Women and climate change in Vanuatu, Pacific Islands Region

Abstract

While world leaders met in Egypt in 2022 for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP 27) and danced around the need for critical global action on climate change, ni-Vanuatu (Vanuatu’s citizens) were dealing with its realities. Continuing sea level rises, more intense and frequent cyclones, flooding and landslides are regular occurrences in Vanuatu, challenging the population to adapt. These experiences are made more intense by the knowledge that ni-Vanuatu circumstances are the result of greenhouse gas emissions occurring elsewhere, in countries with higher gross domestic products (GDPs). In this paper, we focus on the experiences of women in Vanuatu to build a greater understanding of the impacts of climate change on women’s lives in one of the most disaster risk countries in the world. In focus groups conducted in 2021 with women in five communities across Vanuatu, women shared their experiences in dealing with climate change, the impacts on food production and food security and the gendered societal expectations that shape the complexity of women’s experiences. We note the way gender relations build on climate change impacts to shape the lives of Vanuatu women. In so doing we highlight the expressed desire of women to bring their experiences of climate change to the international community and to be part of the critical global conversation on climate change.