Pioneering plant science research paves the way for deeper understanding of how the plant immune system functions

Plant Science research reveals how callose accumulation impacts plasmodesmata channels.


DONALD DANFORTH PLANT SCIENCE CENTER

 

IMAGE: 

Tessa Burch-Smith, PhD AND TEAM IN HER LAB.

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CREDIT: DONALD DANFORTH PLANT SCIENCE CENTER

ST. LOUIS, MO, April 29, 2024 – Researchers in the laboratory of Tessa Burch-Smith, PhD at the Danforth Plant Science Center and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, are conducting pioneering work to discover how plants transmit information, important molecules and viruses between cells. In a recent study they demonstrated how plasmodesmata (PD) – structures that connect neighboring cells in leaves and other organs – are controlled by deposition of callose (a carbohydrate polymer) when plants are responding to infection. Their research compared different methods to rigorously quantify callose accumulation around the microscopic PD channels and paves the way for deeper understanding of how the plant immune system works. Results of their study were recently published in Comparing methods for detection and quantification of plasmodesmal callose in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves, in the journal Molecular Plant Microbe Interactions. 

Callose, a polymer made of glucose molecules, is essential for regulating intercellular trafficking via plasmodesmata (PD). Pathogens manipulate PD-localized proteins to enable intercellular trafficking by removing callose at PD, or conversely by increasing callose accumulation at PD to limit intercellular trafficking during infection. Plant defense hormones like salicylic acid regulate PD-localized proteins to control PD and intercellular trafficking during immune defense responses such as systemic acquired resistance. 

Measuring callose deposition at PD in plants has emerged as a popular way to assess likely trafficking of molecules between cells during plant immunity. Despite the popularity of this metric there is no standard for how these measurements should be made. 

First Author Amie Sankoh, PhD, and her undergraduate colleague, Joseph Adjei, compared three commonly used methods for identifying and quantifying PD callose by aniline blue staining were evaluated to determine the most effective in the Nicotiana benthamiana leaf model. Both Amie and Joseph are Deaf and communicate primarily via American Sign Language.

Their results revealed that the most reliable method used aniline blue staining and fluorescent microscopy to measure callose deposition in fixed tissue. Manual or semi-automated workflows for image analysis were also compared and found to produce similar results although the semi-automated workflow produced a wider distribution of data points.

“We were surprised at how different the reliability of the different methods for detecting callose could be. We think this work will greatly improve consistency in experiments across labs” said Dr. Sankoh.

This study relied on the Advanced Bioimaging Laboratory at the Danforth Center. 

The team plans to use the identified protocol and analysis to investigate how callose levels at PD change over the course of infection with various hormones. Such studies could identify important times at which PD could be manipulated to disrupt the infection process and prevent plant disease.

The research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. 

About the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Founded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is a not-for-profit research institute with a mission to improve the human condition through plant science. Research, education, and outreach aim to have impact at the nexus of food security and the environment and position the St. Louis region as a world center for plant science. The Center’s work is funded through competitive grants from many sources, including the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Agency for International Development, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and through the generosity of individual, corporate, and foundation donors. Follow us on Twitter at @DanforthCenter.

For more information contact:
Karla Roeber, Vice President, Public and Government Affairs, kroeber@danforthcenter.org

 

Quantitative study assesses how gender and race impact young athletes’ perceptions of their coaches

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT GREENSBORO

Quantitative study assesses how gender and race impact young athletes’ perceptions of their coaches

 

Across the U.S., there are over 8 million student-athletes in high school and college. Engaging in sports can contribute to physical, mental, and social benefits, and coaches can play a key role in student-athletes’ continued participation in sports.

 

A recent study led by UNC Greensboro’s Dr. Tsz Lun (Alan) Chu, published in Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, examines how multiple aspects of a young athlete’s identity, including gender and race, may relate to their perceptions of their coaches and mental health.

 

“There have been quite a few studies on this topic looking at gender and cultural differences from a qualitative standpoint, but they have not looked at the combination of these factors using a quantitative approach, which is crucial,” says Chu, who conducts research in applied sport psychology.

 

His recent study takes steps to fill that gap by surveying 846 athletes, about half in high school and half in college, with the first analysis assessing two gender categories – male and female – and three race/ethnicity categories – White, Hispanic/Latino, and Black.

 

“About one-third of young athletes drop out within a year of participation, so it’s really important we understand how coaches can support them,” Chu says.

 

Athletes were asked to rate the degree to which their coach created a supportive or unsupportive environment, including their coach’s controlling, empowering, and inclusive behavior. The researchers also asked athletes about the degree to which they felt their psychological needs, including a sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, were met in the sporting environment.

 

“Psychological needs are the factors that make you feel satisfied mentally in your life and are the things that every person would need in order to feel motivated and do their best,” says Chu, who is a certified mental performance consultant and an associate professor in the UNCG Kinesiology Department.

 

In their preliminary study, the authors were surprised to find that, as a group, Black female athletes reported the most positive perceptions of the coaching climate and satisfaction with their psychological needs compared to other race by gender subgroups.

 

“When individuals have more than one marginalized identity, they tend to feel isolated and less supported,” Chu says “So, it was surprising that Black females had the most positive perceptions of their sports environments, which were mostly male-dominated spaces in this study. We’re interested to see if these findings hold in a larger sample involving more diverse schools.”

 

Consistent with past literature, the authors found that Black male athletes perceived more disempowering coaching climates compared to other race by gender subgroups. In light of these findings, Chu suggests coaches take a nuanced approach to ensure athletes from all backgrounds feel supported in sports.

 

“Even though your coaching approach may work for 80 percent of your athletes, it doesn’t mean you should just stick with that approach,” he said. “There may be some athletes that need a different method, and you have to adapt.”

 

In future studies, Chu plans to explore how athletes from more backgrounds, including Asian, Indigenous and Native American athletes, perceive their coaches. He also hopes to examine how a coach’s identity may relate to player’s perceptions of them and impact the athlete-coach relationship.

 

Funding for this study was from the Association for Applied Sport Psychology Research Grants. They received $4,027 to travel to schools for data collection, provide incentives for participation, and hire research assistants during the active data collection phase.

 

 

 

 

 

Quantitative study assesses how gender and race impact young athletes’ perceptions of their coaches

Across the U.S., there are over 8 million student-athletes in high school and college. Engaging in sports can contribute to physical, mental, and social benefits, and coaches can play a key role in student-athletes’ continued participation in sports.

A recent study led by UNC Greensboro’s Dr. Tsz Lun (Alan) Chu, published in Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, examines how multiple aspects of a young athlete’s identity, including gender and race, may relate to their perceptions of their coaches and mental health.

“There have been quite a few studies on this topic looking at gender and cultural differences from a qualitative standpoint, but they have not looked at the combination of these factors using a quantitative approach, which is crucial,” says Chu, who conducts research in applied sport psychology.

His recent study takes steps to fill that gap by surveying 846 athletes, about half in high school and half in college, with the first analysis assessing two gender categories – male and female – and three race/ethnicity categories – White, Hispanic/Latino, and Black.

“About one-third of young athletes drop out within a year of participation, so it’s really important we understand how coaches can support them,” Chu says.

Athletes were asked to rate the degree to which their coach created a supportive or unsupportive environment, including their coach’s controlling, empowering, and inclusive behavior. The researchers also asked athletes about the degree to which they felt their psychological needs, including a sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, were met in the sporting environment.

“Psychological needs are the factors that make you feel satisfied mentally in your life and are the things that every person would need in order to feel motivated and do their best,” says Chu, who is a certified mental performance consultant and an associate professor in the UNCG Kinesiology Department.

In their preliminary study, the authors were surprised to find that, as a group, Black female athletes reported the most positive perceptions of the coaching climate and satisfaction with their psychological needs compared to other race by gender subgroups.

“When individuals have more than one marginalized identity, they tend to feel isolated and less supported,” Chu says “So, it was surprising that Black females had the most positive perceptions of their sports environments, which were mostly male-dominated spaces in this study. We’re interested to see if these findings hold in a larger sample involving more diverse schools.”

Consistent with past literature, the authors found that Black male athletes perceived more disempowering coaching climates compared to other race by gender subgroups. In light of these findings, Chu suggests coaches take a nuanced approach to ensure athletes from all backgrounds feel supported in sports.

“Even though your coaching approach may work for 80 percent of your athletes, it doesn’t mean you should just stick with that approach,” he said. “There may be some athletes that need a different method, and you have to adapt.”

In future studies, Chu plans to explore how athletes from more backgrounds, including Asian, Indigenous and Native American athletes, perceive their coaches. He also hopes to examine how a coach’s identity may relate to player’s perceptions of them and impact the athlete-coach relationship.

Funding for this study was from the Association for Applied Sport Psychology Research Grants. They received $4,027 to travel to schools for data collection, provide incentives for participation, and hire research assistants during the active data collection phase.

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JOURNAL

Sport Exercise and Performance Psychology

DOI

10.1037/spy0000331 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Intersectionality matters: Gender, race/ethnicity, and sport level differentiate perceived coach-created motivational climates and psychological needs.

 

Tepper School study reveals voter moral justifications for politicians' misstatements

CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY

In a new study, researchers used online surveys conducted primarily when Donald Trump was president to show that both Republican and Democratic voters provided explicit moral justification for politicians’ statements that were factually inaccurate, especially when they aligned with their personal politics.

The study was conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, Rice University, the University of Colorado-Boulder, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is in press at the American Journal of Sociology.

“What we found is that political misinformation isn't just about whether voters can tell facts from fiction,” said Oliver Hahl, associate professor of organization theory, strategy, and entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business, who coauthored the study. “It seems like it's more about how statements, whether true or not, speak to a broader political agenda.”

Researchers conducted six surveys to gauge voters’ responses to statements by politicians that flouted the norm of fact-grounding (i.e., that one should stick to facts when giving a statement) while proclaiming deeper, socially divisive “truths.” Five were conducted during Trump’s presidency and one was conducted in the spring of 2023. Participants were recruited from either Amazon’s Cloud Research Platform, a crowd-sourcing platform that assists people with virtual tasks, or Prolific, a research platform that provides academics and companies access to participants for studies and surveys.

All six surveys had similar structures and questions, though some questions were specific to a particular political context. Each survey gauged voters’ reactions to false statements by politicians, including Trump, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, President Joe Biden, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. 

The results of all the surveys showed a significant tendency by partisans to deliberately support violations of the norm of fact-grounding, justifying these factually inaccurate statements in moral terms when they could have relied on a factual justification. The surveys also provided consistent evidence that voters distinguish between objective evidence and truth, favoring the latter when judging statements of favored politicians and the former when judging disfavored candidates. 

Importantly, results from the last two surveys indicated significant moral flexibility among both Democrats and Republicans.

The results challenge the common belief that partisan voters' positive reactions to misinformation from their party leaders are solely because of laziness or bias leading them to confuse factually inaccurate information for truth. Instead, the evidence consistently shows that voters are flexible with the facts – exhibiting factual flexibility.

Yet they also provide consistent evidence of moral flexibility, whereby voters justify demagogic fact-flouting, or disregarding or ignoring facts, as an effective way of proclaiming a deeply resonant political “truth.” A key implication is that political misinformation cannot be eliminated by getting voters to distinguish fact from fiction; voters’ moral orientations may be such that they prefer fact-flouting.

In most studies, Trump supporters showed considerable flexibility with the facts regarding his statements. However, the study focusing on the “big lie,” which surveyed only those who voted for Trump in 2016, proved to be an exception.

Conducted in 2021, the survey explored voters’ responses to Trump’s claims that the 2020 U.S. presidential election was “rigged” or “stolen.” Participants were more likely to consider Trump’s allegations as grounded in objective evidence rather than subjective viewpoints.

Compared to other topics, Trump’s allegations that the election was stolen were portrayed as factual. There is less moral flexibility with this issue, possibly because these claims were presented more as facts. However, the emphasis on factual accuracy concerning the big lie still varies based on people’s political affiliations.

Among the limitations of their work, the authors note that the statements used in the surveys represented just one type of political misinformation (demagogic fact-flouting by partisan politicians). In addition, the measurement and analysis strategy used was new and lacked a track record, and the samples were not nationally representative. 

“Our findings reiterate the sociological insight that commitment to democratic norms cannot be assumed and indicate the importance of that caution when it comes to the problem of political misinformation,” said Minjae Kim, Assistant Professor of Management at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business, and study coauthor. 

“In particular, efforts to combat voters’ positive response to misinformation cannot be limited to teaching them to simply work harder to digest accurate information (e.g., fact-checking).”

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JOURNAL

American Journal of Sociology

DOI

10.1086/730763 

ARTICLE TITLE

When Truth Trumps Facts: Studies on Partisan Moral Flexibility in American Politics

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

29-Apr-2024

It’s all in the smile: Aston University-led research finds politicians can influence voters with facial expressions

ASTON UNIVERSITY

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• Dr Carl Senior identified two types of smile – affiliative and reward – given by political leaders during the last UK general election in 2019
• The eventual winner, Boris Johnson, was found to display the affiliative smile, which acts to align voter behaviour
• The study is the first to look at how supporters of election losers react to the eventual winner.

New research led by Aston University’s Dr Carl Senior has found that the type of smile used by a political leader can influence voters to support them and their political agenda.

There are many different types of smile, and the researchers, which also included Professor Patrick Stewart from the University of Arkansas, US, Professor Erik Bucy from Texas Tech University, US, and Professor Nick Lee from Warwick Business School at the University of Warwick, UK, focused on two in particular – the ‘reward’ smile and the ‘affiliative’ smile. They used videos from political leaders from the 2019 UK general election, which was won by the Conservative party, then led by Boris Johnson. The Labour party, then led by Jeremy Corbyn, came second. Jo Swinson was the leader of the third-placed Liberal Democrat party.

The ‘reward’ smile is the genuine, or felt smile, associated with joy and enthusiasm. It is the smile most likely to be contagious with onlookers, and has been linked to higher levels of trust. The ‘affiliative’ smile, meanwhile, communicates approachability, acknowledgement, and appeasement. It is associated with an affinity towards the onlooker and is thought to be important for developing cooperative relationships.

The researchers selected volunteers professing to be supporters of each of the three main parties and showed them the same video footage of the three leaders – Johnson, Corbyn and Swinson – before and after the 2019 election. The team assessed the emotional response to the different smiles for the candidates, whether positive (happiness and affinity) or negative (anger and distress).

When shown footage of election winner Johnson’s affiliative smile after the election, people in all groups showed an increase in happiness and affinity compared to when they were shown the footage before the election. Supporters of the losing parties showed an overall decrease in the negative effect. It was only this affiliative smile which was found to act as a mechanism to align voter feelings and behaviour to the dominant, or winning, political message.

The reward smile did not have the same effect. Supporters of Labour showed an increased level of anger and distress when viewing Johnson’s reward smile after the election compared to before it.

The effects for Corbyn and Swinson were less marked, showing that they failed to significantly change voters’ responses to them. Their appeal was somewhat fixed and failed to match Johnson’s charm. Johnson tapped into the voters’ feeling of annoyance about the slow Brexit process with his ‘Get Brexit done’ slogan, while Corbyn’s position was ambiguous. Swinson’s party was pro-Europe but lacked Johnson’s performative abilities to link a strong message to his nonverbal communication.

Previous work by various researchers has shown that observers judge leadership traits and behaviour, or a lack thereof, from non-verbal cues such as facial expressions. However, there has, until now, been little research outside the US on the effect of facial displays on voter behaviour. 

Dr Senior said:

“The human smile can convey both rewarding and affiliative social intent and thus has significant utility in politics, where the ability to bond with and reassure voters is vital to electoral success.  We are in an unprecedented year as there are numerous elections scheduled to take place across several continents. The outcome of these campaigns will have a significant impact on millions of people across vast geopolitical regions. Given that almost all politicians involved in these election campaigns will make full use of broadcast media to reach voters, it is crucial to understand the effectiveness of their non-verbal displays in shifting voting preference.”

Professor Lee said:

“The individual appeal of party leaders has become increasingly influential. A smile can’t win an election on its own. But Johnson’s personal appeal transcended party policies, connecting with people who hadn’t planned to vote for him.

“The upside for today’s politicians is that charisma is not an innate quality. It can be taught. By paying attention to their facial behaviour and ensuring they display the right smile in the right context, they can still leverage the power of emotional responses. It is something leaders of all organisations can learn.”

The researchers say more work is required to understand how smiles work together with other verbal and nonverbal displays to generate affinity in voters and convey social dominance to other leaders.

PLOS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301113

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0301113 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Winners and losers: Emotional shifts across elections are conveyed by a politician’s smile

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

29-Apr-2024

 

Hornets found to be primary pollinators of two Angelica species

New research overturns the conventional belief that Angelica species do not have a primary pollinator

Peer-Reviewed Publication

SCHOOL OF SCIENCE, THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO

 

IMAGE: 

A JAPANESE GIANT HORNET VESPA MANDARINIA VISITING THE INFLORESCENCE OF ANGELICA DECURSIVA TO FEED ON NECTAR

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CREDIT: MOCHIZUKI 2024

Researcher Ko Mochizuki of the University of Tokyo discovered that two species in the genus Angelica are pollinated primarily by hornets. This overturns the conventional belief that Angelica species are “generalists,” meaning that there is not one primary pollinator but a variety of species. As hornets are rarely primary pollinators, the discovery also impacts future ecological research and conservation efforts. The findings were published in the journal Ecology.

White, small, open, secretes nectar and produces pollen: these are the kinds of flowers that many types of insects can reach and are attracted to. Most of the plants in the carrot family, Apiaceae, fit this description perfectly. As such, the species in this family are considered to be generalists. In extreme cases, over 100 different insect species visit their flowers. Not so with Angelica decursiva and Angelica hakonensis, two species in the genus Angelica in the family.

“I observed a fierce visitation by hornets for the first time in 2015 in Nagano Prefecture,” Mochizuki recalls, “and then again in 2018 in the Nikko Botanical Garden where they were feeding on the nectar of the inflorescences of A. decursiva and A. hakonensis. Since it was a dogma that species in the family Apiaceae are generalists, this observation motivated me to investigate if the two Angelica species were pollinated predominantly by hornets.”

Confirming the hunch was a stepwise process. First, Mochizuki returned to the Nikko Botanical Garden to quantify the numbers and types of "visitors" to the flowers. Then, he captured some visitors to check the amount of pollen stuck to their bodies to verify whether it would be enough for pollination. Finally, he conducted an experiment in which he covered some flowers with a mesh that blocked the hornets and some flowers with a mesh that blocked all insects, with a third group of flowers remaining uncovered as the control group. All three of these methods showed that hornets were the most numerous species that visited the flowers.

“Nevertheless, excluding hornets resulted in seed production higher than expected. I think excluding the hornets allowed other visitors to gather on the flowers. Especially considering that I had previously observed hornets hunting and killing other insect visitors when they encountered each other on the inflorescence,” Mochizuki explains.

Science advances by incremental steps. Discovering that hornets are the primary pollinator of certain species is one such incremental step, but the consequences are wide-ranging.

“Hornets are generally considered pests in their native range and problematic invasive species in some areas such as North America. Nevertheless, this study underscores the importance of hornets as pollinators, opening new avenues for research and conservation,” says Mochizuki.

A Japanese yellow hornet Vespa simillima hunting and killing the other visitors when they come upon on the inflorescence of Angelica hakonensis

CREDIT

Mochizuki 2024

A hornet visiting a flower [VIDEO] | 

JOURNAL

Ecology

DOI

10.1002/ecy.4311 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Hunt and pollinate: Hornet pollination of the putative generalist genus Angelica.

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

29-Apr-2024

 

How can forests be reforested in a climate-friendly way?

Only a few tree species are flexible enough to survive a century of rapid climate change

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA

 

IMAGE: 

TREE MORTALITY DUE TO BARK BEETLE INFESTATION. 

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CREDIT: RUPERT SEIDL

Europe's forests have already been severely affected by climate change. Thousands of hectares of trees have already died due to drought and bark beetles. Scientists from the University of Vienna and the Technical University of Munich TUM have now investigated which trees can be used for reforestation. Their findings: only a few tree species are fit for the future, such as English oak in the UK. However, mixed forests are important for the survival of forests, otherwise the forest ecosystem as a whole could be weakened. The results of the study were recently published in the renowned journal Nature Ecology and Evolution. 

Although European forests are naturally home to a mix of trees, the number of tree species is lower than in climatically comparable areas of North America or East Asia. In the future, even fewer species will be available to the forestry industry, as scientists led by Johannes Wessely and Stefan Dullinger from the University of Vienna have shown in their new study. Depending on the region, between a third and a half of the tree species found there today will no longer be able to cope with future conditions. "This is an enormous decline," says lead author Johannes Wessely, "especially when you consider that only some of the species are of interest for forestry". 

The scientists examined the 69 more common of the just over 100 European tree species with regard to the 21st century in Europe. On average, only nine of these 69 species per location are fit for the future in Europe, compared to four in the UK. "Trees that are planted now for reforestation must survive under both current and future conditions. This is difficult because they have to withstand the cold and frost of the next few years as well as a much warmer climate at the end of the 21st century. There is only a very small overlap," says Wessely. In the UK, these climate-fit species include, for example, the English oak. Which tree species will suit which region of Europe in the future varies greatly overall. 

Forest ecosystem at risk due to restriction of species 

However, even with the selected set of future-proof trees, a major problem remains: the average of nine species is not enough for a species-rich mixed forest. "Mixed forests consisting of many tree species are an important measure to make forests more robust against disturbances such as bark beetles. In some places in Europe, however, we could run out of tree species to establish such colorful mixed forests," explains last author Rupert Seidl from the Technical University of Munich TUM.

Not all trees offer important properties 

Trees store carbon, provide a habitat or food source for animals or can be processed into timber – these are all important properties of forests. But not all trees fulfill these functions equally; only an average of three of the nine climate-fit tree species can do this. 

"Our work clearly shows how severely the vitality of forests is affected by climate change. We cannot rely solely on a new mix of tree species; rapid measures to mitigate climate change are essential for the sustainable protection of our forests," says Wessely.

More information on current research at the University of Vienna can be found in the University of Vienna's science magazine Rudolphina in the section Nature, Climate and the Cosmos.

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JOURNAL

Nature Ecology & Evolution

DOI

10.1038/s41559-024-02406-8 

ARTICLE TITLE

A climate-induced tree species bottleneck for forest management in Europe.

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

29-Apr-2024

 

Demands to include women in decisions on the protection of human rights in the climate crisis

In a scientific paper, the researcher from the URV’s Department of Public Law, Susana Borràs, discusses the vulnerability and lack of protection of migrant women and children

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI

 

IMAGE: 

THE UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI RESEARCHER, SUSANA BORRÀS

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CREDIT: URV

Eighty per cent of climatic migrants are women and children. This figure means that a new international legal framework is required to protect human rights by adding gender-sensitive measures to policies and legislation. This is the claim made by Susana Borràs, a researcher from the URV’s Department of Public Law in an article published in the journal Environmental Policy and Law, in which she discusses the complexities of perpetuating inequalities, vulnerabilities and the lack of protection of migrant women and children.

Climate change is clear evidence that human rights are weakening, especially in areas that are already more exposed to the effects of climate change and less resilient because of the socio-economic context", says Borràs. "Multidimensional inequality and insecurity are present throughout the migration process and are particularly critical in the case of migrant women and girls", she adds.

The United Nations estimates that by 2050, the effects of climate change will have caused the displacement of 150 million people or more due to extreme weather and events such as the rise in sea level and desertification. Likewise, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted that, in the coming years, migration would be one of the responses to climate change, with millions of people being displaced by coastal flooding, coastal erosion, desertification processes and losses in agricultural production. "People who leave the lands of their origin do so in highly complex contexts, in search of safety and well-being. They are exercising their human right to migrate with dignity to other safe territories, whether these are inside or outside their countries", she explains.

In the third decade of the 21st century, humanity is still struggling with the vital issues of gender inequality, discrimination and violence faced by women and girls, that’s to say, almost half of the 8 billion inhabitants of the world. Despite the goals of international human rights and other regulatory instruments to bring about change, on the ground mental attitudes and harsh global realities still work against women and girls.

According to Susana Borràs, "the impacts of climate change mean that women, and especially those from poorer communities, face a great psychological burden. Power structures lead to greater vulnerability to extreme weather events and climate change-related disasters. This structural vulnerability increases when women and girls become climate migrants.

In recent years, changes have been made to some sectors of international regulation to recognise climate change as a cause of migration, including from a gender-sensitive perspective. "Although positive, these changes have demonstrated the lack of an overall vision spanning the international legal regime of migration and refuge, climate change and human rights", she adds.

In conclusion, she points out that the existing legal frameworks need to be rethought to respond to the reality of climate migration from a gender-sensitive perspective that effectively protects human rights. The heteropatriarchal power dynamics – which exclude women from decision-making processes – have prevented the gender perspective from becoming a part of policies and legal standards for environmental protection. "It is essential to reverse the typical role of victim assigned to women and recognise that they can be leaders and agents of climate change and migratory contexts". In this regard, she calls for political responses to adapt the existing legal frameworks governing refugees and migration to the humanitarian challenges generated by climate change.

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JOURNAL

Environmental Policy and Law

DOI

10.3233/EPL-239019 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Commentary/editorial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

International Environmental Law (IEL): Perspectives of Women Scholars