Changing behaviours: everyone’s responsibility
To meet our goals, behavioural change and an embrace technological development are prerequisites (Sand, J., 2023). And this requires action across all genders. Almost three in four people in the Nordic Region agree that climate change is a serious or very serious problem, with women being more in agreement (79 per cent) than men (64 per cent) (Tapia, C., et al., 2023).
Nordic women also appear more engaged in both climate change and social issues at large. Young people in general appear more concerned with the state of the climate, while young women appear to step up more in climate activism. Climate deniers in the Nordic Region tend to be older men, often employed in or have a background in traditionally male industries (Sand, J., 2022). Those in highly polluting, or brown, jobs, also tend to believe that climate change is less of a serious problem than those in other industries (Tapia, C., et al., 2023).
When it comes to consumption and other behaviours – particularly in food and transport – men as a group have a higher carbon footprint than women when looked at as a group (Sand, J., 2022). Yet, men are also those most likely to show interest in finding technologically driven solutions at home, whereas recycling and buying second-hand, for instance, which can be more time-consuming, are tasks often given to women (Sand, J., 2023). This means that interventions that challenge these gender norms – where care is associated with femininity and technology with masculinity – are needed, so that more women get involved in technology to improve climate impact, and green tasks around the house, beyond technological solutions, become an area of more interest to men (Sand, J., 2022).
Although more studies are needed on how aspects of gender interplay with the world of paid work, as well as behaviours within households, in order to improve climate policy in the Nordic Region (Sand, J., 2023), there is reason for optimism. A study from Norway, the world’s largest market for electrical vehicles, shows that women are becoming equally interested in moving towards technology and away from fossil-fuelled cars, an area traditionally seen as masculine (Anfinsen, M., et al., 2019). And those men who spend more of their time doing unpaid care and domestic work – an ideal often associated with femininity – are more engaged with sustainability and show more sustainable behaviour than other men (Sand, J., 2022).