Publications

2022
Maryruth Belsey Priebe. 11/2022. “Gender All the Way Down: Proposing a Feminist Framework for Analyzing Gendered Climate Security Risks.” International Relations. Publisher's VersionAbstract

According to mythical world views from many traditions, there is a World Turtle that rests on a larger turtle, and that larger turtle rests on an even larger turtle, and on and on the turtles go. In other words, earth is held up by turtles, all the way down.[1] Just as the World Turtle story, this study attempts to uncover what role gender may play in supporting or mitigating climate-related crises and conflict by offering a conceptual Gender-Climate-Security Framework for assessing the gendered climate-security risks within particular contexts. Using several theoretical traditions, including feminist political economy, feminist political ecology, and women, peace, and security (international security) theory, the study interrogates existing climate security frameworks with a gender lens. The resulting framework proposed in this study comprises two primary components: (1) gendered climate-related human security risks, and (2) gender intersections with each of four types of national/international security risks, including crime/violence/extremism, anti-state grievances, grievances between societal groups, and interstate tensions. Each of 15 climate security factors (early warning, healthcare, WASH, food security, recent shocks, long-term adaptation, poverty, life expectancy, education, standard of living, unemployment, socioeconomic development, infrastructure, corruption, and state fragility) are analyzed regarding how gender, climate change, and security factors may intersect one another. The study finds that there is ample evidence showing that women’s diminished human security is likely to lead to fewer system-level resources and tools that support climate security and aid in preventing climate-related conflicts. The study also finds an emerging body of research that suggests considering gendered factors in national/international climate security threats would be beneficial for avoiding or resolving climate-related tensions. As such, if gender is given due consideration in climate security contexts, it is likely to provide useful insights that could guide policy and program implementation. This proposed framework does not suggest there is a single best approach to assessing gendered climate security risks, but rather offers a diagnostic approach for engaging in bottom-up climate security assessments that are place-based and context-specific. A necessary next step is for policymakers and practitioners to test and evaluate this approach under various conditions. Ultimately, in seeking to build a framework to understand how gender intersects with climate security concerns, this study finds that, like numerous turtles that form the foundation of a mythical earth, layer upon layer, from the top all the way to the bottom, the impacts of climate change on Human Security and National/International Security cannot be understood without considering gender. In other words, it’s gender all the way down the climate security lifecycle, and humanity would be reckless to ignore it.

 
 

[1] Robert Rudnicki, “Turtles All the Way Down: Foundation, Edifice, and Ruin in Faulkner and McCarthy,” The Faulkner Journal 25, no. 2 (2010): 26, https://doi.org/10.1353/fau.2010.0002.

thesis_mbelseypriebe-gender-climate-security-framework.pdf
Steve Recca and Maryruth Belsey Priebe. 10/8/2022. “Using gender sensitive data to inform climate security planning.” The Jakarta Post. Publisher's Version
Maryruth Belsey Priebe and Tevvi Bullock. 9/8/2022. “Is the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda Making Progress?: A US Combatant Command and a think tank collaborated to expand the WPS Agenda in the Indo-Pacific.” Inkstick. Publisher's Version
Maryruth Belsey Priebe, Hannah Cole, and Tevvi Bullock. 4/2022. “Feminist foreign policy and Ukraine: For now, Japan leads the way.” Pacific Forum International.
Maryruth Belsey Priebe. 1/21/2022. “Compound Gender-Climate-Security Threats and Vulnerabilities within the Indo-Pacific”. Publisher's VersionAbstract

In 2021, signs of climate change intensification were evident in unprecedented wildfires, floods, cyclones, landslides, suggesting that climate-security threats are intensifying as well. Home to several rising powers and strategic trading partners, the Indo-Pacific is a vital region for the United States, yet it is one of the most vulnerable regions in terms of climate threats. A McKinsey report states that, “Asia stands out as being more exposed to physical climate risk than other parts of the world in the absence of adaptation and mitigation.”[1] Other research has shown that Asian countries have the highest numbers of people exposed to climate hazards such as floods, droughts, and storms.[2]

 

Climate change is an emerging security risk, and one that deserves greater study given the significant diversity of security and climate scenarios. In particular, the role of women as sources of climate security intelligence has been understudied. This paper aims to correct that oversight and assess which countries within the Indo-Pacific have the greatest combined gender-climate-security risk factors and why. A detailed breakdown of data from several indices related to fragility, gender inequality, conflict, and climate change is summarized for all countries within the area covered by the US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) in Table 1. Using this data, this paper examines in greater depth Bangladesh, Fiji, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, and Vietnam—due to their diversity in environmental conditions and political conditions—to determine their specific gender-climate-security challenges. This paper begins with an overview of a gender-climate-security framework, provides focus country assessments, examines US INDOPACOMs greatest vulnerabilities, and explores ways in which women may act as bellwethers of emerging climate-related conflicts if meaningfully and consistently consulted.

 

[1] “Climate Risk and Response in Asia” (McKinsey Global Institute, November 24, 2020), 7, https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability/our-insights/....

[2] Joshua Busby et al., “In Harm’s Way: Climate Security Vulnerability in Asia,” World Development 112 (December 1, 2018): 88–118, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.07.007.

2021
Maryruth Belsey Priebe and Tevvi Bullock. 11/12/2021. “Contextualised, spatially-explicit climate-security modeling is impossible without a gender lens: The imperative of mainstreaming gender in indices and reports.” London School of Economics' Women, Peace and Security Centre. Publisher's VersionAbstract
We ask why a gendered lens is necessary in climate change indices and reports arguing that it is no longer tenable that gender considerations remain optional in climate-security data collection.
contextualised_spatially-explicit_climate-security_modeling_is_impossible_without_a_gender_lens_the_imperative_of_mainstreaming_gender_in_indices_and_reports_lse_women_peace_and_security_blog.pdf
Maryruth Belsey Priebe and Tevvi Bullock. 11/3/2021. “Global cities will be epicentres of gendered climate insecurity: why we must foreground women in urban climate security policy.” London School of Economics' Women, Peace and Security Centre. Publisher's VersionAbstract

As the 26th UN Climate Change Conference takes place in Glasgow, we ask is there adequate attention to gender in urban-climate-conflict discussions, pledges, and policies? Their blog is evidence of why the gender-climate-security nexus is critical for countries to be better prepared to deal with climate change.

global_cities_will_be_epicentres_of_gendered_climate_insecurity_why_we_must_foreground_women_in_urban_climate_security_policy_lse_women_peace_and_security_blog.pdf
Maryruth Belsey Priebe. 10/29/2021. “Women, Climate, & Conflict: Bellwethers of Emerging Climate-Conflict Vulnerabilities.” Our Secure Future. Publisher's Version
Maryruth Belsey Priebe. 9/22/2021. “Women, Climate, & Conflict: Global Warming as a Complex Threat Multiplier.” Our Secure Future. Publisher's Version
Maryruth Belsey Priebe. 8/24/2021. “Women, Climate, & Conflict: Why Gender Matters.” Our Secure Future. Publisher's Version
Melissa Deehring and Maryruth Belsey Priebe. 7/2/2021. “The News Media: A Catalyst for Women, Peace and Security in Qatar.” In The Journey to Gender Equality: Mapping the Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. UN University of Peace. Publisher's VersionAbstract
The news media plays a powerful role in the empowerment of women and advancing the global Women, Peace and Security Agenda (WPS). The paradoxical relationship between news media’s influence and women’s empowerment presents challenges for traditional societies in the Arabian Gulf as they balance modernization, the influx of liberal Western influences, and longstanding conservative tribal traditions. The State of Qatar, in particular, stands out due to its influential Al Jazeera Media Network and official stance on advancing WPS; however, there is disconnect between policy and practice. Because WPS’ advancement requires media reflecting WPS policies and news media reflecting WPS policies requires governmental commitment to WPS in a concrete way, it is clear that a Qatari National Action Plan and framework for WPS (QNAP) is needed. Strengthening WPS in Qatar requires the media and strengthening gender balance within the Qatari news media requires a QNAP; the concepts are interlinked.
the_journey_to_gender_equality-chapter6.pdf
Maryruth Belsey Priebe, Debbie Lyons, and Jonathan J. Buonocore. 6/26/2021. “COVID-19′s Impact on American Women’s Food Insecurity Foreshadows Vulnerabilities to Climate Change.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Publisher's VersionAbstract
The COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc on human lives and the global economy, laying bare existing inequities, and galvanizing large numbers to call for change. Women are feeling the effects of this crisis more than others. This paper explores the pre-COVID relationships and amplified negative feedback loops between American women’s economic insecurity, lack of safety, and food insecurity. We then examine how COVID-19 is interacting with these intersecting risks and demonstrate how climate change will likely similarly intensify these feedback loops. The COVID-19 pandemic may be revealing vulnerabilities that societies will face in the wake of an increasingly warming world. It is also an opportunity to build resilience, inclusiveness, and equity into our future, and can help inform how to include gender equity in both COVID-19 and climate recovery policies. Finally, we identify possible strategies to build resilience, specifically highlighting that gendered economic empowerment may create a buffer against environmental health hazards and discuss how these strategies could be integrated into a women-centered Green New Deal.
Maryruth Belsey Priebe and Howe Jennifer. 3/2021. “What the Biden-Harris Administration Means for WPS in the Indo-Pacific Region.” Issues & Insights , 21, WP4, Pp. 40. Publisher's Version
2015
Maryruth Belsey Priebe. 5/2015. “Carbon War Room - Strategies for Climate Wealth.” The Green Economy Magazine. Publisher's Version
Maryruth Belsey Priebe. 5/2015. “20 Low-Cost Ways to Go Green and Save Money.” Thrive. Publisher's Version
2013
Maryruth Belsey Priebe. 6/2013. “Nicaragua’s Bid for Energy Self-Reliance: An Investor’s Dream?” The Green Economy Magazine. Publisher's Version
Maryruth Belsey Priebe. 3/2013. “Ocean Spray, Sustainable Distribution in the Supply Chain.” The Green Economy Magazine. Publisher's Version

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