More women than men now rank climate change as their top voting concern
A growing gender gap among environmental voters reveals women, especially women of color, are increasingly prioritizing climate issues at the ballot box.
Jessica Kutz reports for The 19th.
In short:
- A new analysis by the Environmental Voter Project found that 62% of voters likely to prioritize climate issues are women, with the widest gender gaps among young voters and communities of color.
- The gap has grown over time, from 20 percentage points in 2019 to 25 in 2025, raising questions about whether men’s political focus is shifting away from environmental issues.
- Experts suggest that disproportionate exposure to climate-related hardships, like housing instability and pollution, may be pushing more women, especially mothers and caregivers, to act politically.
Key quote:
“Black women often carry the weight of protecting their families and communities. They’re the ones navigating things like school closures and skyrocketing bills; they are the ones seeing the direct impacts of these things. It is a kitchen table issue.”
— Jasmine Gil, associate senior director at Hip Hop Caucus
Why this matters:
The gender divide in environmental concern reflects deeper, lived realities of who bears the brunt of climate change. Women, particularly women of color, are more likely to live in lower-income communities that face increased exposure to pollution, extreme weather, and failing infrastructure. They’re also more likely to be caregivers, meaning the ripple effects of climate disasters land heavily on their shoulders and manifest in everyday concerns like health, housing, food, and safety. The growing gender gap suggests men and women are experiencing the climate crisis differently, or at least prioritizing it differently.
Related: Most Americans worry about climate change, but fear of isolation keeps them quiet
