Male behaviours disproportionate drivers of climate change, new research suggests
Men have a greater carbon footprint than women, drive the industries that contribute to global warming and ecological loss, and tend to be less concerned about climate change, according to a collection of research from around the world.
Published in a peer-reviewed special issue of Norma: International Journal for Masculinity Studies, the paper Men, masculinities and the planet at the end of (M)Anthropocene, brings together research by 22 scientists from 13 countries.
The research looks at “climate change, global warming and environmental collapse, how they connect with what men do, and what to do about it”, according to the University of Huddersfield, whose professor edited the paper.
It pulls together diverse studies such as on climate denial in Canadian pipeline politics, environmental impacts of Chinese policies in the Pacific Ocean, and pro-meat online influencers in Finland, and suggests that men’s behaviour contributes disproportionately to the climate crisis.
The paper finds that compared with women, men tend to have a greater carbon footprint and greater environmental impact through consumption, especially when it comes to travel and tourism, transportation, and meat-eating.
For example, a 2025 study involving 15,000 people in France found that men emit 26% more pollution than women from transport and food.
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Link between climate change denial and misogyny
Men also tend to be more involved in owning and managing companies in carbon-based and high environmental impact industries such as large-scale agriculture, automation, and in the development of emerging AI technologies.
The studies suggest that men tend to have less concern with climate change, and are less willing to change daily habits to reduce it; and that they are less active in environmental politics, and less supportive of political parties that work for environmental justice.
The paper emphasises that damaging behaviours are primarily seen in wealthy men in the global north – as opposed to low-income men in the global south – and are often displayed by men who have conservative views of gender roles and masculinity.
It draws a connection between climate change denial and misogyny. For example, a Swedish study of 2,500 adults found that men who felt their masculinity was under threat were significantly more likely to reject climate science.
The paper also acknowledges that some men are working “urgently and energetically” to change climate-damaging tendencies.
The paper describes ‘ecological masculinities’ – versions of male identity that do not depend on dominance over nature or other people – and presents examples such male climate activists across Latin America and Africa, gardening cooperatives in Colombia, and UK fathers reorganising domestic care.
Read more: A seat at the table: women’s role in the fight against climate change
Policy implications
“There is now plenty of research that shows clear negative impacts of some men’s behaviour on the environment and climate,” says Jeff Hearn, professor of sociology at the University of Huddersfield’s Department of Social and Psychological Sciences, who edited the paper.
“What is astonishing is how this aspect does not figure in most debate and policy on a more sustainable world.”
The paper notes that “the effects of environmental crises [are] distributed unevenly along the lines of gender, race and class”, and that “assumed objective sustainable solutions”, including policies related to conservation and climate change adaptation, can “increase vulnerability and create unliveable conditions for marginalised groups, especially in the global south”.
The paper notes that critically examining issues such as the climate, environment, energy, sustainability and ecological justice through social, economic and political dimensions and the connection between these and men and masculinities “is imperative amidst current multiple global intertwined ecological and social (poly)crises in the (m)Anthropocene”.
The term Anthropocene reflects the idea that humans have become a dominant force shaping the earth’s systems.
“With (privileged eurowestern) men at the forefront of driving the structures and processes that have brought about the (m)Anthropocene, understanding how men and masculinities perpetuate, and mitigate, the ecological collapse unfolding in the (m)Anthropocene is necessary,” the paper states.
About Mia Hunt
Mia has been editor of globalgovernmentforum.com since 2019. She has 15 years’ experience as a journalist and editor and specialises in writing for civil and public servants worldwide, including covering sustainability policy and related issues. She has led the Global Government Women’s Network since it launched in 2023. Previously, she covered commercial property having been market reports and supplements editor at Property Week and deputy editor at Retail Destination. She graduated from Kingston University London with a first-class honours degree in journalism and was part of the team that produced The River newspaper, which won Publication of the Year at the Guardian Student Media Awards in 2010.
