VIEW FROM THE
COMMONWEALTH WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS (CWP) CHAIRPERSON
PARLIAMENTARIANSVIS-À-VIS THECHALLENGEOFCLIMATE CHANGE
View from the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Chairperson
Dear readers of The Parliamentarian, I warmly welcome you to the first issue of our journal for 2016. Indeed it is a massive opportunity and pleasure for us to continue to share experiences and the way forward in collectively solving the global challenges in our midst through this publication.
I bring you greetings from Uganda, from the people of Uganda, from my Parliament but most of all, I bring you warm greetings from the fraternity of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians. One of the main themes of this issue is climate change and it surely raised my attention given its increasing impact and prominence in contemporary times.
Situation analysis
Currently climate change is a controversial topic, with a lot of debate on whether it is truly happening. Climate change is one of the harshest realities and challenges we face today and from the perspective of women, it is even worse given that women suffer most from the adverse impact of climate change; this I will elucidate later in my article.
For those who still have any of the slightest doubt about the reality of climate change and its impact, I want to share with you the experience of farmers from my country, Uganda. While farmers in Uganda cannot provide sufficient evidence to decide the matter, they agree that the weather patterns have changed tremendously. The rainy seasons and the planting seasons have become unpredictable. This has resulted in a substantial reduction in the productivity of Uganda’s agriculture, which is 97% rain-fed. Other evidence for the change in weather patterns is the loss of crop bio-diversity. Some sweet potato varieties that have been grown for decades in various regions are now lost, due to the extreme weather. The other example that I gathered was through my experience in Bangladesh during the 10th
Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting in
Dhaka in June 2013. I noticed that the Heat Index has remarkably increased in Bangladesh because of climate change. Heat Index describes the combined effect of temperature and humidity on the human body. This combined effect is causing a serious threat to the health of the people because of the changing climate. With climate change and climate variability, the result is that the occurrence of heat waves is likely to increase. Evidence is emerging
8 | The Parliamentarian | 2016: Issue One
from the analysis of long-term climate records of an increase in the frequency and duration of extreme temperature events all over Bangladesh, particularly during the summer. The summer season has been prolonged while the winters have become short in Bangladesh.
Rt Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, MP Chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians and Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda
There is growing evidence indicating that climate change is threatening the world’s environmental, social and economic development. Climate change is already beginning to transform life on Earth. Around the globe, seasons are shifting, temperatures are climbing and sea levels are rising. And meanwhile, our planet must still supply us – and all living things – with air, water, food and safe places to live. One of the most serious impacts of climate change is how it will affect water resources around the world. Water is intimately tied to other resources and social issues such as food supply, health, industry, transportation and ecosystem integrity. Climate change also threatens the health of our children and grandchildren through increased disease, freshwater shortages, worsened smog and many other issues. These impacts also pose incalculable future economic risks that far outweigh the economic risk of taking action today. Of course, the consequences of climate change are many and vary in different ecosystems and these include the threats of imminent increased risk of drought, fire and floods, more heat-related illnesses and disease, economic losses, stronger storms and increased storm damage, rising seas and changing landscapes. If we don’t act now, climate change will rapidly alter the lands and waters we all depend upon for survival, leaving our children and grandchildren with a very different world.
The impact of climate change on women I feel it is important to touch on the plight of women in regard to the impacts of climate change because of their peculiar vulnerability to these impacts. Many women around the world must adapt their lives to a changing climate. Increases in extreme weather conditions - droughts, storms and floods for example - are already altering economies, economic development and patterns of human migration, and are likely to be among the biggest global health threats this century. Everyone will be affected by these changes, but not equally. Studies have shown that women disproportionately suffer the impacts of disasters, severe weather events, and climate change
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