Caring is Political: Towards Climate and Gender Justice

The climate crisis is real. However, attributing a wide range of disasters—such as unpredictable weather or flooding in areas not typically prone to floods—solely to the climate crisis is not the answer. We need to unpack the question of cause, so we do not simply label a series of misfortunes as “crisis,” but instead examine where the crisis truly originates and why it is us who are experiencing its impacts. 

The Climate Crisis as a Colonial Legacy: Unpacking the Traces of Imperialism 

The climate crisis is not merely an environmental issue—it is a direct consequence of deeply rooted systems of power and inequality. Therefore, identifying who bears responsibility requires a fair understanding of history. For example, 23 wealthy and developed countries are responsible for half of all CO₂ emissions produced during the 2010–2019 period. These countries include Europe, Japan, Mexico, and the United States. 

According to Carbon Majors, more than 70% of global CO₂ emissions from 1854 to 2022 can be traced back to just 78 companies and nation-states responsible for producing CO₂. Moreover, over half of the total carbon from fossil fuels has been released into the atmosphere in just the past 30 years. [1]  

Linking the climate crisis to colonialism can help us recognize and acknowledge that historical injustices do not simply disappear into the past—their legacies persist to this day, often with layered and compounding effects. For example, Jakarta’s recurring floods can be traced back to Dutch colonial rule in the 1600s. The infrastructure that was deliberately designed to separate social groups at the time made it difficult for the Indonesian population to access clean water. 

To meet their need for clean water, the Indigenous population was forced to dig their own wells and extract groundwater from aquifers. This practice continued even after Indonesia gained independence in 1945. Today, as a city with over 10 million residents, this ‘historical legacy’ has made Jakarta one of the fastest-sinking cities in the world. 

The practices of extracting and destroying natural resources (and disrupting human well-being) have significantly intensified the impacts of the climate crisis. Once again, a pattern that began during the Dutch colonial era. 

In the Indonesian context, the extractive economic model introduced by the Dutch during the colonial era is still in use today. Even within the energy transition scheme—which oftentimes promoted as a ‘green’ transition—Indonesia’s economy has shifted toward the export of critical minerals like nickel (used for electric vehicle batteries), which in reality has damaged local lands, water sources, and food systems in Central Halmahera, North Maluku and in Konawe Islands Regency, Southeast Sulawesi. 

The Climate Crisis is a Crisis (for) Women 

The climate crisis is far from being “gender-neutral.” Its impacts are uneven and disproportionately affect groups that are already vulnerable, particularly women, children, the elderly, racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, Indigenous communities, and low-income populations.  

Women living in poor and remote communities, for example, have long experienced inequalities in access to basic infrastructure and affordable high-quality public services—including healthcare and education.  In the context of climate issues, even as investments or projects for adaptation, mitigation, or recovery from climate impacts seem to flow and become a trend, women in poor communities tend not to benefit equitably. They are often the most at risk of losing their land, livelihoods, security, and safety due to climate solutions that fail to serve their interests. 

An analysis by Carbon Brief shows that out of 130 studies on climate change and health, 89 found that women are more affected than men. Meanwhile, 30 studies found that men are more affected, and 11 studies found no difference in how women and men are impacted. 

El Niño, which intensifies heatwaves, leads to hotter and drier weather and has a significant impact on women. Women face a range of challenges, including increased risks of food insecurity, loss of income, heavier care responsibilities, and heightened risk of gender-based violence due to patriarchal norms and structural discrimination.

Women possess strong local knowledge and often serve as stewards of natural resources in their communities. Unfortunately, they are frequently excluded from various decision-making processes related to climate policy and action. 

Centralizing Care 

Since the industrial era, capitalism has successfully separated social reproductive work—such as caregiving, childrearing, and maintaining daily life—from economic reproductive work, including working in factories, companies, and offices. As a result, while we struggle to survive the climate crisis, we are simultaneously experiencing a crisis of care. 

The newly launched Humanis Way: Gender & Climate Justice Strategic Guidelines defines the crisis of care as a social condition in which care for individuals, communities, and the environment is systematically undervalued, neglected, or deprioritized. This leads to widespread inequality, environmental degradation, and the erosion of social bonds and well-being. 

In this document, we offer a perspective that the climate crisis is not singular or temporary, but rather a convergence of economic, ecological, social, and political crises that are deeply intertwined with histories of colonialism and oppression. This crisis is the result of capitalism infiltrating every aspect of human life—turning everything into a means of production and profit—which, in turn, prevents and even obstructs our ability to care for one another. 

Ironically, at the same time, the capitalist economic system heavily relies on care work.[2] However, this work is often seen as something “naturally” performed by certain gender identities—namely women—assigned no economic value, and deemed unworthy of recognition. Care work is frequently referred to merely as “affective labor,” with its only reward being “prayers” or “a place in heaven.” 

Women shoulder the majority of care work globally, with 76% of that care work being unpaid. Data from the International Labour Organization (ILO) released in 2024 found that 45% of the reasons for women’s absence from the labor force are due to care responsibilities, which include essential forms of caregiving for family members, particularly, but not limited to, childcare. 

A case study from the FOCUS project, for example, found that 48% of household income in fishing communities comes from women [3], who play a vital role in the fisheries value chain—from preparing nets to marketing. However, the profession of women fishers is still not fully recognized, and their work is often regarded as something that “naturally” falls under women’s domestic responsibilities. 

In the Humanis Way: Gender & Climate Justice Strategic Guidelines, we also offer and promote a principle called “Valuing Care Work,” which we believe should be integrated into all conversations and efforts addressing the climate crisis and gender injustice, up to the broader work of civil society. 

Valuing care work means recognizing caregiving activities as essential to fulfilling human needs—at the household, community, and broader social systems levels. This includes integrating care into the planning and budgeting of programs and projects, as well as nurturing the resilience of social movements and collective struggle ecosystems. Planning and budgeting must be intentionally directed toward care (although it is often seen as “internal”) so it is prioritized alongside more “external” aspects like exposure or visibility. 

Care work must be rooted in solidarity, collaboration, and sustainability, and supported by democratic governance and community-centered approaches. The state, as a duty bearer, holds the primary responsibility to ensure that care infrastructure serves both people and the planet fairly. 

The state’s responsibility for care systems and infrastructure should not be limited to affirmative efforts such as gender quotas in parliament, revitalizing childcare facilities, or offering male contraceptive options through family planning programs. Beyond that, serious and just efforts are needed to restore and repair what has been damaged or lost in nature, and to redress the human rights violations that have occurred. 

Without concrete efforts to reform structural aspects and redistribute responsibilities, the emerging popularity of the care economy framework will ultimately fail to examine power and transform power relations. Gender inequality and women’s double burden in care work will continue to be overlooked, leaving little opportunity for genuine restoration. 

 

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[1] David Wallace-Wells. The Uninhabitable Earth (Tim Duggan Books, New York, NY, 2019) p. 43 

[2] Fraser, N. (2022). Cannibal Capitalism: How Our System Is Devouring Democracy, Care, and the Planet and What We Can Do about It. London and New York: Verso

[3] Naufaludin Ismail. 2017. Perjuangan Rekognisi Identitas Hukum Perempuan Ujung Pangkah, Gresik: Analisis Feministerhadap Kebijakan Kartu dan Asuransi Nelayan. Jakarta: Jurnal Perempuan.