Feminist Foreign Policy in the Face of a Climate Emergency

As the biggest challenge humanity ever faced, climate change fundamentally transforms our world. Environmental destruction, impending biodiversity collapse and extreme weather events cause great harm to people, ecosystems and their many nested species. Importantly, the consequences and causes of the climate and eco-crises are deeply gendered. Environmental degradation and natural hazards disproportionately impact women, girls and other marginalised individuals, with structural barriers to information, training and resources making them more likely to get injured or killed in times of disaster. Yet, their distinct experiences and expertise also make women crucial agents of change. The very drivers of the climate and eco-crises are gendered, with extractivist capitalism and militarism reflecting masculinist modes of domination and exploitation of people, nature and resources. As such, gender and environment are intimately intertwined. I approach this nexus through the lens of feminist foreign policy (FFP), which has been brought forward as an avenue to tackle climate change in ways that are climate and gender just. However, some feminists critique FFPs for neglecting climate change or leaving its root causes unaddressed. There remains an important gap in research exploring how FFP states understand and tackle climate change. Anchored in ecofeminism and feminist critique of the securitisation of climate change, I analyse FFP states’ understandings of climate change and its gendered nature, exploring whether they perceive women as victims, agents of change or deem the drivers of climate change gendered. What are the implications of different understandings and solutions proposed? To offer an overview, I analyse policy documents on FFP and climate change from all FFP states, using Bacchi’s WPR approach. To offer further depth, I employ a multiple case study design exploring Sweden, Canada, Scotland, Mexico and Chile in more detail, through interviews with government officials and civil society. This way, I seek to produce vital knowledge of how these challenges are understood in current policy frameworks and by people who work with them. These understandings ultimately influence whether policies find adequate solutions to a climate emergency which threatens lives and ecosystems. What lessons can we learn from this research to inform FFPs in the future?