272 I PART 2 I SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS
1. Introduction The increasing impact of climate change has become a global threat, accelerating noticeably over the last decade [ IPCC, 2014 ], including documented impacts on agriculture [ Mendelsohn, 2007; Deschenes & Greenstone, 2007 ], human health [ Markandya & Chiabai, 2009 ], and ecosystems [ Munang et al., 2013 ]. However, the costs and benefits of climate change are uncertain and unevenly distributed. For instance, the cost of dealing with its impact falls disproportionately on developing countries, whilst developed countries are trying to cut pollutant emissions to mitigate those impacts on the future economy. Climate change is also expected to increase the frequency and intensity of current extreme climatic events (e.g. heat waves, droughts, floods, and wildfires). These extreme events might have negative impacts not only on our life in general [ McMichael et al., 2012 ], but also in our communities [ Frame et al., 2020 ]. Both climate change and its consequences have always attracted the interest of policymakers and the public. Researchers have focused on the potential for climate change to undermine progress towards economic development [ Hallegatte et al., 2016; Leichenko & Silva, 2014 ], while one small research stream focuses on the unequal distribution of the effects of climate change [ Islam & Winkel, 2017; Marchiori & Schumacher, 2011; Mendelsohn et al., 2006 ]. Its impacts are particularly disastrous for developing countries, and further degrade the resilience of the poor and vulnerable groups within them [ Mendelsohn et al., 2006; Mall et al., 2011 ]. In developing countries, many people depend heavily on agriculture for income, but they have fewer resources to fall back on, and lower adaptive capacity with regard
to climate change [ Hallegatte et al., 2018 ]. For example, the poor tend to settle in risky areas where land is available and affordable, but where climate hazards are more likely to occur; therefore, their assets and livelihoods are more likely to be destroyed. Furthermore, they tend to work in ‘exposed conditions’ (i.e. they work outdoors, and directly exposed to the weather), so they are more vulnerable to environmental shocks and stressors. From a socio-economic perspective, the most negative effects of climate change are likely to occur in locations that are already economically marginal, and where livelihoods are already precarious [ Samson et al., 2011; Reyer et al., 2017; World Bank, 2013 ]. As a result, the impact of climate change accentuates existing location-based inequalities and gives further momentum to the dynamics and incentives that drive economic migration. However, poor and vulnerable groups are not homogenous. Disproportionate household and familial burdens, together with a relative lack of control over productive assets due to climate change, can enhance female vulnerability beyond that of men [ Goh, 2012 ]. In particular, women are more likely to be impoverished than men, less capable of adapting to the impact of present and future climate change, and less likely to participate and contribute towards improving knowledge of the processes that facilitate gender-specific adaptation or mitigation efforts [ Van Aelst & Holvoet, 2016 ]. Eastin (2018) argued that gender disparities in climate change vulnerability not only reflect pre-existing gender inequalities, but also reinforce them. Due to the gendered divisions of household labour, women often face greater challenges adapting to changes in environmental conditions, thereby reducing their livelihood opportunities and heightening resource scarcities.
