Climate Justice Cannot Leave Some Behind: Women Affected by Work and Descent Based Discrimination

When we talk about climate change, we often focus on rising temperatures, extreme weather, and environmental damage. But behind these headlines are human stories and many of them are still not being heard. Read more here.

At a recent event during the Commission on the Status of Women, activists and community leaders came together to discuss a reality that is still missing from many global climate conversations: the experiences of women from communities discriminated on work and descent.

From Dalit communities in South Asia to Roma communities in Europe, Quilombola communities in Brazil, and marginalized groups in Somalia, speakers shared powerful reflections on how climate change is not only an environmental crisis it is also a crisis of inequality.

For many of these communities, climate change deepens long-standing discrimination. Poor infrastructure, limited access to services, environmental hazards, water scarcity, food insecurity, and forced migration are not new challenges. But the climate crisis is making them worse.

Women are often at the center of this reality.

In many communities, women are responsible for securing water, caring for families, protecting livelihoods, and keeping communities together during difficult times. Yet they are rarely included in the spaces where climate decisions are made.

This absence matters. The communities most affected by climate change also hold valuable knowledge, resilience, and solutions that are essential for responding to the crisis.

Speakers shared examples from different regions. Romani communities across Europe face environmental risks linked to poor infrastructure and social exclusion. In Brazil, Quilombola women are witnessing how climate change affects rivers, forests, and traditional livelihoods. In Somalia, drought and environmental instability are increasing displacement and food insecurity, particularly affecting marginalized women. Across South Asia, Dalit and other CDWD communities continue to face exclusion from climate adaptation programs and resources.

And yet, despite these challenges, these women are not only victims of the climate crisis, they are leaders in responding to it.

Across their communities, women are organizing climate resilience initiatives, building local adaptation strategies, advocating for environmental justice, and mobilizing collective action. Their work is rooted in lived experience, community knowledge, and strong local networks.
However, panelists also highlighted a serious gap. Global climate policies and funding mechanisms often fail to reach these communities. Structural discrimination continues to limit access to climate finance, development programs, and decision-making spaces.

This is why representation matters.

Listening to the voices of women from communities discriminated on work and descent is not only about inclusion, it is about creating solutions that truly work for those most affected.

Climate justice will only be meaningful when those on the frontlines of the crisis are recognized not only as victims of climate change, but as leaders shaping the path forward.