Gendered vulnerability and adaptation in Hindu-Kush Himalayas: Research insights

Abstract

Vulnerability to climate change is a multi-layered and multi-faceted phenomena, determined by both biophysical and socio-economic factors, leading to differential vulnerabilities for women and men from different categories, groups and locations. Thus, there are varying gendered differences in vulnerabilities in any context, and not all women or all men are equally vulnerable, nor are they vulnerable in a similar way – vulnerabilities vary in nature and type. Vulnerabilities to climate change are often studied in isolation and compartmentalization of the various interlinked contextual conditions (e.g. social and gender, political, economic and geographical/location) and other socio-economic drivers of change, such as globalisation, urbanization, technological and infrastructure development. However, climate change vulnerabilities are manifestations of interlinkages and an intersecting of the contextual conditions and socioeconomic drivers of change against the backdrop of climate change. This thematic issue brings together studies on these aspects of intersectionality of the contextual conditions and drivers of change, which leads to various manifestations of gendered vulnerabilities, adding to the current knowledge on gender and climate change vulnerabilities especially from the HKH region perspective.