Faiza Aafrin
The severity and overarching implications of climate change in the world’s most populated country need no introduction. According to World Bank reports, India undergoes extreme heat, rapidly changing waterfall patterns, overexploited groundwater resources, and security threats including but not limited to energy, food, water, and agriculture, along with regional migration conflicts. Malnutrition and related health disorders coupled with increasing heat waves are predicted to result in a significant rise in mortality and death, with the poor likely to be the most affected (World Bank, 2013). That said, it would be an understatement to underline that women, especially among the poor, are made to hold up the short end of the bargain when it comes to the repercussions of climate change. According to a report published by the Global Gender and Climate Alliance, 89 studies have found women to be more acutely hit by the disaster effects of climate change as compared to men (Global Gender and Climate Alliance [GGCA], 2016), a result of the intersection of unequal access to means of production, decision-making and persisting social conventions that resist evolution.
In a comprehensive and extensive document spread out over 56 pages, the Indian government’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), launched in June of 2008, details the term ‘women’ merely 4 times; thrice in the general context of poverty alleviation, a goal not explicitly outlined in its eight national missions, and but once in reference to the adverse effects of indoor air pollution on women and children vis-a-vis men (NAPCC, 2008). While the section titled ‘Promoting energy efficiency in the residential and commercial sector’ alludes to the disadvantageous position women stand at, it fails to put forth any measures that acknowledge this disproportionate effect into its policy design.
Although the NAPCC was instrumental in setting the climate agenda, the initial plan failed to adequately address the health consequences of climate change for vulnerable populations. This gap led to the development of the National Action Plan on Climate Change and Human Health, which is focused on monitoring health impacts and creating targeted strategies for prevention and mitigation. Examples of such initiatives are the National Rural Drinking Water Program and the National Health Mission which aim to improve access to clean water and healthcare towards mitigating climate-induced health risks. Another such supplementary programme is the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), launched in 2016 which provides clean cooking fuel (LPG) connections to replace polluting biomass, primarily benefiting rural women and children through improvement in indoor air quality, reducing respiratory disease risks while also contributing to mitigation of environmental degradation.
While this marks some progress within the realm of achieving a national action plan that is explicitly gender responsive, there are several pitfalls to overcome the insufficiency of the current proposed action plan. The example of women-owned MSMEs can be used to demonstrate one in several shortcomings. Right now, women-led Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (W-MSMEs) are crowded into low-value, climate-vulnerable sectors (retail, food, crafts, stitching, services and agro- allied enterprises). The financial stability of W-MSMEs is jeopardized by a “triple differential vulnerability” rooted in structural inequalities and climate sensitivity (Gannon, Castellano, Eskander, Agol, Diop, Conway, & Sprout, 2022). W-MSMEs are overwhelmingly concentrated in low-margin, climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, textiles, food processing, and handicrafts, making them immediately vulnerable to climate shocks like floods, heatwaves, or droughts. Further, these enterprises face persistent financial and institutional barriers including limited access to formal credit or finance (often due to lack of collateral or social bias), restricted market linkages, and exclusion from formal disaster relief funds, which prevents them from investing in essential climate-proofing technologies or insurance (CSIS, 2024.). Moreover, a household burden multiplier operates: because women also bear the primary responsibility for unpaid care work, climate shocks shift their focus from business recovery to managing the immediate household crisis (e.g, fetching resources or caring for the sick and elderly), often forcing the premature collapse of the business or the sale of productive assets for short-term household survival. Women-led MSMEs, in particular, demonstrate higher profitability, stability, and innovation compared to their counterparts. Women entrepreneurs often reinvest their earnings into family education, healthcare, and nutrition driving larger social outcomes (Women’s World Banking, n.d.).
Within the NAPCC, the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency in Industry exhibits
technical sophistication, detailing financing models like Bundling/Clean Development Mechanism and pledging extensive “hand-holding” to overcome knowledge gaps for SMEs, it doesn’t acknowledge the most vulnerable economic cohort: women-led Micro-enterprises. The policy’s focus on SMEs structurally excludes micro-units, which are the least resilient and most frequently operated by women. Moreover, the omission means the sophisticated financial and capacity-building mechanisms designed by the state bypass the very group facing a “triple differential vulnerability” to climate change that is most acutely hit. By restricting its purview and overlooking a gendered lens, the mission transforms an opportunity for adaptation into a mechanism that reinforces pre-existing social and economic inequalities. An excellent case in point to gather data and benefit from is that of the Philippines’ National Action Plan, which employs its Gender Equality and Women Empowerment Plan to assist in gender mainstreaming within policy frameworks. One such measure is assistance with technological innovations to improve products, services, operations and increase their productivity
and competitiveness for Women in MSMEs.
In another example, the measures within the National Action Plan on Climate Change and Human Health (NAPCCHH) call for advocacy via Self Help Groups (SHGs) and promoting ventilation which are insufficient because they fundamentally fail to address the structural and economic barriers driving the health crisis from biomass use (Kelkar et al., 2021). Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) is primarily a poverty issue; awareness alone cannot overcome the cost of sustaining clean fuels like LPG, leading many to revert to free biomass, a practice known as “stove stacking” (Kelkar et al., 2021). Moreover, relying on the efficiency of existing water and health programs has been shown to be risky due to documented implementation gaps (CAG, 2018).
International initiatives to solve interlinked crises, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which group major targets such as poverty (SDG 1), gender equality (SDG 5), and climate action (SDG 13), do not organize explicit, cross-cutting relationships using shared sub-targets or indicators and are hence characterized by lost integration possibilities. This can be observed in the fact that some of the goals, such as improvement in health indicators, talk of energy use (e.g., biomass fuel), but there are no reciprocating health indicators in the Energy or Climate goals. The lack of explicit connection of sectors and this disaggregated approach leads to discordant efforts, inefficiencies and high levels of communication barriers amongst the varying agencies charged with the responsibility of solving these multisectoral issues. On the same note, although the Gender Action Plan (2017) of the UNFCCC decreed presenting a gender perspective in each aspect of climate action (mitigation, adaptation, and finance) the framework continues to be without the systematic order of integrative procedures and indicators in order to successfully monitor and safeguard advancements.(PMC.NCBI)
Ultimately, while India has historically blamed the Global North for rising global temperatures, the current dilemma stems from structural flaws in its own national climate plan. The omission of a gendered viewpoint from essential texts such as the NAPCC, as well as the systemic failure to integrate women’s special vulnerabilities and capacities across missions and financial channels, render all conventional and domestic initiatives ineffectual and obsolete. Progress in climate action cannot be achieved solely by assigning external blame; it requires an urgent internal commitment to gender equality as a non-negotiable prerequisite for equitable and effective climate resilience.
References
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). (2024). Climate Crisis Jeopardizes Health in India. Retrieved from https://features.csis.org/climate-crisis-jeopardizes-health-in-india/
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India. (2018). Report No. 16 of 2018 – Performance Audit on National Rural Drinking Water Programme. (As cited by various policy analysis sources, including PRS India). https://cag.gov.in/en/audit-report/details/35655
Gannon, K. E., Castellano, E., Eskander, S., Agol, D., Diop, M., Conway, D., & Sprout, E. (2022). The triple differential vulnerability of female entrepreneurs to climate risk in sub-Saharan Africa: Gendered barriers and enablers to private sector adaptation. WIREs Climate Change, e793.
https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.793
Global Gender and Climate Alliance (GGCA). (2016). Gender and Climate Change: A Report by the Global Gender and Climate Alliance. Retrieved from https://wedo.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/GGCA-RP-FINAL.pdf
Government of India. (2008, June). National Action Plan on Climate Change. Prime Minister’s
Office. Retrieved from https://dst.gov.in/climate-change-programme
Government of the Philippines. (2023). National Adaptation Plan (NAP) of the Philippines: 2023-2050. Climate Change Commission. Retrieved from https://unfccc.int/documents/638996
Kelkar, G., Balakrishnan, M., and V, D. (2021). Cultural and Economic Barriers in Switching to Clean Cooking Energy: Does Women’s Agency Make a Difference? Energies, 14(3), 856.
https://doi.org/10.3390/en14030856
Philippine Commission on Women (PCW). (2019). Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) Plan 2019–2025. Retrieved from https://pcw.gov.ph/gewe-plan/
Sorensen, C., Saunik, S., Sehgal, M., Tewary, A., Govindan, M., Lemery, J., & Balbus, J. (2018).
Climate Change and Women’s Health: Impacts and Opportunities in India. GeoHealth, 2(10),
283–297. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GH000163
Women’s World Banking. (n.d.). Advancing Women-Led MSMEs Through Digital Financial Inclusion. Retrieved from https://www.womensworldbanking.org/insights/advancing-women-led-msmes-through-digital-financial-inclusion/
World Bank. (2013, June 19). India: Climate Change Impacts. Retrieved from
https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2013/06/19/india-climate-change-impacts
About the author
Recent International Relations graduate from Tokyo International University with research experience on labour laws, child rights, and women’s agency in India. Experienced in writing, editing, and cross-cultural communication from teaching and volunteer work. I enjoy connecting with people, sharing ideas across cultures, and building partnerships that create meaningful exchange
Disclaimer
All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.
Read also
Economic Growth, Climate Crisis, and Natural Disasters
India needs a separate ministry to deal with the climate crisis
