How an Intersectional Approach Can Help Us Address Vulnerability to Climate Change

This guide by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) explains how intersecting systems of inequity—such as racism, ableism, and patriarchy—create structural barriers and conditions that increase individual and group vulnerability to climate change. It advocates for an intersectional approach to climate risk assessments to ensure adaptation actions are effective and equitable.

• Intersectionality, a concept coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989 and rooted in Black feminist theory, describes how overlapping forms of discrimination—including racism, ableism, and gender identity discrimination—interact to create systems of inequity that advantage some while disadvantaging others.
• Inequities are structural and embedded in societies through laws, policies, institutions, and social norms. These systems of inequity create structural barriers (formal and informal obstacles to access and participation), which in turn produce conditions that increase climate vulnerability, such as poverty, social isolation, or being unhoused.
• An intersectional approach to climate adaptation is necessary because single-issue analyses (focusing only on gender or age, for example) or comparisons between homogeneous social groups often oversimplify vulnerability. This can lead to ineffective solutions or actions that inadvertently create new vulnerabilities.
• Recent global developments highlight an increasing focus on equity and justice in climate action, including a November 2025 World Meteorological Organization report on extreme weather disruption, a landmark International Court of Justice advisory opinion on government responsibility for climate harm, and a gender action plan adopted at the 30th UN Climate Change Conference in 2025.

APA

Dekens, J., Dazé, A., & Hunter, C. (2026). How an Intersectional Approach Can Help Us Address Vulnerability to Climate Change. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/articles/explainer/how-intersectional-approach-can-help-us-address-vulnerability-climate-change

Chicago

Dekens, Julie, Angie Dazé, and Cameron Hunter. How an Intersectional Approach Can Help Us Address Vulnerability to Climate Change. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2026. https://www.iisd.org/articles/explainer/how-intersectional-approach-can-help-us-address-vulnerability-climate-change.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Dekens |first1=Julie |last2=Dazé |first2=Angie |last3=Hunter |first3=Cameron |title=How an Intersectional Approach Can Help Us Address Vulnerability to Climate Change |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=6 February 2026 |url=https://www.iisd.org/articles/explainer/how-intersectional-approach-can-help-us-address-vulnerability-climate-change |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{dekens2026how, author = {Dekens, Julie and Dazé, Angie and Hunter, Cameron}, title = {{How an Intersectional Approach Can Help Us Address Vulnerability to Climate Change}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2026}, month = feb, url = {https://www.iisd.org/articles/explainer/how-intersectional-approach-can-help-us-address-vulnerability-climate-change}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }