South Africa: Climate Change Poses Risk to Gender Equality

The Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Makhotso Sotyu, says the loss of biodiversity and its knock-on effect on livelihoods poses a risk to African women, leaving them even more vulnerable to the negative effects of gender inequality.

Addressing a side event on 'African Women Resilience in the Context of Climate Change' during the Commission for the Status of Women (CSW66) in New York on Tuesday, Sotyu said climate change is causing massive livelihood losses and damages for African women, including through the loss of biodiversity, among others.

"South Africa agrees with many other African countries that advocate for a need to integrate gender perspectives into our design, funding, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes on climate change. We further agree on gender mainstreaming across sectors at all levels of government," the Deputy Minister said.

On the one hand, she noted the recent devastating extreme weather events associated with flooding on the African continent, while on the other hand, drought is increasing food insecurity, and wildfires are destroying vast tracks of land.

"The threat of climate change-related events to agricultural production, food security and human settlements is a matter of grave concern for South Africa.

"The African rural farming communities of largely women will thus need to transform unsustainable production, consumption and land use patterns towards climate resilient agricultural practices," the Deputy Minister said.

Reports tabled at the CSW show that human pressures will push one million species towards extinction in the coming years.

"If left unchecked, these interlinkages between climate change, biodiversity loss, desertification, land degradation, pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic could unleash devastating effects on humanity, especially for African women.


The Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Makhotso Sotyu, says the loss of biodiversity and its knock-on effect on livelihoods poses a risk to African women, leaving them even more vulnerable to the negative effects of gender inequality.