SOLVING CLIMATE CHANGE, THROUGH THE GENDER LENS

WOMEN ACROSS INDIA ARE LEADING THE FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE. YET THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS REMAIN LARGELY INVISIBLE IN THE MAINSTREAM CLIMATE CONVERSATION.

- URVASHI MISHRA & AJITA SHASHIDHAR

Green Worms, a waste management startup specialises in managing waste in rural Kerala. It has till date collected and recycled 100,000 tonnes of plastic waste from villages in the southern state and has also spread its wings to rural Tamil Nadu and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. What makes Green Worms unique is its 5,000-strong women waste entrepreneurs who collect, segregate, and recycle waste every day. They earn anywhere between ₹500 and ₹600 per day, in contrast to the meagre ₹220 they would get if they were a part of some government employment scheme for women. It helps them support their families and take care of their children’s education.

Founder and CEO, Jabir Karat, says building a business with women at the core was an obvious choice. “We work with women not because we want to do them a favour but because they are ideal for the job—they understand the pain of a household having waste, so they are empathetic. Moreover, this is a regular job and we need a workforce that is patient, systematic, and diligent. Women score higher than men across all these parameters.”

Karat isn’t the only climate entre-preneur who sees merit in building a women-centric business. Research suggests that women and businesses that solve climate change issues go hand in hand. The reason: women across the globe are the worst victims of climate disasters and hence considered to be more sensitive towards solving them. In fact, women make up 80% of the population displaced by climate and biodiversity loss, while environmental degradation limits availability of land and resources. Be it heat waves, floods or earthquakes, women are always the worst impacted.