Climate Change and Lifestyles Guidebook - UNEP
Climate Change and Lifestyles Guidebook - UNEP
Climate Change and Lifestyles Guidebook - UNEP
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Changing effects <strong>and</strong> impacts<br />
Girls <strong>and</strong> young women<br />
Girls <strong>and</strong> young women in developing countries are<br />
especially vulnerable to climate change. Drought<br />
<strong>and</strong> floods caused by climate change can create<br />
more work for them <strong>and</strong> take more of their time<br />
for finding <strong>and</strong> fetching water or growing crops,<br />
as they collect water, fuel <strong>and</strong> firewood <strong>and</strong> often<br />
grow food for their families. As a result, many<br />
of them miss out on education, which means<br />
fewer opportunities for them to have better living<br />
conditions <strong>and</strong> become actors of sustainable<br />
development. Nonetheless, many girls <strong>and</strong> young<br />
women are working hard to escape from these<br />
conditions by becoming agents for change <strong>and</strong><br />
finding ways to adapt to climate change in their<br />
daily lives <strong>and</strong> build stronger communities.<br />
îCase study<br />
Wangari Maathai saw many communities<br />
in her native Kenya suffering from lack of<br />
natural resources. She founded the Green Belt<br />
Movement – a grassroots organization that<br />
empowers women to improve their lives <strong>and</strong><br />
conserve the environment through planting<br />
trees; in an effort to replenish resources <strong>and</strong><br />
reduce vulnerability to climate change, one<br />
tree at a time. This movement has spread<br />
worldwide.<br />
‹<br />
Get Active!<br />
Evaluate one climate-related risk faced by<br />
your local community, town, city or country,<br />
for instance, the risk of droughts or heavy<br />
precipitation.<br />
What are some of the impacts of these extreme<br />
weather events <strong>and</strong> what can governments, civil<br />
society <strong>and</strong> individuals do to reduce the causes<br />
<strong>and</strong> effects?<br />
Isl<strong>and</strong>ers<br />
Small isl<strong>and</strong> developing states (SIDS) are among<br />
the lowest GHG emitters but they are likely to<br />
be the most affected. As low-lying isl<strong>and</strong>s with<br />
limited l<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> freshwater, they are likely to<br />
be severely affected by sea level rise <strong>and</strong> more<br />
extreme weather events.<br />
So, settlements, critical infrastructure, economic<br />
activities, such as tourism, <strong>and</strong> ecosystems are<br />
at risk. Unsustainable human activities such as<br />
s<strong>and</strong> mining <strong>and</strong> extensive coastal developments<br />
already represent a problem for many isl<strong>and</strong><br />
states <strong>and</strong> increase their vulnerability to climate<br />
change impacts.<br />
© Listening Eye Images<br />
18<br />
Y o u t h X c h a n g e - C l i m a t e c h a n g e a n d l i f e s t y l e s
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