90% Indians want greater women role at climate talks: Survey

New Delhi: Around 90 per cent of respondents in a survey of people in India called for greater female representation at the COP26 climate talks while 87 per cent, nearly nine in 10 people, think more must be done to give women from the Global South a voice at the global summit, according to the latest survey from ActionAid.

The term Global South -broadly refers to Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania includes regions outside Europe and North America, mostly low-income and often politically or culturally marginalised.

As many as 67 per cent of women in the Global South, or nearly two-thirds, think that women and girls are more likely to be adversely affected by the climate crisis, while 73 per cent, or nearly three-quarters, say that addressing gender inequality is a vital part of solving climate change, according to the survey.

ActionAid Executive Director Sandeep Chachra said: "The vulnerable communities of India, and amongst them, women and children, are being hardest hit by the climate crisis they did the least to cause.

"But women and their communities are also leading the fight against climate change and designing inclusive and sustainable solutions in their villages and neighbourhoods to build climate resilience and help safeguard lives and livelihoods."

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for $1 trillion from developed countries as finance for developing countries to lessen the impact of climate change through mitigation and adaptation measures, should be used to draw these vulnerable communities, led by women into climate change practices. We need to encourage these communities to fulfil their role as custodians of ecological resources, to ensure their well-being and the good of all the whole world," he added.