More than 1.5 billion women and girls live in severe climate hotspots — places where extreme weather, fragile livelihoods and deep gender inequality collide. That is the headline finding of a new UN Women report released on Tuesday, November 10, at the COP31 UN Climate Conference in Antalya.

The numbers get worse from there. Under worst-case projections, climate change threatens to push up to 141 million additional women into extreme poverty by 2050. The mechanism is simple and brutal: women in hotspot regions have fewer ways to earn money outside farming, so weather shocks hit their incomes harder.

How much income do women lose?

The report quantifies the gap directly. A 1°C increase in global average temperatures links to women losing 34 per cent more income than men, because their options for non-farm work remain limited.

That's not an abstraction. It's a pay cut, delivered by thermometers.

Water tells a similar story. Women currently carry the primary burden for household water collection in two-thirds of off-grid homes. By 2050, severe droughts are projected to make that task demand 30 per cent more time — hours that come out of schooling, paid work and rest.

What does the data show about violence?

The report's most disturbing findings concern safety. Across 14 studied countries, prolonged drought conditions correlated with a 21 per cent increase in sexual violence against adolescent girls.

Drought-prone environments also consistently recorded higher rates of child marriage. When crops fail and incomes collapse, families marry off daughters earlier — a coping strategy that locks in disadvantage for a lifetime.

Energy access compounds the problem. Over 326 million women and girls still lack basic electricity access, even as global energy demands keep rising.

What is UN Women asking leaders to do?

Executive Director Sima Bahous addressed the COP31 gathering directly. She urged global leaders to place women's rights and gender-responsive financing (climate funds deliberately directed to programmes that benefit women) at the center of climate action.

Her argument isn't only moral — it's economic. Targeted investments could unlock up to 68 million new green jobs for women by 2035, according to the report's projections.

Why does this matter for business and policy leaders?

The report lands at a moment when climate finance is being renegotiated at scale. Its data makes the case that adaptation spending which ignores gender misses a large share of the affected population — 1.5 billion people can't be treated as a footnote.

Consider what the findings add up to:

• 1.5 billion women and girls live in severe climate hotspots today
• 141 million more women could fall into extreme poverty by 2050 in the worst-case scenario
• 34 per cent more income lost by women than men per 1°C of warming
• 21 per cent increase in sexual violence against adolescent girls linked to prolonged drought across 14 studied countries
• 326 million women and girls lack basic electricity access
• 68 million new green jobs for women possible by 2035 with targeted investment

The gap between the 2050 risk picture and the 2035 opportunity is where Bahous wants negotiators to focus. Climate policy that treats women primarily as victims, rather than as workers and entrepreneurs the green transition needs, leaves both equity and growth on the table.

The report's release timing is deliberate. COP31 in Antalya is where financing pledges for the coming decade are being shaped, and UN Women wants gender-responsive criteria written into those agreements now — before the 2050 projections have a chance to become measurements.