national examination of gender variations in environmental behaviors. Research on environmental concern reveals modest distinctions between men and women, with women typically displaying higher levels of environmental concern and behavioral adjustments relative to men. Additionally, some prior research suggests that women appear more engaged in household-oriented (private) pro-environment behaviors (e.g., recycling), and men in community/society-oriented (public) pro-environment behaviors (e.g., protests). The analysis provided here offers an important extension to existing research through its cross-cultural, comparative perspective.
Method. We make use of the 1993 International Social Survey to explore gender differences in “private” and “public” environmentally-oriented behaviors across 22 nations.
Results. It is shown that women tend to engage in more environmental behaviors than men in many nations, particularly private behaviors. In addition, both women and men tend to engage in relatively more private environmental behaviors as opposed to public ones.
Conclusion. The cross-national analysis provides support for gender distinctions with regard to some environmental behaviors within most of the incorporated 22 national contexts. Gender differences in level of private environmental behaviors tend to be more consistent within nations at the upper end of the wealth distribution.
Objective. The social psychological values altruism, self-interest, traditionalism, and openness to change are key correlates of environmental concern and proenvironmental behavior. We investigate the relationship between gender and these values to better understand gender differences in environmentalism. We consider both gender differences in value priorities (differences in mean response on value scales) and differences in the meaning of values (differences in the factor structure of values) as well. Methods. Our analysis is based on data from a random-digit dialed national telephone survey of U.S. adults conducted in 1994. We examine differences in factor structure of values for a group of 145 white men and 200 white women using confirmatory factor analysis and differences in mean value scores using multivariate analysis of variance. Results. We find no substantial differences in value factor structure, but differences in value priorities, with women ranking altruism as more important than men. Conclusions. Our analysis supports work that focuses on mean differences in environmentalism across genders without examining gender differences in factor structure, although further examination of gender differences in factor structure is warranted. Our results also highlight the importance of gender differences in altruism as a basis for gender differences in environmentalism.
¼ 288; Z correlation ¼ 26.59; p , 0.0001 Klimatfrå lö krä ett genusperspektiv [The answer to climate change needs a gender perspective
- Mann
- Whitney
- F Lundberg
Mann –Whitney U-test: n ¼ 288; Z correlation ¼ 26.59; p, 0.0001. Lundberg, F., 2008. Klimatfrå lö krä ett genusperspektiv [The answer to climate change needs a gender perspective]. Genusperspektiv, 2008 (2), 4–5.
Genusregim i förä Jämstä och makt i kommunal politik mellan a ˚renGender regimes in transition: gender equality and power in municipal politics between
- M Nilsson
Nilsson, M., 2008. Genusregim i förä. Jämstä och makt i kommunal politik mellan a ˚ren 1970 och 2006 [Gender regimes in transition: gender equality and power in municipal politics between 1970 and 2006]. Thesis (PhD). Linkö University.
Sweden facing climate change -threats and opportunities. Final report from the Swedish Commission on Change and Vulnerability (Swedish Government Official Reports SOU 2007:60)
- Sweden
Sweden, 2007. Sweden facing climate change -threats and opportunities. Final report from the
Swedish Commission on Change and Vulnerability (Swedish Government Official Reports
SOU 2007:60). Stockholm: Ministry of the Environment.
Svensk klimatpolitik
- Sweden
Sweden, 2008. Svensk klimatpolitik [Swedish climate change policy] (Swedish Government Official
Reports SOU 2008:24). Stockholm: Ministry of the Environment.
Mäns och kvinnors resande -Vilka mönster ses i mäns och kvinnors resande och vad beror dessa på? [Men's and women's travels -what patterns can be observed and what are the reasons for them
- Transek
Transek, 2006a. Mäns och kvinnors resande -Vilka mönster ses i mäns och kvinnors resande och vad
beror dessa på? [Men's and women's travels -what patterns can be observed and what are the
reasons for them] (Report 2006:51). Stockholm: Transek.
Miljöopinionen i Sverige
- M Bennulf
Bennulf, M., 1994. Miljöopinionen i Sverige [Environmental opinion in Sweden]. Lund:
Universitetsförlaget Dialogos AB.
Kvinnor, män och energi: Makt, produktion och användning [Women, men and energy: power, production and use] (FOI-R-2513-SE)
- A Carlsson-Kanyama
- R Räty
Carlsson-Kanyama, A. and Räty, R., 2008. Kvinnor, män och energi: Makt, produktion och användning
[Women, men and energy: power, production and use] (FOI-R-2513-SE). Stockholm: FOI.
Knowledge-based tools for sustainable governance of energy and climate adaptation in the Nordic periphery (Nordic Research Programme
- C Dymén
- P Francke
- R Langlais
Dymén, C., Francke, P., and Langlais, R., 2009. A reflection on 1294 conversations: A discursive essay
on knowledge-based tools in Swedish municipal response to climate change. In: M. Dahlström, ed.
Knowledge-based tools for sustainable governance of energy and climate adaptation in the Nordic
periphery (Nordic Research Programme 2005-2008. Report 7). Stockholm: Nordregio, 131-136.
Engendering climate change: the Swedish experience of a global citizen's consultation. Paper presented at the conference Equality, Growth and Sustainability -Do They Mix?
- C Dymén
- R Langlais
- G Cars
Dymén, C., Langlais, R., and Cars, G., 2010. Engendering climate change: the Swedish experience
of a global citizen's consultation. Paper presented at the conference Equality, Growth and
Sustainability -Do They Mix? November 2010, Linköping University.
A study on gender equality as a prerequisite for sustainable development (Report to the Environment Advisory Council
- G Johnson-Latham
Johnson-Latham, G., 2007. A study on gender equality as a prerequisite for sustainable development
(Report to the Environment Advisory Council, Sweden 2007: 2). Stockholm: Ministry of the
Environment.
Befolkningens dagliga resande i Sverige 1978 och 1996 [Diversity and change of mobility. Citizen's daily travel patterns in Sweden between
- L G Krantz
Krantz, L.G., 2000. Rörlighetens mångfald och förändring. Befolkningens dagliga resande i Sverige
1978 och 1996 [Diversity and change of mobility. Citizen's daily travel patterns in Sweden
between 1978 and 1996]. Thesis (PhD). University of Gothenburg.
Turning point on climate change? Emergent municipal response in Sweden (Nordregio Working Paper
- R Langlais
Langlais, R., et al., 2007. Turning point on climate change? Emergent municipal response in Sweden
(Nordregio Working Paper 2007: 3). Stockholm: Nordregio.
Klimatfrågans lösning kräver ett genusperspektiv [The answer to climate change needs a gender perspective
- F Lundberg
Lundberg, F., 2008. Klimatfrågans lösning kräver ett genusperspektiv [The answer to climate change
needs a gender perspective].
Jämställdhet och makt i kommunal politik mellan åren 1970 och 2006 [Gender regimes in transition: gender equality and power in municipal politics between 1970 and
- M Nilsson
Nilsson, M., 2008. Genusregim i förändring. Jämställdhet och makt i kommunal politik mellan åren
1970 och 2006 [Gender regimes in transition: gender equality and power in municipal politics
between 1970 and 2006]. Thesis (PhD). Linköping University.
Swedish men and women's mobility patterns: issues of social equity and ecological sustainability
- M Polk
Polk, M., 1998. Swedish men and women's mobility patterns: issues of social equity and ecological
sustainability. In: Proceedings from women's travel issues 2nd national conference, 23-26
October 1996, Baltimore, MD. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration, 185-211.
En sammanhållen klimat-och energipolitik -Klimat [Cohesive policy for climate change and energy
- Sweden
Sweden, 2008/2009. En sammanhållen klimat-och energipolitik -Klimat [Cohesive policy for
climate change and energy] (Proposition 2008/2009:162). Stockholm: Ministry of the
Environment.
Jämställdhet vid val av transportmedel
- Transek
Transek, 2006b. Jämställdhet vid val av transportmedel [Gender equality when choosing transport
modes] (Report 2006:13). Stockholm: Transek.