State environmental protection efforts, women's status, and world polity: A cross-national analysis

There is a large focus at the organizational level on the importance of a link between women and the environment, yet little empirical research explores this. We examine how women's status in economic, political, educational, and health spheres affect state environmental protection efforts in the form of protected land area. Hypotheses derived from ecofeminism and empirical literature of gendered differences in individual-level attitudes and behaviors are tested using multiple regression models with a cross-national sample. We find no support for broader ecofeminist claims that the overall oppression of women and environmental degradation are linked by a common source. However, we find strong support for the idea that increasing women's political status in particular through representation in national government has a positive effect on state environmental protection efforts. We also find no evidence that connection to a world polity has a significant effect on nation-state designation of protected land area.