Abstract
<p><em>Ecofeminist perspectives assert that issues of gender and the environment are intertwined, where increasing women’s status will lead to more efficacious environmental policy and improved environmental conditions. We investigate the relationship between gender inequality and environmental well-being by employing a distinct set of indicators to better capture women’s status in relation to men across a variety of contexts (e.g.</em><em>,</em><em> health, economic, education, political), as well as a comprehensive environment index that includes a variety of ecological and environmental health measures. The results demonstrate that countries with higher levels of gender inequality are associated with poorer environmental well-being, net of other relevant factors. This lends support to the argument that addressing gender inequalities leads to better results for the environment and human health, and that women need to be included more prominently in environmental policy and planning. </em></p>
Highlights
The dimensions of the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) for environmental health include: Water and Sanitation, Air Quality, and Health Impacts. 4.3 Key Independent Variable To capture the multifaceted nature of gender inequality, we use a compressive measure of gender inequality rankings based on The Global Gender Gap Index
We are in the era of what many scientists are calling the “Anthropocene”, which recognizes that human activities are the primary driver of ecological degradation and climate change (Crutzen & Soermer, 2000) Many recognize that the involvement of women in environmental decision-making at all levels is a key step to ensuring environmental well-being (e.g., UN Women, 2014; UN Dept. of Social and Economic Affairs, 2015; UN Framework on Climate Change, 2014)
While some progress has been achieved over the past few decades, women remain marginalized from political decision-making, education, healthcare, and employment and leadership in every region of the world (UN General Assembly, 2013)
Summary
Many scholars emphasize the increase and significance of environmental crises across the globe, as well as how environmental degradation impacts human health and well-being (e.g., Steffen et al, 2015; Oglethorpe & Gelman, 2008; Mikkelson et al, 2007; Collins et al, 2016; Mohai & Saha, 2015; Denton, 2002; Austin & Mejia, 2017). This research is relatively narrow in focus, often relying on unidimensional measures women’s status, such as women’s representation in government or access to schooling This body of scholarship focuses on singular ecological or environmental health issues, such as carbon emissions, deforestation, or indoor air pollution. Focusing on only one environmental outcome neglects that countries may perform well in one area, such forest preservation, but perform poorly in another area, such as greenhouse gas emissions Such nuances are especially important as more- and less-developed nations tend to exhibit different and unequal environmental problems, largely due to the structure of the international economy which concentrates many environmental risks in poor nations despite that resource demands come from high-consuming affluent nations. By going beyond singular measures of women’s status and environmental well-being, our study adds to the body of literature by potentially demonstrating that the relationship between gender inequality and the environment does apply to a certain set of issues but is widely applicable across a range of domains
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