What Women in Indonesia and Malaysia Want From Research on Climate and Health

Women’s knowledge and perspectives can strengthen the relevance and contextual grounding of climate-health research and policy action.

Female students attend a morning assembly at the Madrasah Aliyah Negeri Yogyakarta II I School in Indonesia.

Women are 14 times more likely to die than men during a climate and extreme weather event. Their limited mobility, access to information and decision-making, and limited access to healthcare and services are to blame. On closer inspection, studies show that during a disaster or an extreme climate event, women face surging rates of gender-based violence, high psychological distress, sexual and reproductive health issues (including maternal mortality), pregnancy complications, high exposure to and risk of death from vector-borne diseases, particularly among pregnant women, and compromised menstrual and sexual health.

These impacts are particularly severe in low-and-middle income countries, where the climate crisis intersects with low resource health systems and other external factors (e.g., humanitarian crises, poverty). Across Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, women are living through the realities of climate change every day. For example, in Indonesia, unsafe water sources, especially in rural and hazardous coastal areas, are linked to a larger share of deaths among women (29 percent) compared to men (25 percent). Yet despite being among those most affected by climate-related health risks, women remain underrepresented in the research and policy processes that shape responses to these challenges.

Our studies conducted with women in Indonesia and Malaysia offer a different perspective. Rather than asking what researchers or policymakers believe should be prioritized, the research explored which climate and health issues matter most to women themselves and how they would like to be involved in future climate-health research. To explore this question more deeply, we added an intersectional lens by speaking with Indigenous women (Orang Asal) in Malaysia and Indonesia, women experiencing or caring for people with disabilities, religious minority women, low-income women, and outdoor working women, etc. The findings reveal both a distinct set of priorities and a strong willingness among women to contribute beyond their role as research participants.

Women involved in our research consistently described climate change through its effects and its everyday impact on health, caregiving, food, water, livelihoods, and community wellbeing. Their concerns were rooted in everyday experience rather than abstract or grand environmental concepts.

Many participants highlighted their responsibilities for securing food and water, supporting unwell family members, juggling childcare and elderly care during climate-related disasters, and helping households recover after climate-related events. These roles often place women at the center of climate-related health impacts.

The research also found that these experiences are shaped by broader social inequalities and gender biases. Patriarchal norms restrict decision-making and prescribe household expectations and caregiving responsibilities, creating unequal recognition and access to resources that influence both women’s vulnerability to climate-related health risks and their opportunities to participate in decision-making processes.

Women Identified Different Climate-Health Priorities

In Indonesia, women ranked air pollution as their top priority  followed by water and food security and environmental degradation. Respondents highlighted these issues well before the forest and peatland fires that affected almost the entire Indonesian archipelago — with haze even spreading to Malaysia — toward the end of 2026. This indicates that these priorities are not merely temporary or seasonal concerns, but rather the result of the long-standing experiences of Indonesian women.  Participants expressed concerns about respiratory illness, food affordability, water contamination, industrial pollution, and the loss of ecosystems that support health and well-being. Female taxi (Grab) drivers described how the environment affects their health.

In Malaysia, women ranked extreme heat as their top priority, followed by severe weather events and air pollution. Women reported concerns about heat stress, dehydration, impacts on work and caregiving responsibilities, flooding, storms, impacts on their menstrual health and hygiene, other reproductive and sexual health complications, disrupted livelihoods, and mental health effects associated with climate-related events. Indigenous women, especially, described food and water security as a concern.

These findings show that climate-health priorities vary across Southeast Asia. Women’s concerns reflected local environmental conditions, household responsibilities, and their lived experiences across diverse social and geographical contexts.

The research further highlighted how climate-health risks affect women differently........

© The Diplomat