Authors: Research Scholar J. Juana Adeline Swetha, Assistant Professor Dr. P. Maria Sophiya
Abstract: Climate change is becoming more and more widely acknowledged as a serious threat to human health, to people's ways of earning a living and to social development. Yet the risks associated with climate change are not shared equally among different populations. Marginalised communities, both socially and economically, tend to be more exposed to environmental hazards and at the same time have fewer resources with which to adapt and to recover. Transgender people are one such group for whom pre-existing socioeconomic disadvantages may make their vulnerability to climate-related risks worse. The present study looks at the question of socioeconomic vulnerability among transgender people in relation to climate change and investigates the implications this has for health and social protection in India. It makes use of a secondary analytical research approach drawing on existing empirical literature, research into the relationship between climate and health, and government policy documents. The analysis centres on four closely linked areas: exposure to climate change, socioeconomic sensitivity, adaptive capacity and access to social protection. Current evidence shows that transgender people in India face difficulties in respect of employment, income security, housing, access to healthcare, social inclusion and the use of welfare services. These vulnerabilities could make the effects of heat waves, floods, extreme weather events, disruption of livelihoods and interruptions to healthcare more severe. New evidence from Chennai also points to a connection between the stressors related to transgender identity and concerns about climate threats. The study maintains that climate change can function as a risk multiplier by interacting with existing social and economic inequalities. It suggests an inclusive framework for building climate resilience based on climate-resilient healthcare, protection of livelihoods, adaptive social protection, inclusive disaster management and the involvement of the transgender community. The study concludes that climate justice demands that marginalised gender groups be included in climate-health planning and in the social protection systems.
