Analyzing gender and climate change within the scope of international environmental law

Climate change, one of the biggest problems of our age, further strengthens the gender inequalities that already exist in society. Women, especially those living in rural areas of underdeveloped countries, have a special relationship with the environment due to their dependence on forests or agriculture. For this reason, women, who are more sensitive to environmental degradation and the climate change cause by environmental degradation, have less of a share in climate change. On the other hand, women are among the disadvantaged groups most affected by problems caused by climate change. While women are currently struggling with gender inequalities, they are also becoming the subjects of climate injustice. Gender inequalities and climate injustice lead to women and girls being deprived of even their most basic human rights. Due to gender inequalities and discrimination caused by climate injustice, women's and girls' right to life, right to food and shelter, education and health are directly or indirectly affected. Women are positioned at the intersection of the concepts of gender inequality and climate injustice, therefore it is also important to address the place of women within the scope of international environmental law regulations. In this regard, the necessity of a gender sensitive and binding environmental legislation has an important place within the scope of international environmental law. However, it is seen that the relationship between gender and environment is not mentioned enough in international environmental law documents. In this study, gender inequalities within the framework of climate injustice are discussed, the negative effects of climate change especially on women are mentioned, and the principles for women in international environmental law regulations are examined. The aim of the study is to address gender inequalities and climate injustice within the scope of international environmental law and to reveal the deficiencies of international environmental law regulations regarding the gender-environment relationship. The fact that there is a limited field of study in the Turkish literature that addresses the issue of gender and climate change together within the scope of international environmental law increases the importance of the research in the literature.