OPINION: Educating women and girls will help save the world

Photo by Saeed Siddiqui

By Kate Zabinsky (MPA ’23)

Biologist and naturalist E.O. Wilson, often referred to as “The Darwin of the 21st Century,” once said, “The education of women is the best way to save the environment.” 

It’s not looking good, however, considering that only 39% of rural girls attend secondary school and that women make up two-thirds of the nearly 800 million illiterate people across the globe. The vast majority of said women and girls live in the Global South and are exponentially more vulnerable to effects of the climate crisis, such as forced migration and food insecurity. 

But what if we could feed two birds with one scone?

Project Drawdown, a nonprofit focused on climate solutions, ranks educating girls and family planning as the third most effective solution for keeping global temperature rise under 2˚ Celsius by 2100. They estimate that it would reduce CO2 emissions by 69 gigatons. The first ranked solution is reducing food waste and improving land use decisions, with an estimated reduction of 89 gigatons of CO2 emissions. 

Imagine the possibilities if we combine those two solutions by linking conservation efforts and educational programs for women and girls.

Women are disproportionately responsible for gathering resources such as wood and water. In the Global South, women produce 60 to 80% of all food. When droughts, floods, and extreme temperatures arrive, women and girls are often forced to travel longer distances for water and other resources. In addition to the potential dangers of travel, women and girls are afforded even less time for education and income-making endeavors that might allow them to become financially independent.

The World Bank warns that climate migrants will number more than 200 million people by 2050. Women often have far less influence over household decisions, including whether to stay or migrate. Disaster displacement can also increase the risk of sexual and gender-based violence, due to escalations during periods of instability. Despite the disproportionate and awful effects of the climate crisis on women and their expertise when it comes to agriculture, women are most often excluded from land use decisions. Their untapped knowledge is a detriment to conservation efforts.

The NGO Barefoot College International trains women, often illiterate or without formal education, as solar engineers and as technicians for low-cost underground tanks for rainwater harvesting. The group has found that when they train men, they take their new skills to the cities. Women apply what they learn to their village. This program has reduced lighting costs and levels of indoor pollutants from harmful kerosene use. Study conditions for children improve and women can engage in income-generating activities after sundown. Barefoot is an excellent example of both individual and community improvements when conservation and female education are tied together.

As another example, the Scout program at Grevy’s Zebra Trust in Kenya educates women to read and write so they can participate in the local zebra census. Many are widowed or unmarried, and this is their first independent income. The data these women have collected has helped establish wildlife conservancies. Before this program, many of these women sat on the sidelines, subject to the decisions of others. Now, these women are active leaders in the community and their efforts have led to more environmental security. The program has also improved communal understanding of the long-term effects of immediate land use decisions that range from crop rotation to forced migration.

Some might argue that the abrupt insertion of new programs will cause significant gaps in the society’s fabric as the traditional caretaking positions of women are left behind. Or perhaps one might argue to focus on primary education for children, rather than continuing education for grown women who already have societal roles, no matter how passive. Yes, new communal structures can temporarily unsettle a community. We have seen those disruptions throughout history: the integration of schools and the military, female suffrage, etc. But society adjusts and is stronger for it. These educational conservation programs might be more complicated to implement, but the crucial long-term solutions far outweigh the immediate costs.

The climate crisis is real and disaster displacement is already upon us. We need to alter our approach. What is our largest untapped resource? Women. The World Bank specifically points to educating women and girls so that they might better assess the quality and needs of basic services. An accurate assessment and local solutions will have the biggest impact on the survival of the rural communities most affected by the climate crisis. Research from Environmental Evidence has shown that women tend to think for the collective rather than the individual self. They are more likely to implement policies for the public good, such as equal pay and ethical standards. We’ve seen this in the correlation between the gender balance of governing bodies and the number of environmental policies implemented.

Education is meant to prepare a person to be a meaningful and effective citizen. It should serve as a platform to refine and amplify one’s best traits. Unfortunately for us, the group with the biggest tendency to help the whole is the least educated. 

Any effort to combat the breakdown of our planet that doesn’t consider holistic well-being will fail. For the sake of all of us and this Earth that we share, we need to make up the educational disparity so that women and girls with the proclivity to help us finally have a true seat at the table.

Kate Zabinsky (MPA '23) is a graduate student focusing on environmental science and policy.