Abstract
The chapter focuses on gender specific socio-economic vulnerability to climate change in four Indian Ocean island economies of Comoros, Madagascar, Maldives and Mauritius. The study provides a systematic analysis of gender differences in environmental changes from vulnerability to adaptability and set out gender-inclusive climate change policies. In analysing the disproportionate bearing of environmental changes on women and their differential coping strategies relative to men, various indicators are first adopted from the INFORM global risk index and EM-DAT database. Second, data from the World Bank Development Indicators, 2018 (World Bank, World Bank Development Indicators 2018, 2018a), and World Bank Gender Statistics, 2018 (World Bank, World Bank Gender Statistics 2018, 2018b), is analysed for the four islands from 1960 to 2017 using principal component analysis. The principal component analysis extracts the component factors relevant for men and women separately and a Social and Economic Vulnerability Index is developed applying a gender perspective. The results reveal that the human resource dimension (unemployment and education) and demographics have significant bearings on both women’s and men’s vulnerability to climate change. However, additional key components are observed for women, namely the proportion of women in decision making and health status namely fertility rate. With differences in component factors, gender mainstreaming in climate change policies and strategies is imperative for the Indian Ocean island economies.
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Notes
- 1.
Data on the index can be obtained at http://www.inform-index.org/.
- 2.
The data can be accessed at https://www.emdat.be/database.
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Tandrayen-Ragoobur, V. (2021). Social and Economic Vulnerability to Climate Change: A Gender Dimension for Indian Ocean Islands. In: Moncada, S., Briguglio, L., Bambrick, H., Kelman, I., Iorns, C., Nurse, L. (eds) Small Island Developing States. The World of Small States, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82774-8_9
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