Climate change has gendered impacts. Drawing on feminist environmentalism and ecofeminist perspectives, critically analyse how recent floods and heat waves in Pakistan have affected women differently.

Introduction

Climate change is not gender-neutral. Pakistan, one of the most climate-vulnerable countries, experienced devastating floods in 2022 that affected about 33 million people, and recurring heat waves in cities such as Jacobabad. Women, especially poor rural women, bore distinct and often heavier burdens because of their social roles, limited resources and restricted mobility.

Theoretical lenses

Ecofeminism, associated with thinkers such as Vandana Shiva and Maria Mies, argues that the domination of women and the exploitation of nature come from the same patriarchal, capitalist logic. It highlights women's close relationship with nature as caregivers and food producers, and their role in resisting environmental destruction.

Feminist environmentalism, developed by Bina Agarwal, criticises ecofeminism for treating women as a single category with an essential bond to nature. It argues that women's relationship with the environment is shaped by the material realities of the gendered division of labour, property rights, class and caste. Poor rural women depend on forests, water and fields because they are responsible for fetching water, fuel and fodder — not because of any innate closeness to nature.

Gendered impacts of the 2022 floods

Health and maternal care. UN agencies estimated that around 650,000 pregnant women were in flood-affected areas, many without access to safe delivery. Lack of privacy, sanitation and menstrual hygiene products in camps caused infections and distress.

Safety and violence. Displacement exposed women and girls to harassment, gender-based violence and trafficking. Restrictions on mobility and the absence of male relatives made it harder for some women to reach relief, and relief distribution sometimes required identity documents that many women lacked.

Livelihoods and property. Women's livestock, kitchen gardens and home-based work were destroyed, but because land is mostly registered in men's names, women were often excluded from compensation. Their unpaid care work increased as they nursed the sick and rebuilt homes.

Education and early marriage. Schools were destroyed or used as shelters; economic distress increased the risk of girls being withdrawn from school and married early.

Gendered impacts of heat waves

Women cooking over open fires in poorly ventilated homes, working in fields during harvest, or living in crowded urban settlements face high heat exposure. Pregnant women are at greater risk of complications. Social norms may limit women's access to cooling centres and public spaces, while water shortages during heat waves increase the time they spend fetching water.

Critical assessment

Ecofeminism usefully links environmental destruction with patriarchal power and recognises women as agents of conservation, but it risks romanticising women and ignoring class and regional differences. Feminist environmentalism better explains Pakistan's experience: the burdens fell hardest on poor, landless rural women in Sindh and Balochistan because of their material position — their labour, lack of property and limited voice in decision-making — rather than gender alone. An intersectional approach that combines gender with class, location and ethnicity gives the most complete picture.

Recommendations

Collect sex-disaggregated disaster data; include women in disaster-management authorities and local committees; provide women-friendly relief camps with privacy, sanitation and health services; ensure that compensation and land titles reach women; issue CNICs to women in vulnerable areas; integrate gender into Pakistan's National Climate Change Policy and adaptation plans; and support women's climate-resilient livelihoods.

Conclusion

Pakistan's floods and heat waves show that climate disasters magnify existing inequalities. Ecofeminism draws attention to the shared exploitation of women and nature, while feminist environmentalism explains why poor rural women suffer most. Effective climate policy must address both — recognising women as victims of climate change and as essential actors in adaptation.