The climate crisis is often presented as an environmental problem requiring technological solutions, financial commitments and international cooperation. But this framing overlooks a fundamental truth: the climate crisis is also a crisis of power. It is rooted in an economic and political system that treats nature as an endless resource for exploitation and women’s labour as an inexhaustible source of unpaid care.
These are not separate injustices. They are interconnected forms of extraction that sustain an economic model built on accumulation, inequality and the concentration of power in the hands of a few.
As governments gather in Antalya, Türkiye, for COP31, the question should not simply be how much money will be mobilised or how many emission-reduction targets will be announced. It should be whether world leaders are prepared to confront the systems responsible for the destruction of ecosystems and the marginalisation of communities.
For millions of women across Africa and the Global South, climate change is not an abstract discussion about temperature thresholds. It is the loss of farmland, disappearing water sources, declining food production and the growing struggle to sustain households in increasingly hostile environments.
Approximately 1.5 billion women and girls live in climate hotspots. As climate shocks intensify, women experience disproportionate economic losses, food insecurity and livelihood disruptions.
