According to the recent report published by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, meaningful inclusion of women in climate adaptation could be a benefit multiplier by strengthening climate response, gender equality, and security.
The impacts of climate change are sending shock waves through communities around the world. Scaled-up adaptation efforts that support those most impacted by the climate crisis are urgently needed.
It is well documented that climate change exacerbates conditions that drive insecurity and violent conflict, with disproportionate impacts on women and girls. For this reason, climate change is becoming a critical consideration for the field of women, peace and security (WPS).
To date, the field has largely focused on the gendered impacts and vulnerabilities of the climate crisis and paid less attention to the potential for inclusive climate response to address overlapping forms of insecurity. Climate change is widely understood as a risk multiplier, but this report shows how the meaningful inclusion of women in climate adaptation could be a benefit multiplier by strengthening climate response, gender equality, and security.
This report focuses on women’s meaningful participation in local-level climate action within the agriculture and energy sectors, which are two key entry points for climate change adaptation. Through a comprehensive review of available literature, we identified several projects that offer illustrative examples of inclusive adaptation efforts within these sectors. These projects highlight the benefits of inclusive approaches and offer models and practices that could be replicated or scaled up.
The report concludes by identifying five key actions for inclusive adaptation that can increase the potential for interventions to generate positive outcomes for climate resilience, gender equality, and security:
• Address barriers to inclusion to ensure that women have equal access to project participation and resources:
Gender analysis and community-based needs assessments should be used by project designers and implementers to identify barriers and incentives for engaging women in training for agroecological activities and clean energy use. Addressing these barriers in project design can significantly increase women’s access to and control of resources, as well as their decision-making power, not only within climate interventions, but also more broadly, because these barriers often arise from structural and social forms of inequality.
• Increase women’s access to information, education, and technology:
To meaningfully participate in solutions, women must have access to information about climate change, education on what it means for their livelihoods, and technology that will allow them to effectively respond to its impacts. When women understand how climate change can affect them and why it is important to adapt their practices, they are more likely to be receptive to climate interventions. Expanding women’s access to these critical resources can bolster livelihood security and strengthen women’s decision-making power.
• Provide training and support for women as entrepreneurs and design consultants:
Efforts to support women as entrepreneurs and design consultants can improve financial security, ensure that products meet community needs, and increase the likelihood that technology will be adopted. Mentorship and support networks can encourage women to take on leadership positions and strengthen their ability to meaningfully inform solutions.
• Address critical gaps in knowledge through additional research and case studies.
More research is needed to inform gender-responsive interventions, to identify best practices that can be replicated and scaled up, and to promote investments in inclusive approaches that generate impact. Additional case studies from diverse geographical areas, including countries experiencing both conflict and climate impacts, are needed to create a richer evidence base. Participatory approaches that include women in generating knowledge about challenges and solutions within communities could surface important insights for policy and programming that may be overlooked by top-down research.
• Obtain buy-in and funding for gender-responsive, community-centered climate solutions:
Key stakeholders including governments, the private sector, multilateral bodies, and civil society must work together with those most impacted by the climate crisis to create collective solutions and comprehensive responses. To generate impact, these efforts must be matched with adequate resourcing and dedicated funding mechanisms to ensure resources reach women.
You can read the full report here.