Nigeria: Climate Crisis - Over 1.5 Billion Women and Girls Live in Climate Hotspots, UN Women Warns

What the report says

UN Women used the COP31 climate conference in Antalya on Tuesday, November 10, to warn that climate change is worsening risks for women and girls already living in vulnerable areas. In a new report cited by Leadership and distributed by AllAfrica, the agency said more than 1.5 billion women and girls worldwide live in climate hotspots where extreme weather, weak livelihoods and gender inequality overlap.

The report says climate impacts could deepen poverty and insecurity for women if current trends continue. It projects that, under worst-case scenarios, as many as 141 million more women could fall into extreme poverty by 2050. It also links a 1°C rise in global temperatures with women losing more income than men, partly because they have fewer opportunities outside farm work.

The publication further highlights the gendered burden of water collection, noting that women do most of this work in many off-grid households and could spend more time on the task as droughts intensify. It also points to research across 14 countries suggesting drought is associated with higher risks of sexual violence against adolescent girls and with more child marriage in affected areas.

UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous called for climate policy and financing to better reflect women’s rights and needs. The report argues that targeted investment could also open new green jobs for women, underscoring why gender-responsive climate action is being framed as both a rights issue and an economic one.