Gender, climate change and the politics of vulnerability: An introduction

Climate change is transforming countries the world over, and the South Asian subcontinent is no exception. The impacts of climate change could prove particularly severe for some women, yet very little research that is both disaggregated and contextually embedded is available. The global literature focusing on gender and climate change, though still evolving, establishes with high confidence that gender relations are an integral part of climate-change processes and the social transformations these set in motion. Bhutan, a landlocked country in the Himalayan mountains, is increasingly vulnerable to climate change, as witnessed in erratic and extreme rainfall events and glacial lake outburst floods. Women’s significant roles as agents of change in promoting climate-change mitigation action needs to be recognized and supported both individually and collectively. Climate change and the resulting livelihood diversification, including male outmigration, has opened new spaces for women’s agency, individual and collective.