"The world is waiting for the ideas generated by young women of the Himalayas," wrote scientists Durgesh Pant and Darshana Joshi in an op-ed published in the Garhwal Post.
There's a whole lot going on around the world: This weekly brief from Climate, Gendered isn't intended to be exhaustive but rather your chance to spend just a few moments on a handful of items with the potential to disproportionately impact over half the global population — plus, the ideas that might make a difference.
In this digest ...
• Enviro policies in US could be used against abortion — in Europe, they could help save a contraceptive stockpile
• Governors petition EPA to monitor microplastics in drinking water
• Mutual aid org works to address floods in Gaza
• Women map air quality in India, prompt changes in coal
• Network of women scientists launched in Vietnam
Candace Gibson of the Guttmacher Institute sat down with CG to discuss a new analysis that shows how water policies — not based on evidence of environmental harm and proposed across the United States — could be used to monitor and potentially limit access to medication abortion. But that's certainly not to frame all environmental policy as bad for sexual and reproductive health and rights. You'll want to read on to learn how leading voices in France and Belgium have even been working to use such policies to save that $10 million contraceptive stockpile in limbo in Europe.
Last week, CG covered research suggesting that studying the impacts of microplastics on the uterine lining might yield clues to fertility and endometriosis. Now, we're looking at how a recent petition from seven U.S. governors, led by Phil Murphy of New Jersey, could help influence the Environmental Protection Agency to monitor drinking water for the tiny plastic particles. The petition comes ahead of the EPA's establishment of its Sixth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, set to address the period from 2027 to 2031. According to the Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA must "issue a list of unregulated contaminants to be monitored by public water systems" every five years. There are no federal regulations addressing microplastics in public drinking water as of yet, according to public radio station WHYY. But the particles have been found around the world and throughout the human body, including in follicular fluid and semen. (Some who are concerned microplastics could be among the impacts on male fertility are reportedly taking steps not necessarily based on evidence to address this anxiety.) The science regarding the potential health risks of microplastics exposure is still emerging, however, and data collection is lacking. But experts who spoke with WHYY said most public water systems are not currently prepared to test for and treat the contamination. Official calls like the governors' petition could help focus research priorities on a contaminant scientists are keen to learn more about while applying pressure to policymakers to cap plastics production and inspiring municipal as well as personal changes to mitigate exposure.
From South Asia to the Pacific Northwest in the U.S., destructive floods are marking the globe. Over the last week, Storm Byron has brought nine inches of torrential rain to parts of Gaza, where more than 1.9 million people — 1 million of whom are women and girls, according to previous United Nations estimates — are displaced and residing in tents or ruins. The Associated Press reported on December 16 that the storm had flooded communities, brought down buildings already weakened by bombing, and killed a dozen people, including a newborn. While winters are expected to be cold and wet, the AP reported that rainfall in parts of Israel was "more than twice the average amount of rain for this time of year." Inside Climate News described the rains impacting Gaza, Israel, and the region as "unusually heavy," with the worst effects felt by those living in flood-damaged tent sites. Without functional drainage, encroaching floodwaters are set to exacerbate water contamination and water-borne diseases, both of which disproportionately impact women and girls, with pregnant and menstruating people facing particular risks. "Key materials to repair some of this damage, like tent poles and drain pipes, are subject to control at Gaza's checkpoints," according to CBC News. "Real reconstruction cannot begin until Israel and Hamas complete the second phase of the peace process." Mutual aid organizations — like The Sameer Project, based in London — are working to address needs on the ground now, providing tents and warm clothes. But founder Hala Sabbah told Inside Climate, "What we’re doing, really, is a drop in the ocean."
Women trained in air quality mapping have helped improve conditions in the coal mining districts of Jharkhand, India, according to Mongabay. The grassroots group was organized by Asar Social Impact Advisors and the community organization Deshaj Abhikram, which operates on the paryavaran sakhi (friend of the environment) model. In this model, women lead local environmental initiatives. After the group members conducted a nine-month study, they approached coal unions and the local coal company, Central Coalfields Limited, with their findings. As a result, the company has adopted changes, including covering coal-carrying trucks to reduce dust spread and installing air quality monitors. In India, Mongabay reported, more than 2 million deaths each year can be attributed to air pollution. Globally, exposure to ambient fine particulate matter has also been linked to increased pregnancy risks, including preeclampsia, placental issues, preterm birth, and postpartum depression. Researchers say this community-led, data-based approach has the potential to inform mitigation efforts in other locations too. It's a promise that resonates with an op-ed published this week by Indian scientists in the Garhwal Post, calling for women to drive the country's climate science and disaster preparedness efforts: "The world is waiting for the ideas generated by young women of the Himalayas."
An event this week in Da Nang, Vietnam, was held to celebrate a Canadian-funded program to support the involvement of women scientists in the country's climate adaptation and disaster risk management efforts. Also launched was the Network of Women Scientists in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics for Climate, Community Development, and Gender Equality. According to Vietnam.vn, "The main objective is to connect a network of approximately 15-20 female scientists from universities and scientific organizations nationwide to participate in rapid assessment of natural disaster risks such as floods, inundation, and landslides in the implementation area, while also organizing training on STEM, climate change, and gender equality." Storms and floods have devastated the region this fall, once again demonstrating the need for gender-responsive climate adaptation. Event attendees noted that gender stereotypes and unequal burdens at home can impede women's participation in community efforts but that strategies like networking and targeted support could help. Just two years ago, Time Magazine was among the outlets reporting on the country's "crackdown" on environmentalists. Now, only time will tell if advocates will be supported and listened to in the long term.
One goal at Climate, Gendered is to bring a spotlight to the reality that proliferating pollution, increasing temperatures, rising seas, extreme weather, habitat loss, and more can uniquely and disproportionately impact girls, women, trans communities, and non-binary people — especially those from communities of color, Indigenous people, disabled people, immigrants and displaced people, people experiencing poverty, and residents of low- and middle-income countries. We're also interested in the climate crises and concerns that can disproportionately affect men and boys.
This work cannot be done alone or in silos. We welcome with gratitude your feedback and observations. And please feel encouraged to share one way you noticed this week that climate and gender connect — and share CG with a friend.
"Everywhere is blacked out," photographer Taiwo Aina-Adeokun told CG about the smoky, sooty conditions she observed in kitchen settings — spaces to which her identity as a female photojournalist helped gain her access, she said. "At the fish smoking area, her eyes were always watery."
"We know how to keep women and girls safe in outbreak situations," Lindsay Stark, Co-Director of the Center for Violence and Injury Prevention at Washington University, told CG. "We simply need the political buy-in and financial resources to ensure we do not repeat the mistakes of past responses."
"Pollution and climate shifts make the regular stressors more extreme and add new stressors," Jamie DeWitt, study co-author and Director of the Pacific Northwest Center for Translational Environmental Health Research at Oregon State University, told CG.
"There is nothing safe about forcing patients to drive through winter storms or snowy mountain passes to pick up a pill that's just as safe for them to get in the mail and that, either way, they'll take at home," Jenna Hudson, Senior Counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, told CG.
