Women are often more closely concerned with environmental problems in their daily lives than men, since their duties frequently include procuring safe food and water, looking after children's health and sorting garbage for recycling and disposal.
The Research Team on Environment and Development of The Asahi Shimbun Asia Network looked into the relationship between women and environmental problems in Asia, and found that problems such as deforestation, desertification and chemical pollution also affect men and women differently.
Groups that promote a gender-based attitude toward environmental protection stress that women's views, experiences and roles must be better respected and their problems better considered when formulating environmental policies.
They also propose policies be made by both men and women on an equal footing.
The word ''gender,'' which originally referred to masculine-feminine distinction in grammar, has come to represent social and cultural differences between men and women, rather than simply their biological sexual differences.
What significance will gender bear in Asia, where the environment is being increasingly damaged as the economy becomes more globalized?
Women`s viewpoints indispensable to tackle environmental problems