A study on gender equality as a prerequisite for sustainable development

Abstract

The study offers new pointers for the work on sustainable development by identifying real gender-specific differences in terms of male and female consumption patterns, lifestyles, access to resources and power, and environmental effects, including climate change - and how these differences are crucially important in sustainable development work. It also provides factual information on how women's and men's (every-day) consumption differs, focusing in particular on mobility/transport, where the gender-specific patterns are very clear, both in a rich country such as Sweden and in poorer countries, in rural and urban areas alike. Finally the study presents proposals aimed at giving women the same access to resources as men - and also, by strengthening both the gender equality perspective and the voice of women in decision-making, enhancing work on sustainable development, not least in the climate field. The study points to the fact that today, in the light of climate change, the question of how we can create sustainable welfare is being fiercely debated, but usually without any reference to gender. Green technology and innovations are prime topics in this respect. In addition to technology, which men in particular stress as a way of solving problems, it now seems imperative to also look at sustainable lifestyles, sustainable consumption and the 'cautionary principle'. This appears unavoidable, given the fact that despite greater energy efficiency per unit produced, our increased consumption means that the overall level of consumption, and thus of emissions, is rising instead of falling. This is why we need both technology and a more sustainable definition and interpretation of the welfare concept in terms of time, particularly given the growing threat of climate change. In accordance with the 1992 Rio Declaration, we also need to examine who the polluters are, inter alia from a gender perspective, and we need to discuss what is defined in the Rio Declaration as a 'common but diversified responsibility' for dealing with the problems already here. The study illustrates how a gender perspective can facilitate more sustainable economic growth and well-being, directed more towards counter-acting female time-poverty as compared to material consumption, primarily benefiting rich men, while also creating more job opportunities within the service sector which can help increase overall human wellbeing (A). This report is also available at http://www.sou.gov.se/mvb/pdf/rapport_engelska.pdf

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