Ecofeminism and Sustainable Development: Intersections of Gender, Climate Change and Environmental Governance
Kaberi Gogoi
Department of Extension Education and Communication Management, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, India.
Swapnali Borah
Resource Management and Consumer Science, AAU, Jorhat, India.
Mayuri Bora *
Department of Extension Education and Communication Management, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Ecofeminism has provided an influential vocabulary for analysing connections between gendered power and environmental degradation, yet its use in climate and sustainable-development debates remains contested. This critical narrative review examines how ecofeminist thought can contribute to contemporary analysis of gender, climate change and environmental governance without reproducing assumptions that women are inherently closer to nature, uniformly vulnerable, or naturally predisposed to environmental care. Peer-reviewed literature and authoritative climate-policy sources were identified through live searches of accessible scholarly and institutional platforms, with an emphasis on evidence published from 1990 to 26 May 2026 and the inclusion of earlier foundational material where conceptually necessary. The synthesis integrates ecofeminist critiques, intersectional climate research, agrarian and health evidence, and studies of environmental participation and governance, with particular attention to India and South Asia. The evidence indicates that gender-differentiated climate risk is produced primarily through unequal access to land, assets, information, mobility, decision-making authority, public services and adaptive resources, and through gendered divisions of labour and care. These mechanisms interact with class, caste, age, livelihood, geography and other social positions; consequently, neither vulnerability nor environmental agency can be inferred from gender alone. Evidence from community forestry, agricultural adaptation, health and political representation shows that women’s participation can improve environmental or equity-relevant outcomes in some institutional settings, but representation is not a substitute for changes in power, rights and resource control. The review concludes that ecofeminism remains analytically useful when treated as a critical framework for interrogating linked forms of domination rather than as a theory of an intrinsic woman-nature bond. Gender-responsive climate action is strongest when it is intersectional, rights-based, context-specific and accountable to measurable changes in access, agency and decision-making power.
Keywords: Ecofeminism, gender and climate change, sustainable development, intersectionality, environmental governance, climate adaptation, climate justice, India