Ensuring climate action and clean technologies are accessible and fair

Irish Examiner

7 days ago

The Feminist Communities for Climate Justice project is a joint initiative of Community Work Ireland and the National Women's Council of Ireland, which seeks to promote both sustainability and fairness in climate change policy. We have built a national network of more than 140 groups and individuals to highlight climate policies that put people and planet first: that can be transformative in creating a fairer, cleaner, more sustainable future in which all women, communities, workers and countries are lifted by climate action.
To date, we have collaborated with Maynooth University to develop a certificate in Community Work for a Changing Ireland for community workers and activists, and published a baseline report into Feminist Climate Justice covering six thematic areas covering care, housing, transport, food, health and a just transition. We have four active working groups and in the next phase of the project we will be rolling out a new campaign to broaden out the public discussion of what climate action looks like, and how healthy communities need to be central to the climate policies of government.
Our research has found that women and marginalised communities in Ireland are more vulnerable to climate change impacts. And that poorly-designed climate policies that fail to correct underlying inequalities only continue to exclude and marginalise these communities further.
For example, low-income communities in both urban and rural areas often experience a higher pollution burden due to the prohibitive cost of replacing fossil fuel-based heating systems like peat, coal, oil and gas with heat pumps and insulation. Petrol and diesel cars are often the only option in rural areas that are not served well by public transport and for people with disabilities or caring roles. If clean technologies are prohibitively expensive and grants are targeted at those with higher incomes, the people who often need them the most cannot benefit from them.
Socially just climate action also means delivering energy policies that support those who struggle the most with rising energy costs. This should ideally mean locally-owned renewable energy resources that deliver tangible benefits directly to the communities that host them.
Members of Feminist Communities for Climate Justice: "It is vital that the voices of marginalised communities are heard in climate policy decision-making."
In Ireland, the idea that women will be affected more than men by the climate crisis may not be obvious at first. We live in a country that claims to support equality for women. However, the reality is that women are, on average, poorer than men. They therefore have fewer resources to counter the impact of the crisis and invest in alternative, more sustainable products and solutions. Almost half of lone parents — mostly women — live in deprivation and private rented accommodation, struggling to pay rising energy costs and without access to retrofitting schemes.
Unequal impacts
Sunshine is always welcome, however highest temperature records for April were broken at 17 weather stations across Ireland — a further sign that Ireland is not immune to the phenomenon of global heating. In fact, 2024 was the first year that the Earth crossed the 1.5°C global warming threshold. Storm Éowyn and recent floods are a stark reminder of Ireland's vulnerabilities. Across Europe, heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and flooding are putting a strain on people's health, livelihoods and public infrastructure.
While Ireland's average temperatures have increased in line with climate models, we don't particularly notice the slow creep of global heating ourselves, especially during summers when it seems like the sun barely shines at all. Yet subtle changes in the climate system will likely lead to more dramatic consequences over time: more extreme rainfall, more drought, more flooding. The 2023 synthesis report of the Irish Climate Change Assessment notes that the consequences of global heating for Ireland are likely to be profound, with more extreme weather events likely to become more frequent and more intense.
But what we often fail to recognise is the way that climate change — along with policies designed to manage and prevent climate change — often has unequal impacts. While extreme weather and policy measures will affect everyone, whether directly or indirectly, some people and communities are much more vulnerable than others.
Many other social groups are challenged by climate action policies because of their identities, for example the Traveller community, migrants or people who are dependent on jobs and sectors that are carbon intensive. We need to carefully design climate policies and investments to ensure we are responding to the needs of communities on the ground, and not to just seek the least-cost emission reductions. As a first step, the Government should collect detailed data on gender, disability and ethnicity to aid in gender, poverty and equality-proofing climate policies. It is also vital that the voices of marginalised communities are heard in climate policy decision-making.
Care work is another example of how climate and gender intersect. Most care work is carried out by women and this changes the way energy and transport services are used.
A study carried out by Transport Infrastructure Ireland in 2020 called 'Travelling in a Woman's Shoes' found that women rely heavily on cars to carry out caring journeys, with 95% of women outside of Dublin and 79% of women inside Dublin seeing cars as necessities. Sustainable mobility for all means putting the needs of people with disabilities and children first in the planning process and ensuring that public transport is both safe and accessible, with timetables that cater to a variety of needs beyond the typical work-home commute.
By failing to consider the lived reality of women, current climate policies are making the lives of many harder. Climate action that is only available to those who own their own homes, or who can afford to purchase an electric vehicle is more like business-as-usual than the transformation towards sustainability and equality we need. If the Government is serious about climate action it will seek to align Ireland's economic and taxation policies with those that are compatible with planetary boundaries and a safe and equal future for all.
As women, community workers and feminists, we are ready to lead. We believe that actions to reduce Ireland's climate impact and its disproportionate effects on marginalised communities and those living in poverty requires a strong focus on community work. Community development strengthens the consciousness, capacity and confidence of local communities to act on climate change issues. But communities will only be able to do this if the Government shows real leadership and puts the voices of those most impacted by climate change at the centre of decision making.
Sadhbh O'Neill is the project lead for the National Women's Council of Ireland and Community Work Ireland project Feminist Communities for Climate Justice, funded by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications under the Community Climate Action Programme: Climate Education, Capacity Building and Learning by Doing (Strand 2).
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