A new international study reveals that men, particularly those who own, manage, and control heavy, carbon-based, and extractive industries, are disproportionately driving environmental collapse, with the most damaging patterns linked to "elite, white Eurowestern men." This systemic control of capital and its associated consumption patterns place an unequal burden on low-income men in the global south and the international working class.
The paper, titled 'Men, masculinities and the planet at the end of (M)Anthropocene,' published in Norma: International Journal for Masculinity Studies, synthesizes research from over 20 scientists across 13 countries. It examines the connections between masculine behaviors and climate change, global warming, and environmental degradation, exposing the material roots of ecological destruction.
Researchers found that men tend to have a greater carbon footprint and overall environmental impact through consumption, specifically in areas such as travel, transportation, tourism, and meat eating. This finding is supported by a 2025 study, conducted one year ago, involving 15,000 people in France, which concluded that men emit 26 percent more pollution than women from transport and food consumption.
Who Profits from Destruction
The study further highlights that men are more involved in the ownership, management, and control of industries with high environmental impact. These include heavy, chemical, carbon-based, industrialized agriculture, other extractive industries, and militarism. This direct control over the means of production and destruction underscores how the pursuit of profit by a specific class fraction is intrinsically linked to planetary degradation.
Professor Jeff Hearn, the paper's editor and a professor of Sociology at the University of Huddersfield, stated, "There is now plenty of research that shows clear negative impacts of some men’s behaviour on the environment and climate." He added, "What is astonishing is how this aspect does not figure in most debates and policy in a more sustainable world," pointing to the systemic failure of mainstream discourse to address the structural causes of the crisis.
The paper also notes that men tend to exhibit "less concern with climate change," are "less ambitious and less active in environmental politics," and are less willing to alter daily practices to confront the escalating environmental crisis. This resistance to change, particularly among those who benefit most from the current economic order, serves to maintain the status quo of surplus extraction.
The Global Class Divide
A study published one year ago in the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that men experiencing higher levels of "masculinity stress" express less worry about climate change. These individuals are also more likely to engage in "pro-environmental behavioural avoidance," such as actively avoiding eco-friendly products to uphold a traditional masculine image, a cultural manifestation of the system's ideological reproduction.
The research explicitly differentiates the "damaging patterns" as applying "especially to elite, white Eurowestern men opposed to low-income men in the global south." This crucial distinction exposes the class dimension of environmental impact, where the consumption and industrial practices of the global ruling class disproportionately affect the most vulnerable populations.
The paper's scope includes examples such as climate denial in Canadian pipeline politics, which serves to protect fossil fuel capital, and the environmental impacts of Chinese policies in the Pacific Ocean, reflecting the expansionist tendencies of state-backed capital. These instances demonstrate how state power is deployed to facilitate capital accumulation at the expense of ecological stability.
Despite the overwhelming evidence of systemic destruction, the paper acknowledges that some men are working "urgently and energetically" to change these tendencies, including "men activists in Africa, Latin America, the UK and globally." These efforts represent nascent forms of resistance against the dominant modes of production and consumption, indicating a potential for organized challenges to the existing distribution of power.