Covid-19 and Climate Change: A Recipe for Disaster for Women in Low-income Communities

Women in the global South are more likely to face the grave consequences of the effects of climate change to their full extent in the aftermath of the most recent health crisis, the Coronavirus outbreak. This is because Covid-19 caused a sudden yet robust decrease in the access to energy resources and services, leading to a severe lack of clean drinkable water.

New studies have revealed that the correlation between climate change and the outbreak of Covid-19 is deeper than was previously expected. Low-income communities, of which women occupy a considerable percentage, will be the most hardly affected, as they have less resources and information available to combat such environmental and also future related health disasters. Health problems are more frequent in these communities, making them more vulnerable and leaving them more exposed to Covid-19 and future epidemics.

An urgent need for collective responses to the crisis is becoming apparent. Gender Concerns advocates for solidarity and the strengthening of the International Community’s response programme but also to readjust future goals to ensure gender inclusive crisis response and inclusive climate change measures.