Gender Justice and Climate Migration

Abstract

Climate change has become an increasingly significant driver of human mobility, exacerbating social, economic, and gendered vulnerabilities across the globe. In Nepal and other climate-vulnerable regions, women disproportionately experience the burdens of environmental degradation while facing the greatest barriers to safe and autonomous migration. This paper explores the gendered dynamics of climate-induced migration, demonstrating that climate change is not gender-neutral in either its impacts or in shaping mobility decisions. Drawing on examples from Nepal, South Sudan, Peru, the Philippines, Myanmar and other countries, the analysis shows how extreme weather events, resource scarcity, and environmental instability increase women’s workloads, threaten their livelihoods, and heighten risks of gender-based violence, trafficking, and other forms of exploitation. The study further situates climate migration within entrenched socio cultural norms that restrict women’s agency, revealing how gender discrimination dictates both the purpose and outcomes of migration. It evaluates the limitations of international governance systems, such as the UNFCCC, the Platform for Disaster Displacement, the Global Compact for Migration, the Global Compact on Refugees, and the Sendai Framework, which inadequately integrate gender justice into climate mobility policies.