“When you lose all hope and fear, then you become something not quite human.”
(Robinson-2020, p. 145).
In his novel The Ministry of the Future, American author Kim Stanley Robinson introduces his reader to the intricacies of global warming through a fascinating mix of fiction and non-fiction. His words depict the terror experienced by survivors of climate disasters, as well as the consequences of climate injustice, both sources of anger instigating extreme responses like eco-terrorism.
Although the link between violent action and climate inaction has not yet been thoroughly documented, a growing body of research confirms the causal relationship between frequent environmental disasters and conflicts across the globe. Indeed, according to the OECD (2003), as the environmental crisis intensifies, more frequent droughts, floods, and extreme weather events augment food scarcity and housing insecurity in the world’s poorest countries. Climate variability contributes increasingly to human migration and displacement: climate-induced disasters currently displace more than 20 million people annually (Gaudry Haynie et al., 2021). This, in turn, leads to tensions between nations, and an escalation of violence within them.
Conflicts arise from the unsustainable use of natural resources, environmental degradation, and the consequences of natural disasters fueled by the warming climate (UNEP, 2009). Additionally, gender studies and climate specialists have highlighted a troubling relationship between global warming and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), encompassing elements such as sexual aggression, coercion, physical violence, intimate partner violence (IPV), or domestic violence (UN Refugees Agency, 2016). Violent climate action is also emerging, with some activists considering "violence against violence" to combat the crisis (Amster, 2006). In this way, global warming acts as a “threat multiplier,” as acknowledged by national and international reports (IPCC, 2014, DOD, 2015). We may thus wonder: can the lack of climate policy action be considered a causal link to rising violence? To what extent is violence fueled by our unsustainable ways?
To find answers to the complex relationship between climate change, gender and violence, this research article will condense the existing literature to tackle three facets of climate-induced violence. Section One examines the emergence of new complex wars, and Section Two discusses the increase of sexual abuse and trafficking of women, leading to an analysis of the development of ecoterrorist movements to fight climate inaction in the final section.
Research increasingly links climate change to conflict (Homer-Dixon, 1999). Africa and Asia are disproportionately impacted by climate-induced wars. For example, findings during the 1993-2003 period in Indonesia indicated that a rise in the minimum temperature during the heart of the rice-growing season in December anticipates a rise in violence (Caruso et al. 2016). Rice is a staple crop in the country, but studies show that a 1-ton rise in paddy production per capita corresponds to a reduction of 1.174 violent incidents, therefore a decrease in future rice production could have considerable consequences for Indonesians (Caruso et al. 2016). Scholars also found strong correlations between civil war and rising temperatures in Africa. Warmer years were paralleled with increased conflict; models suggest a 1 °C temperature rise corresponds to a 4.5 percent increase in civil war in the same year and a 0.9 percent increase in conflict incidence the following year (Burke et al., 2009).