There’s a growing gender gap in the fight against climate change in the US, with women much more likely to vote with environmental issues in mind than men.
In the US, 62% of women list ‘climate change’ or ‘clean air, clean water, and the environment’ as their top political priority, versus just 37% of men, highlighting a growing “green gender gap”, a new study has suggested.
The data by the Environmental Voter Project (EVP) comes from a survey of 10,500 registered voters in 29 states, and reveals that the 25-point gap between female and male climate voters – those with at least an 85% likelihood of listing the aforementioned reasons as their top priorities – is significantly wider than the five-point gap between all registered voters.
Climate voters chose to vote for Kamala Harris over Donald Trump by a factor of 10-to-one, consistent with women’s 10-point greater support for the former overall. This chimes with a recent Gallup poll that found only 14% of Republicans were threatened by climate change, versus 52% of independent voters and 78% of Democrats – and women were more likely to hold this belief.
Climate gap highest among young voters
The green gender gap is largest among young voters. Women aged 18-24 are twice as likely as men to care about climate change and the environment when considering who to vote for. This is in stark contrast to the share of voters in this age bracket, with female and male Americans almost at parity.
Moms & Grandmas Make Up Core of Climate Voter Population
Meanwhile, EVP suggests that mothers and grandmothers are the core of the climate voter population, given that women aged 25-49 and above 65 account for 47% of these voters, despite only making up 36% of the underlying electorate.
This echoes research by ecoAmerica and Lake Research Partners from 2019 that shows 81% of mothers are worried about climate change, a 6-point rise since 2015 and 8 points higher than the national total. 93% of moms surveyed agreed that they “have a moral responsibility to create a safe and healthy climate for ourselves and our children”. Among men, too, these age brackets are the most likely to vote with climate change front of mind.
Black Americans Have Largest Green Gender Gap
When it comes to race and ethnicity, the largest green gender gap is among Black Americans (with women outnumbering men by two-to-one), where there’s already a large underlying gender gap among Black voters. The more unexpected gap comes among Native Americans, where women are 29 points more likely to be climate voters.
At the same time, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) climate voters have the smallest gender gap, with 59% of them being women. Similarly, white women make up 48% of all climate voters, much higher than their 36% share in the overall electorate.
Historically, women have been between seven and 13 points more likely than men to vote for the Democratic presidential candidate. So it’s no surprise that men made up a majority of the voter share for Donald Trump, who has rolled back a ton of climate policies and support instruments in the first 100 days of his second presidency.
The level of concern around climate change is proportionate to its impact on each gender. Women are among the most climate-vulnerable demographics. According to the UN, 80% of people displaced by extreme weather events are women. Moreover, women are more likely to experience poverty and have less socioeconomic power than men, making disaster recovery more difficult. By 2050, the crisis could push up to 158 million more women and girls into poverty (16 million more than men and boys) globally.
Green gender gap present in climate and food tech sectors
While the gender gap has fluctuated in recent times, it is currently at its highest in years. Data collected by the EVP shows that in 2019, the gap stood at 20 percentage points, shrunk to 15% in 2021 and 2023 and has now widened again, to 25 points.
It reveals a troubling trend that skews global. A 22,000-person survey from last year found that men are more likely to be climate sceptics, and less worried about the state of nature and the urgency to reduce carbon emissions. Meanwhile, the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication found that the gap between women and men concerned about climate change grew from seven points to 12 points between 2014 and 2024.
This gender gap can be seen with meat consumption too, one of the most polluting behaviours on an individual level. Male influencers and the ‘manosphere’ have been driving young men towards carnivore diets and more red meat consumption, which has real consequences for both human and planetary health.
Research from the UK shows that misogyny also plays a part here, with young men who think “women are as capable as men being leaders” slumping from 80% in 2020 to 50% today. Meanwhile, 24% of young men are not open to trying plant-based meat alternatives, much higher than the 15% of women of the same age who echo this sentiment.
A 2023 study showed that men “might feel less resistance and become more likely to consume” vegan food if it’s presented in a masculine way. This can be seen through efforts like Quorn’s partnership with football clubs with massive male support, such as Liverpool FC and Real Madrid.
There have been fewer marketing efforts and products directed towards female audiences, partly due to the fact that men need more convincing to try meat-free food, but partly because women are underrepresented here, as well.
This gap also exists in the climate tech investment sector. Analysis of Pitchbook data by Trellis showed that women-founded firms received just 0.4% ($136M) of the $33.5B invested in US climate tech startups in the first nine months of 2024, compared to $2.45B secured by mixed-gender-led startups. This is partly because only 17-20% of VC decision-makers in the US are women.
“If almost two-thirds of climate voters are women, then all of us need to get better at embracing women’s wisdom and leadership skills,” EVP founder Nathaniel Stinnett told The 19th. “That doesn’t just apply to messaging. It applies to how we build and lead a movement of activists and voters.”
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