Gender and Waste Nexus: Experiences from Bhutan, Mongolia and Nepal

Introduction

Waste management is closely linked to action on climate change, as unsound disposal and treatment of waste contributes to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Within the waste sector, the largest source of GHG emissions is methane (CH 4 ), including from landfills and open dumps. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), GHG emissions from the waste and wastewater sector accounted for about 2.8 per cent of global anthropogenic GHG emissions in 2004 (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] 2007).

Improvements in waste management activities are a priority at both the global and national levels due to their links with climate change as well as the considerable health and pollution damage resulting from poorly managed waste systems. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Governing Council highlighted the importance of waste management in a number of decisions developed at one of its recent sessions, 1 as did the fourth session of the United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA), 2 which adopted several resolutions related to waste management. 3

sustainable development by 2030, include waste reform as an action needed. One specific goal, namely SDG 12, prioritizes the need to “by 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse”, as well as the aim to “by 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle”. The SDGs also provide a powerful global framework for eliminating gender disparities across all sectors and socioeconomic domains. Gender equality and women’s empowerment are integral throughout the SDGs and are at the heart of SDG 5, which focuses on the commitment to “end all forms of discrimination against all women

Several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are the global commitments to achieve

Recycling facility, Ulaanbaatar. Photo by Joni Seager.

Gender and waste nexus

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