Gender parity has a huge role to play in the fight to save our oceans

The author asserts that gender equality is a critical driver for ocean conservation and sustainable livelihoods, citing examples from India, Mexico, and the Philippines where women-led innovations in mangrove restoration, waste management, and fisheries have improved community resilience. The text highlights systemic gender gaps in the fisheries sector, where women perform 90% of fish processing but earn significantly less than men and lack governance influence. It concludes that integrating women into decision-making and providing them with equal access to resources is necessary to achieve the targets of SDG 14.

• In Odisha, India, gender-focused development through the 'Paribartan' programme led women to implement mangrove nurseries and floating gardens. Mangrove nurseries provide income and create "natural bio-shields against the tidal surges of severe storms", while floating gardens made of bamboo and local materials combat "water and land salinity" to ensure food security.
• Women-led initiatives in other regions have improved environmental outcomes, including a recycling cooperative in Yucatán that improved "solid waste management" to fight plastic waste, and gender mainstreaming in the Philippines that led to "integrated fisheries management techniques" combining fish production and mangrove development.
• The fisheries sector is characterised by significant gender disparities: while women make up about half the workforce, 81% of those in fish and aquaculture harvesting are men. Women are concentrated in secondary fields like fish processing (90%) and earn "approximately 64% of men’s wages when carrying out the same work in aquaculture".
• Gender inequality hinders ocean sustainability because women face barriers to "bank credit, financial resources, technology, market information and entrepreneurial support", and typically have a "minimal voice in the governance" of local resources.
• Drawing a parallel to agriculture, where providing women with land rights and training can increase food productivity by "more than 20%", the author argues that similar productivity gains and sustainable livelihoods can be achieved in fishing and aquaculture through gender parity.

APA

Thomson, P. (2019). Gender parity has a huge role to play in the fight to save our oceans. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/gender-parity-has-a-huge-role-to-play-in-the-fight-to-save-our-oceans/

Chicago

Thomson, Peter. Gender parity has a huge role to play in the fight to save our oceans. World Economic Forum, 2019. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/gender-parity-has-a-huge-role-to-play-in-the-fight-to-save-our-oceans/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Thomson |first1=Peter |title=Gender parity has a huge role to play in the fight to save our oceans |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=7 June 2019 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/gender-parity-has-a-huge-role-to-play-in-the-fight-to-save-our-oceans/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{thomson2019gender, author = {Thomson, Peter}, title = {{Gender parity has a huge role to play in the fight to save our oceans}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2019}, month = jun, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/gender-parity-has-a-huge-role-to-play-in-the-fight-to-save-our-oceans/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }