The climate crisis is far from "gender-neutral"
 CLOSING THE GAP Tuesday, August 31, 2021 
In a recent interview with The New York Times, climate change activist Katharine K. Wilkinson argues that while climate change is an issue that affects us all, it is today's most vulnerable communities, including women and people of color, who will be impacted the most by this crisis.
"The climate crisis is not gender-neutral in its root causes, which grow out of patriarchy, among other things," Wilkinson tells the Times. "It is not gender-neutral in its impact because women and girls are on the back foot, in various ways."
The richest 1% of the global population, who are overwhelmingly men, have used two times as much carbon as the poorest 50% over the last 25 years, CNBC's Cat Clifford has reported. During the coronavirus pandemic, this disparity has widened. For example, private jets, which produce carbon dioxide, have seen sales soar amid halted commercial air travel, according to a report by Oxfam International.
Carbon dioxide emissions lead to unusually high temperatures on Earth, which scientists say make natural disasters such as Hurricane Ida more powerful.
When these storms hit, Wilkinson says, it's people living in poverty, who are mostly women and people of color, who are affected the most. In fact, 80% of people who have been forced to leave their homes globally due to climate change are women, reports the United Nations Development Programme, leading to increased levels of homelessness, sexual violence and disease.
"The Pentagon coined this term of climate as a threat multiplier…," Wilkinson tells the Times. "It's such a helpful framing that the climate is a multiplier of any cracks, imbalances or injustices that are present in current society. It amplifies them."
Wilkinson was named by TIME in 2019 as one of 15 women leading the fight against climate change. In addition to more women having a seat at decision-making tables around the climate crisis, she says, there needs to also be a greater emphasis on equity in the climate philanthropy space.
"Most of the money that's being invested in the climate movement is going to work that is led by white men," she says. "And we want them on the team. They just can't be the whole team."
Click here to read the rest of Wilkinson's New York Times interview and be sure to follow CNBC's climate change and environment news desk for the latest updates related to climate policy. Also, be sure to email me at courtney.connley@nbcuni.com or message me on Twitter @ClassicalyCourt to share any thoughts you have around today's climate crisis and the solutions needed to fix this problem.
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