This document is an ideas paper in the form of a study describing what we know both about gender equality as a prerequisite for sus-tainable development, and about the extent to which women live more sustainably than men, leave a smaller ecological footprint and cause less climate change. I would particularly like to thank Dr Marie Thynell for her contributions to the section on transport in the southern hemisphere and for her wise counsel regarding trans-port issues in general in this study. I would also like to thank An-nika Löfgren from the Ministry of the Environment, Marita Axels-son and Gunilla Sterner, both from the Ministry of Integration and Gender Equality, Pehr Sundström (Statistics Sweden), Eva Nauck-hoff (Sida), and Karin Bradley from the Stockholm Royal Institute of Technology. Many thanks also to Stephen Croall for translating the text from Swedish into English and to Marika Abrahamsson and Lars Edman for kind help with typing and wordprocessing.
The study represents a contribution to the work currently under way in the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), which examines such matters as energy, climate change, sustainable consumption and production, and gender equality.
The purpose of the study is to bring out often-neglected facts con-cerning dissimilarities in the lifestyles and consumption patterns of women and men, and thus in their environmental impact, by de-scribing how men, primarily through their greater mobility and more extensive travel, account for more carbon dioxide (CO
B2B) emissions than women, in both rich and poor countries. The study points to how a changed behavior among men – notably rich men who are decision-makers – can be crucial in addressing climate change and in enhancing the opportunities of all human beings to enjoy sustainable development.
The opinions expressed in the study do not necessarily reflect the views of the members of the Environment Advisory Council’s ex-pert group. The author alone is responsible for the analyses, pro-posals and views contained in the report.