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Introduction: how climate change is exacerbating the malnutrition crisis

Climate change is fueling a global hunger and nutrition crisis that is exacerbating existing inequalities and has severe, compounding impacts on women and girls. The climate crisis takes many forms: changing temperatures, more frequent and worsening droughts and floods, and rapidly degrading soil quality all impact people’s ability to access sufficient healthy food. Staple crops, pastoral systems, and fruits and vegetables are already being affected by climate change, which is also increasing incidences of agricultural pests and diseases. All countries with a high prevalence of undernutrition are already among the third most climate vulnerable countries in the world. Almost three quarters of countries with the highest levels of undernutrition are also among the 25 most climate vulnerable.

Without swift, effective action, these outcomes are only expected to worsen, putting up to an additional 183 million people at risk of hunger compared to a no-climate change scenario by 20502. This impact on crops and livelihoods in turn has a negative effect on nutrition security, and thus on lifelong health and child development. For example, higher temperatures are associated with decreased diet diversity in children, and therefore increased rates of malnutrition3. Climate change also impacts the nutritional quality of crops themselves, lowering the amount of protein and essential minerals like zinc and iron in grain legumes.

These impacts are felt disproportionately by women and other marginalised groups. Women often have less access to natural resources, yet are responsible for sourcing food, water, and fuel for their families. Many women and girls also depend on agriculture for employment, meaning that failed or difficult growing seasons caused by climate change are particularly devastating. Finally, women are also often excluded from “safety nets” in climate emergencies, such as land, property, and other assets, meaning they are less equipped to survive and adapt.

As a humanitarian and development organisation working to address both the causes and effects of hunger and malnutrition, we witness the role of the climate crisis as a threat multiplier, exacerbating socio-economic and political tensions, especially in fragile and conflict-affected settings where climate-related vulnerabilities overlap with factors such as displacement and lack of basic service provision to exacerbate food and nutrition insecurity. By increasing conflict risks, the climate crisis amplifies the threat of gender-based violence and negative coping mechanisms such as early and forced marriage, sexual violence, and human trafficking. Gender-based violence (GBV) in turn has been shown to have negative impacts on women and girls’ nutrition outcomes, with girls subjected to GBV in childhood more likely to develop overweight/obesity, and girls subjected to early marriage significantly more likely to have anaemia8. Furthermore, women and marginalised groups are not only more vulnerable to the impact of conflict and climate change, but are excluded from the political and decision-making processes which could lead to positive change.

COP29 therefore presents not just an opportunity to advance climate action, but also to help turn the tide on global hunger, malnutrition and gender inequality. In this paper, we lay out opportunities for UNFCCC parties to strengthen community resilience to climate-related shocks and support climate resilience in fragile and conflict contexts, examining the role of accessible finance, locally-led adaptation and empowering the most vulnerable groups to create rights-based, just solutions for all.