By: Mahwish Arif
Climate change is no longer a distant threat to Pakistan; it is a daily reality. From the devastating 2022 floods that displaced over 33 million people to regular heatwaves and droughts, the country is facing the harsh grip of a warming world. Yet in this calamity, there is one group of people paying a disproportionately high price: women.
Women—especially rural women—are deeply linked to the environment in Pakistan. They fetch water, cook meals, care for children, and work in agriculture. Women bear the brunt of crop loss or a water shortage. A farmer’s wife from Sindh explained to researchers, “When the rains do not come, we eat less so our children can survive. Hunger is a mother’s first sacrifice.” Her sentiments are representative of women across the nation.
With disasters, inequalities are compounded. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) finds, “Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by climate disasters, frequently having mobility constraints, limited resources, and heightened risks to their safety.” During the 2022 floods, some women delivered babies in inhumane conditions without medical care, and others struggled to protect their children in overcrowded relief camps. Climate change adds to their weight, testing not only survival but dignity as well.
Rising heat also increases health risks. Pregnant women exposed to extreme weather conditions face more complications, whereas young girls fall victims to malnutrition if food supply lines are disrupted. Women in temporary shelters are often exposed to harassment, with no privacy or security. These issues remain hidden from national climate debates, but they define life for millions of Pakistani women.
Women are nearly 45% of Pakistan’s farm labor but own minimal or no land. When drought ruins crops or floods destroy land, women lose livelihood as well as food. Men migrate to cities for employment, and women remain behind to manage homes in harder conditions. With inadequate exposure to credit finance, technology, and training, adaptation capacity of women is constrained.
But even in the midst of these struggles, women are not just victims—women are agents of resilience. Women all over Pakistan are planting trees to combat desertification, operating community water cooperatives, and disseminating clean energy practices. Women’s cooperatives in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have introduced solar ovens that curb deforestation as well as health risks from smoke. As Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai once stated, “When women are empowered, they can lead the fight against climate change with courage and creativity.”
Pakistan’s climate emergency can’t be tackled without a gender-sensitive strategy. Policymakers need to incorporate women’s voices into climate plans. Education, land rights, economic empowerment, and disaster preparedness training can empower women from being weak victims to being effective change leaders. “Investing in women’s resilience is investing in the resilience of the entire community,” one climate expert says.
Climate change in Pakistan is widening the existing inequalities, making women bear more but also giving them a chance to take over. Their struggles are real, but so are their strengths. If Pakistan wants a resilient future, it must realize that women are not only victims of climate change but also its biggest asset for building resilience.
