A Climate for Change

(^170) Vulnerable Groups Human Development Report - Croatia 2008
In addition, Croatia is among the countries with the
greatest difference in “self-evaluation of health and ac-
cess to health services” according to income quartiles.^16
This implies that income limits people’s access to health
services. This lack of access could become more pro-
found considering climate-related weather threats and
risk factors, such as low income, age and poor health.
10.2.3. Low education levels
As mentioned above, education levels are closely
linked to income and employment. A 2007 living stan-
dards assessment conducted by the World Bank found
that secondary education reduces the risk of poverty
in Croatia to one third of the national average.^17
Exposure to threats: Workers with lower levels of
education are also more likely to be unemployed. If
employed, they are more likely to have jobs that are
not full-time salaried positions. They may also be dis-
proportionately represented in industries that are
exposed to climate threats (e.g. agriculture). Here, cli-
mate change may act as a threat multiplier by placing
added economic stress on these groups.
Capacity to respond: Developing human capacity
among less educated people appears particularly im-
portant within the agricultural and tourism sectors.
While this recommendation would provide general
benefits for less educated workers in these sectors, it
would provide specific benefits to the sector in terms of
transmitting information about adaptation measures
at the local level. Farmers and actors within the fish-
ing and mariculture industry can be educated about
better farm management, which better addresses cur-
rent and future climate challenges. Workers in tourism
can provide better, more competitive service and gain
stronger positions in the workplace. Workers with low
levels of education may face increased difficulty in
finding jobs, if they become unemployed, as a result of
changes in the economy due to climate trends. It will
be important to consider how training programmes
can reach workers with low education levels who may
have lacked access to professional education earlier
in their lives. It should be taken into account that life-
long learning programmes are under-developed in
Croatia so opportunities for retraining are not widely
available. On average, only one in ten Croatian citizens
attended a training or qualification course in 2006:
6.7% of all people in rural areas and 13.6% of those in
urban areas.
10.2.4. Gender issues
The relationship between gender and climate change
vulnerability in Croatia has not yet been researched.
Gender issues may play an indirect role in vulnerability
to climate change because of the overrepresentation
of female-headed households in poverty in Croatia.
This affect is also correlated with age (see the section
below on the elderly). Twenty six percent of individu-
als living in households headed by women over 65
live in poverty – the highest incidence of poverty of
any household grouping.^18 Determining how the di-
rect and indirect impacts of climate change may be
differentiated by gender would require further study.
Exposure to threats: Additional research on the gen-
der breakdown of employment in weather-sensitive
industries would provide important data on the po-
tential exposure of women and men to the effects of
climate change. In addition, it would be useful to study
the indirect effects that climate change may have on
households. For example, increases in commodity
prices will disproportionately affect female-headed
households, as they are overrepresented in Croatian
households living in poverty.
Capacity to respond: The gender wage gap in Croa-
tia is such that women in the same jobs as men re-
ceive less pay. This situation places greater limita-
tions on their ability to respond to unemployment or
to make adaptive changes in their work that require
investments. One study estimates that men in Croa-
tia earned 12.5% more than women in 2005.^19 The
resultant pension gap is also an issue among elderly
women, who already face an increased incidence of
poverty due to age. Gender differences in access to
credit would have similar effects.