Women at the frontline of climate change

climate change during disasters and lost incomes from climate shocks. These risks include further marginalisation, exclusion from decision-making, dislocation from access to resources for survival, and exacerbation of risks of being trafficked for forced labour and the sex trade. The following chapters present an overview of central issues relevant to opportunities for adaptation – and also the risks that women are exposed to with climate change in mountain regions. Strategically placed for dealing with both impacts and adaptation, mountain women are the front line sustainers of their environment. Learning from them and investing in them will provide a crucial stepping stone for future adaptation efforts far beyond mountain regions.

pressures that may lead to enhanced flood risk or drought. At the same time, indigenous knowledge also provide important opportunities for context and culturally specific early warning systems, modes of engineering and architecture that are often less expensive and take little time and resources to reconstruct following disasters (Verma, 2007). Women play a crucial role in mountain societies as a very significant proportion of the work force in food production (FAO, 2011) and as key players inmanaging and sustaining their natural resources and environments. At the same time, while being central for opportunities to adapt to changing climates, they are often disadvantaged in terms of power relations and accessing resources, and exposed to increased risks associated with

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