How Patriarchy Fuels the Climate Crisis

Gender Inequality and the Hidden Toll of Climate Disasters

The climate crisis is not gender-neutral.

As the summer arrives in India every year, taps go dry, and the news starts reporting about cases of heatstroke, water scarcity, and poor harvests. Such events are called ‘natural disasters’, ‘the price of development’ and ‘climate change’.

However, the question of who pays that price is hardly ever raised. It is not asked why 70% of the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami were women. It is not asked why women are 14 times more likely to die due to climate-related incidents than men. It is not asked why 80% of the people who get displaced because of climate change are women and girls.

Survival is distributed unevenly. The poorest suffer the most. The most marginalized suffer the most. Among the most marginalized groups, women and girls carry the heaviest burden of the issue, which is hardly seen by policymakers who sit in air-conditioned rooms.

In order to understand why, we have to examine not only the carbon emissions or rises in sea level but also the socio-political processes that shaped the way we deal with the Earth and each other. In order to understand why, we have to consider the issue of patriarchy. This paper argues that solving the problem of the climate crisis needs solving the problem of gender inequality and patriarchy. These are not two separate crises, they are one and the same issue. Without understanding that, we won’t be able to address either of them.

Key Frameworks: Patriarchy, Ecofeminism, and Petro-Masculinity

Let’s clarify several concepts that we will use in our argument.

The term patriarchy refers to the processes, norms and structures that create and maintain the system of male supremacy and gender inequality. Patriarchy makes sure that the majority of privileges and power belong to ‘masculine’ men whereas women are marginalised and disadvantaged. Patriarchy is strengthened by colonialism, capitalism, militarism – all the systems that maintain many other types of oppression.

Ecofeminism is a movement and analytical tool that links the subordination of women to the exploitation of nature. It suggests that both exploitations come from the same patriarchal mechanisms of domination and control. As one of the world’s leading physicists and ecofeminists, Vandana Shiva states: ‘The marginalisation of women and destruction of biodiversity are mutually reinforcing’. Elimination of sustainable lifestyles and suppression of women’s knowledge are the two faces of the same issue. Ecofeminism shows how the systems of exploitation, domination and control are applied to the Earth and to humans. Those who resist these systems are, in many cases, the marginalised people themselves.

Ecofeminism does not imply that women are closer to nature in any mystical manner. Ecofeminism claims that the patriarchal system creates a hierarchy that puts men above women, technology above nature and mind above the body. This hierarchy gives legitimacy to the domination and exploitation of everything that is lower according to that hierarchy: whether it is the Earth, women or colonised nations.

Petro-masculinity is a term introduced by political scientist Cara Daggett to describe the link between gender hierarchies, exploitation of fossil fuel and political power. Petro-masculinity is a set of masculinities that are associated with the fossil fuel industry, its workers and representatives. The concept involves the emphasis on the role of ‘breadwinner’ of men, nostalgia towards fossil fuel technologies. Petro-masculinity implies that the denial of the existence of climate change reaffirms masculinity.

Petro-masculinity explains why climate change denial and misogyny are so often linked. It also explains why the transition to the renewable energy sources is not only technological but also a crisis of masculine identity. These are the terms we need to see the issue clearly.

The Gendered Faces of Climate Change

Let’s start with the statistics.

Globally, women and girls make up approximately 80% of people who were displaced because of climate change. They are 14 times more likely to experience severe health effects or even die because of climate catastrophes. By 2050, climate change will add 158 million more women and girls to poverty, 16 million more than men and boys. These numbers are not a coincidence. The reason for this situation is the lack of opportunities for women (land, financing, technologies and decision making). Being the main caregivers and food producers, they become the first ones to be affected by the lack of resources.

The situation in India is even worse. Two-thirds of the agricultural workforce in India consists of women, who own only 11% of agricultural land and earn 22% less than men for the same work. Although women are the key part of the country’s economy, they have no access to credits, insurance and governmental aid. In climate-vulnerable districts, women and children suffer more than the rest of the population, their anaemia and undernutrition rate growing along with the temperature.

According to the 2025 report of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, almost 70% of women face physical health issues due to heat, more than half of women suffer from disruption of the menstrual and reproductive cycles, and two-thirds experience irritability, anxiety and sleep disorders. Still, one in four women does not seek medical help because of the lack of screening, diagnosis and preparedness measures among frontline health workers. Heat waves kill and are gendered.

Due to the heat wave in 2024 in India, there was an increase in mental health complaints: irritability, confusion, emotional breakdowns in households, where indoor temperature reached 40°С in the middle of the night. Violence has increased in 72% of the households where violence already existed due to financial difficulties, overcrowding and heat during the nights.

Of course, men are affected too. They also die in heat waves, lose their health, livelihoods and their future, suffer from extreme losses. However, the system of what is counted and what is not is determined by the historical hierarchy that put men above and women below. Undeniably, the climate crisis just exacerbates the already existing inequality, and the inequality that matters in this case is gender inequality.

The Unpaid Care Burden Under Extreme Climate Conditions

In order to understand why women suffer from the effects of climate change, it is important to examine the care burden that is assigned to them. On average, women spend approximately 60% of their time on unpaid care activities such as gathering water, cooking, cleaning, looking after children and elder relatives. As the conditions get more difficult due to climate change, care burden only grows, thus causing women to have to do an extra 90 minutes of unpaid care work per day in case of extreme heat.

Moreover, in case of a drought, women have to walk extra kilometres in order to gather water. In case of flooding, women are the last to leave because of their duties towards their children and older relatives. In case of heat waves, women who have to work in agriculture or street vending suffer from high temperatures without any cooling shelters, water stations and breaks. The reason for this situation is the system that assigned women the responsibility for survival and did not give them any resources to manage it.

The Structural Origins of Environmental Exploitation

However, now we have to answer the more difficult question: why is the climate crisis occurring in the first place? The answer lies in fossil fuels. Who burns them, who profits from them and who does not want to stop.

In the 2024 study in the journal npj Biodiversity, scientists claim that ‘patriarchal norms and structures, which promote male supremacy and inequality, are the root causes of environmental destruction’. Thus, ‘patriarchal norms and structures within conservation must be questioned and dismantled in order to make conservation effective and just’. This conclusion is drawn by numerous organisations ranging from the UN to the World Bank. Patriarchal dominance culture preserves the power structure which prioritises short-term benefits and exploitation, thus causing environmental damage and social disparities.

Let’s look at the facts from Cambodia’s Gender and Environment Survey: men are more likely to use pesticides that cause soil degradation and contribute to increase in carbon emissions. At the same time, women are more likely to use sustainable methods in order to manage forests, spending more time on ecological care labour via complex silviculture activities. This pattern can be found all over the world. The same mentality that leads to environmental destruction leads to subordination of women, subjugation of nature and domination of the profit-driven ideology. This mentality prioritizes domination over collaboration, short-term benefits over sustainability.

Dismantling Petro-Masculinity and Science Denial

This connection is especially clear in the concept of petro-masculinity.

Cara Daggett introduced this term in order to describe how fossil fuel politics and anti-feminist politics is the same movement. The extraction of energy, domination of women and political power are inseparable. This concept links the identity of men, particularly right-wing and authoritarian ones, to the extraction and burning of oil and gas.

Petro-masculinity implies the emphasis on the ‘breadwinner’ role of men, symbol of economic power, and nostalgia of fossil fuel technologies such as cars, trucks and oil rigs, which use a lot of energy. Environmental protection is presented as something feminine and therefore fragile. The climate denial is a display of masculine strength, a demonstration that the man does not admit any vulnerability or the necessity to change something.

The same dynamic can be seen in India. In India, there is glorification of coal and oil, dismissal of renewable energy sources as ‘impractical’ and the marginalization of women who fight for environmental rights. In India, it is fuelled by the narrative of environmental protection being the luxury of the rich and not the necessity for the common man. The men who oppose the measures to address climate change are often the ones who resist gender equality and try to defend the system they believe is beneficial to them.

The data proves the predictions of ecofeminist theories: men report lower pro-environmentalism than women. Although this was usually explained by the difference in personality, recently conducted research showed that there was a strong ideological component in this issue: the endorsement of hegemonic masculinity, the aggressive form of manhood, is associated with anti-environmental attitudes.

However, it would be a mistake to assume that this is simply the story of bad men and innocent women. Men are also bound by patriarchy. They are taught since childhood that being vulnerable is a sign of weakness, that caring is feminine, that being environmentally concerned is not ‘manly’. The same patriarchy that marginalises women, constrains men too. It makes men live in the narrow circle of emotional repression and constant proving of masculinity. This does not mean that it excuses any harm, but it does explain it. The patriarchy is a cage for everyone, breaking away from it is liberation.

Women as Frontline Climate Leaders

Nevertheless, there is another side to the story. Although the patriarchy is responsible for destruction, women are fighting for survival and becoming agents of change themselves.

In Odisha, women farmers introduce climate-resilient agriculture, create drought-resistant crops and diversify their livelihoods. They are those who produce food as the harvest fails because of the extreme weather conditions. Studies prove that the empowerment of women in agriculture directly contributes to better nutrition and more resilient communities. Women all over India are organizing movements for environmental justice. They are protesting against coal mines, protecting the forests and demanding clean water. They are organising at the grassroots level because the national level is failing them.

However, their voices are still underrepresented in decision-making. Climate policies that do not consider the differences between men and women might exacerbate the inequalities. In order to achieve both gender equality and climate justice, the active participation of women in decision-making is required. Women who are on the frontline of climate change, especially Indigenous and rural women, must be involved in the decision-making process.

Essential Steps Toward Equitable Climate Action

The solution of the problem is straightforward, but politically inconvenient.

First, it is necessary to realise that climate change is not a gender-neutral issue. The gender-disaggregated data should be considered when developing policies that show who suffers the most and why. UN’s Gender Equality and Climate Action Scorecard estimates how countries address the gender-specific effects of climate change and how they bring the leadership of women to the forefront of climate actions. India needs to follow the same model.

Second, it is necessary to question the patriarchal norms and structures in conservation and climate policies. It means questioning who decides, who knows and who benefits from environmental policies. It means going beyond representation in order to ensure real participation in decision-making.

Third, it is necessary to empower women. The empowerment of women in agriculture, renewable energy and climate adaptation is a matter of effectiveness. They should be included in disaster-preparedness committees. Special funds should be allocated by the government in order to educate citizens regarding sustainable agriculture being practiced by the innumerable women out there.

Fourth, it is necessary to fight petro-masculinity and the notion of ‘masculinity’ in general. It means changing the social norms that teach boys to dominate and not to care about the environment. It should be done starting from schools, encouraging curriculum reform, and continue with the media, policy and community leadership. This is necessary to bring forth care for the environment and awaken the youth.

Conclusion

This does not mean a fight against men, it means a fight against the system that harms everyone. The stereotypes that patriarchy produces about how men should be tough, unfeeling and domineering and how women should be nurturing, passive and submissive? These are structural barriers to climate action. These stereotypes prevent men from embracing sustainable behaviour. They prevent women from leading. They prevent all of us from seeing the crisis for what it really is. Dismantling them is not an act of aggression towards masculinity. It is an invitation to a better form of strength. To the one that protects instead of exploits.

The climate crisis is a moral problem. It is a problem of values, of power and of who we choose to be.

Gender Inequality, Stereotypes, Patriarchy, and Climate Change are not separate issues. They are one and the same problem.

As the actor and activist Dia Mirza said: ‘Climate change and patriarchy are deeply connected. Both emerge from systems that value extraction over care, domination over balance, and short-term gain over long-term well-being.’

The battle for climate justice is the battle for gender justice. The battle for gender justice is the battle for climate justice. There is no way to have one without the other.

The people of India, we, can keep moving along the road of extraction, exploitation and inequality. However, we can also choose a different path. The path where women and men work hand-in-hand without the fear of being forced to conform to certain expectations. The path where nature is respected and the future is not sacrificed for the present.

It is time to make a choice.

References

1. “70% of the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami were women”: United Nations Sustainable Development. “Experts seek gender-inclusive framework for disaster risk reduction.” UN.org, 2015.
2. “Women are 14 times more likely to die during climate disasters than men”: United Nations. “Why women are key to climate action.” UN.org. Documented in UNDP reports across multiple UN platforms.
3. “80% of people displaced by climate change are women and girls”: United Nations. “Why women are key to climate action.” UN.org.
4. “By 2050, climate change could push 158 million more women and girls into poverty (16 million more than men and boys)”: UN Women. “How gender inequality and climate change are interconnected.” Gender Snapshot 2024 report.
5. “Two-thirds of India’s agricultural workforce are women; women own only ~11% of agricultural land; women earn 22% less than men for similar work”: IFPRI South Asia. “Gender Responsiveness Through Land Rights.” March 2026.
6. 2025 M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) study findings on women’s health impacts of heat: The Hindu. “Women experience amplified health risks due to rising heat: MSSRF study in seven States.” December 2025.
7. 72% of women reported increased domestic violence during the hottest months (April-June): Daijiworld. “Extreme heat taking heavy toll on women’s health, livelihoods: Study.” December 2025.
8. “Women spend approximately 60% of their time on unpaid care work”: The Hindu. “Expectations from a gender lens in Budget 2026-27.” January 2026, citing the Time Use Survey 2025.
9. “Extreme heat adds 90 minutes of unpaid care work per day for Indian women”: Hindustan Times. “India’s heatwave response must focus on women’s health.” May 2025, citing the Scorching Divide report by Arsht-Rock.
10. Cambodia Gender and Environment Survey: “men more likely to use pesticides; women more likely to use sustainable methods.” UN Cambodia. “Cambodia’s first Gender and Environment Survey exposes unequal impacts of climate crisis.” September 2025.
11. “Men report lower pro-environmentalism than women; hegemonic masculinity endorsement is associated with anti-environmental attitudes.” PubMed / European Journal of Social Psychology. “Gendered attitudes towards pro-environmental change: The role of hegemonic masculinity endorsement, dominance and threat.”