Amid high risks, women defend the environment and demand a sustainable future for their communities

Climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation are interconnected and accelerating, with compounding consequences for the lives, livelihoods, health, and well-being of women and girls. Over two thirds of people today live in countries and areas considered highly or very highly exposed to climate change and geophysical hazards (5.8 billion); half are women and girls (2.9 billion[1]. By contrast, 1 billion women and girls (24.5 per cent) reside in medium-exposure settings. Only 224.9 million (5.5 per cent) live in countries and areas with low or very low exposure. For every woman in a low-exposure context, nearly 13 live in places facing high climate and disaster risks.

Meeting these challenges requires the equal participation of women at all levels of decision-making. Internationally, the number of women participating in climate and other environmental decision-making has steadily increased. In 2025, women made up 40 per cent of delegates to the thirtieth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, compared to 31 per cent during the fourteenth session in 2008. In 2023, under the Minamata Convention on Mercury, women comprised 52.7 per cent of reporting officers in the most recent reporting cycle. Progress nationally, however, has not been as consistent. In 2026, women accounted for only 27 per cent of national cabinet ministers with environmental portfolios, and 12 per cent with energy, natural resource fuels and mining portfolios. Beyond formal settings, women are leading public demands for climate action and defending ecosystems, facing threats that may be lethal. As of July 2026, almost a quarter (1,024 of 4,454 cases) of socioenvironmental conflicts worldwide visibly involved women environmental human rights defenders[2]. This is almost certainly an underestimate, given gaps and biases in media reporting. The Escazú Agreement, in force since 2021, makes the protection of women environmental defenders a legal obligation in Latin America and the Caribbean, offering a concrete model for global legal protection[3].