Experts 'reframe' climate-responsive SRH to include men and boys, miners fight for 'black lung' rule, garment workers have strategies for extreme heat — consumers could help

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 a few moments on a handful of items with the potential to disproportionately impact over half the global population — and the ideas that might make a difference.

Experts stake out climate adaptation to ensure sexual and reproductive health for all: 'Moving forward requires … innovative approaches to engage men and boys'

Following the publication of a new co-authored piece in The Lancet, Medha Gandhi shared her perspectives with Climate, Gendered about the importance of including everyone in adaptation strategies that support sexual and reproductive health. Identifying specific opportunities for hyper-local research to ensure solutions are tailored to real-life needs, Gandhi also calls for engaging men and boys in the conversation. 

"Moving forward requires intentional redesign with innovative approaches to engage men and boys as a core component of climate-adaptive SRH systems," Gandhi said, "recognizing that men's health outcomes directly affect their partners' well-being and that comprehensive climate resilience requires addressing the needs of entire communities."

Click here to read the rest of this article at Climate, Gendered.

U.S. government to 'reconsider' black lung protections as coal miners fight to keep them: 'We need to get this done for the younger generation'

An attorney for the United States Labor Department told E&E News this week that Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer intends to “reconsider and seek comments” on portions of a rule established under the Biden administration. The proposed rule was intended to bring coal miners' exposure limits to airborne silica down to 50 micrograms as well as require silica testing in more mines and enhance medical surveillance. 

The remark comes after a spokesperson for the department told the courts as much last week, suggesting the rule may be rolled back, and as miners contract black lung disease — or coal workers' pneumoconiosis — at younger and younger ages.

“We need to get this done for the younger generation,” retired coal miner Andy Martin told the New York Times in October — the same month that miners and advocates gathered outside the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. to protest delayed implementation of the Biden-era rule.

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Fashion brands urged to establish workplace protections from extreme heat could take workers' 'simple' suggestions

Fashion and home goods companies are cited for a critical lack of workplace protections from extreme heat in a new report by Cara Schulte at Climate Rights International. The report highlights unsafe conditions in factories and mills in Pakistan that supply popular brands such as H&M, Inditex (Zara), GAP, ASOS, and IKEA. 

While not the sole focus of her research, Schulte highlights gendered dimensions of extreme heat experienced by workers in the industry, noting that unequal burdens and unfair treatment can impact women in specific ways.

But the report also provides a roadmap for improved conditions informed by worker recommendations. "What stood out most about the solutions offered by workers in both Karachi and Dhaka was the simplicity," Schulte told Climate, Gendered. "We often think of climate change as an abstract environmental problem requiring complex or costly solutions. But the workers we spoke with don't see it that way."

Click here to read the rest of this article at Climate, Gendered.

Once flooded, they made this bridge a fashion runway: 'They're capacity building'

A concrete bridge submerged three years ago beneath historic floodwaters was recently transformed into a runway. Displaying garments from local designers, the fashion show was intended to uplift First Nations women and girls as they continue to heal from the lasting trauma of Western Australia's worst flood on record. According to the National Indigenous Times, the events of 2022-23 destroyed homes and temporarily displaced over 1,500 people from the area. 

Marra Worra Worra Aboriginal Corporation's "After the Flood" fashion workshops were supported by government recovery funds and the Kimberley Aboriginal Fashion Textiles Art. 

"There aren't a lot of programs out there that are promoting empowerment, beauty, hygiene, poise and confidence for our young women," KAFTA artistic director Kartika Christophers told NIT. "These are skills the girls don't even realise they're building, but they're capacity building. It means that when they're ready for job interviews, they have more confidence in how they hold themselves."

One goal at Climate, Gendered is to bring an undeniable 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 nonbinary 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. 

This work cannot be done alone or in silos. We welcome with gratitude your feedback and observations on this topic: Please feel encouraged to share one way you noticed this week that climate and gender connect — and share CG with a friend.