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

Bhutan

Country context

Climate change context

Bhutan is a small, mountainous and landlocked country bordering China to the north and India to the south, west and east. Bhutan is similar in size to Switzerland, with a land area of around 38,394 km 2 . The population of Bhutan was estimated at 727,145 in 2017, of which 346,692 were female and 380,453 were male. Between 2005 and 2017, the population growth rate was 1.3 per cent per year (National Statistics Bureau [NSB] 2018). Bhutan remains one of the world’s least developed countries and still depends heavily on foreign aid. As is the case in most developing countries, urbanization is rapidly increasing in Bhutan. The capital city Thimphu is the country’s main centre and has the highest population density at 67.1 people per km 2 . Almost 40 per cent of Bhutan’s population lives in urban areas (NSB 2018). As of 2017, the primary reasons for people moving to urban areas in Bhutan are family moves, employment and education, in that order (NSB 2018), though reasons differ betweenmen andwomen. Formen, themain reason is employment, followed by family and then education, while for women, family is the main reason, followed by education and marriage. Employment does not come into the top three reasons for women moving from rural to urban areas (NSB 2018).

With more than 70 per cent of its land covered by forest, its low population density, limited industry and clean energy from hydropower, Bhutan is one of the greenest and most unspoiled countries in Asia. At present, Bhutan is considered carbon negative in terms of emissions and states in its INDC that it aims to remain carbon neutral by ensuring that its GHG emissions do not exceed the sink capacity of its forests. 17 Due to the vulnerability of high-altitude glaciers and ice caps melting as a result of global warming, Bhutan is at risk of experiencing glacial lake flooding. Erratic rainfall over the years has also caused flash floods in some parts of the country, as well as droughts in other parts. The effects of global warming are putting Bhutan’s ecosystems, economy and civilian health at risk. With a steadily increasing population and rising urbanization, Bhutan has more and more cars, buildings and roads. Although the country’s overall standard of living is rising, it is not immune to the ever-increasing offers of packaged food and consumerism. All of this

THIMPHU POPULATION &WASTE GENERATION

MUNICIAPL SOLID WASTE GENERATION PER PERSON PER YEAR In 2008

In 2018

THIMPHU

MORE THAN 50% OF WASTE IS ORGANIC

BHUTAN

RECYCLING IS MAINLY TAKEN ON BY THE INFORMAL SECTOR

POPULATION

Sources: 2017 Population and Housing Census of Bhutan; WWF (2018) Municipal Solid Waste Management–Thimphu Thromde.

50,000 people

5 kg of waste

Figure 14

Gender and waste nexus

57