‘Heat, floods and droughts make men more violent to women’: Natasha Walter on eco-feminism in a world on fire

The article is an interview with writer and campaigner Natasha Walter about her book Feminism for a World on Fire. Walter argues that climate change and gender inequality are deeply interconnected and that mainstream feminism has not paid enough attention to the ways environmental crises disproportionately affect women. Drawing on research and her own experiences working with refugees and vulnerable communities, she contends that climate disasters such as floods, droughts, and heatwaves often intensify existing inequalities rather than affecting everyone equally.

A central theme of the interview is that environmental stress can increase violence against women. Walter points to evidence showing that extreme heat, resource scarcity, displacement, and social instability are associated with higher rates of domestic abuse, sexual violence, and exploitation. Women and girls are often more exposed to these risks because they are more likely to be responsible for caregiving, have fewer economic resources, and face greater vulnerability during migration and humanitarian crises. She argues that these realities should be treated as core climate issues rather than secondary social concerns.

Walter is critical of forms of feminism that focus primarily on individual success and empowerment while overlooking broader structural problems. She suggests that a more collective and politically engaged feminism is needed—one that addresses economic inequality, environmental degradation, migration, and social justice together. In her view, feminism should challenge the systems that produce both ecological destruction and gender oppression rather than concentrating solely on increasing opportunities for individual women within existing structures.

Despite describing a world facing multiple crises, Walter ends on a cautiously hopeful note. She highlights examples of grassroots activism and feminist movements around the world that combine environmental and social justice goals, including initiatives that promote community resilience and collective action. The interview concludes with her call for a broader eco-feminist approach that links the struggle for women's rights with efforts to address the climate emergency, arguing that lasting solutions require solidarity, inclusion, and long-term thinking about both people and the planet.

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