Reports from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Women state that women and children are 14 times more likely to die in disasters created by extreme weather than men. Furthermore, the UN Women’s Gender Snapshot Report 2025 suggests that 158 million more women and girls will be pushed into poverty by 2050, with climate change as the culprit. The reason? Women in developing countries often earn their livelihood through farming, producing up to 80% of the food in those parts of the world. When disaster strikes, not only is their income source destroyed, but they lack access to bank accounts where they might have kept savings to get them through. Already, 47.8 million more women than men around the world struggle with food insecurity and chronic hunger.

In response, women are taking matters into their own hands. According to the UN, 63% of the sustainability executives in big companies are women—an increase from 17% in 2025. The UN also reports that 40% of the employees working in solar energy are women, compared to 22% of employees in oil and gas. But we still have far to go.

If battling climate change is important to protecting and preserving humanity, then it’s particularly important to women: The lives we save may be our own.