Protecting the environment: Why a gender perspective matters

The report examines how social constructions of gender—rather than biological differences—create inequalities in the division of labour and access to resources, which in turn dictate how men and women interact with and are affected by the environment. Through case studies in Uganda, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, and South Africa, it demonstrates that women often face a 'double work burden' and higher vulnerability to environmental hazards, while men typically dominate large-scale, more environmentally damaging industrial activities. The document proposes an analytical framework focusing on formal and informal constraints to help organisations implement gender-sensitive programming.

• Gender is defined as a social construction rather than a biological trait, where masculine and feminine identities are developed through socialisation and vary across cultures and history.
• The report proposes an analytical gender framework consisting of three categories: formal and informal constraints (rules and norms), the division of labour (expected tasks), and access to and control over resources.
• In Uganda, cultural norms often restrict women's access to land ownership and financial credit, which discourages them from investing in long-term sustainable agricultural practices like agroforestry.
• In the Philippines, women's empowerment through training in organic farming and the formation of cooperatives has reduced the use of agrochemicals and improved food sovereignty in Davao.
• The expansion of oil palm plantations in Indonesia has disproportionately affected women by increasing their workload, exposing them to hazardous chemicals in nurseries, and restricting their land ownership rights.
• In Mumbai, India, women fish vendors are often excluded from formal credit systems and cooperatives due to illiteracy and domestic burdens, leaving them vulnerable to market fluctuations and pollution.
• Climate change in South Africa increases the burden on women, who are primarily responsible for household energy and water collection, often relying on polluting biomass fuels due to a lack of financial resources.
• In small-scale gold mining in the Philippines, women are often barred from mines due to superstitions or perceived danger, forcing them into precarious panning activities where they are exposed to toxic mercury.
• Across the studied cases, men are generally found to exert more pressure on the environment because they are more frequently involved in large-scale industrial activities.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (n.d.). Protecting the environment: Why a gender perspective matters. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-2015-Report-Segnestam-ProtectingTheEnvironmentWhyGenderMatters.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Protecting the environment: Why a gender perspective matters. n.d. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-2015-Report-Segnestam-ProtectingTheEnvironmentWhyGenderMatters.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Protecting the environment: Why a gender perspective matters |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-2015-Report-Segnestam-ProtectingTheEnvironmentWhyGenderMatters.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitutendprotecting, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Protecting the environment: Why a gender perspective matters}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-2015-Report-Segnestam-ProtectingTheEnvironmentWhyGenderMatters.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }