WUNRN
GENDER & CLIMATE CHANGE - BRIDGE
CUTTING EDGE PACKS
Responses to climate change tend to focus on scientific and economic solutions rather than addressing the vitally significant human and gender dimensions. For climate change responses to be effective thinking must move beyond these limited approaches to become people-focused, and focus on the challenges and opportunities that climate change presents in the struggle for gender equality. This cutting edge pack advocates for a transformative approach in which:
- Women and men have an equal voice in decision-making on
climate change and broader governance processes;
- Women and men are given equal access to the resources
necessary to respond to the negative effects of climate change;
- Both women’s and men’s needs and knowledge are taken
into account and climate change policymaking institutions and processes at
all levels are not biased towards men or women;
- The broad social constraints that limit women’s access
to strategic and practical resources no longer exist.
This
Cutting Edge Pack hopes to inspire thinking and action. The Overview Report
offering a comprehensive gendered analysis of climate change which demystifies
many of the complexities in this area and suggests recommendations for
researchers, NGOSs and donors as well as policymakers at national and
international level. The Supporting Resources Collection (SRC) provides summaries
of key texts, conceptual papers, tools, case studies and contacts of
organisations in this field, whilst a Gender and Development In Brief
newsletter contains three articles including two case studies outlining
innovative local led solutions.
BRIDGE Publications
Gender
and Climate Change Cutting Edge Pack - Overview Report
Climate change is increasingly being recognised as a global crisis, but
responses to it have so far been overly focused on scientific and economic
solutions. How then do we move towards more people-centred, gender-aware
climate change policies and processes? How do we both respond to the different
needs and concerns of women and men and challenge the gender inequalities that
mean women are more likely to lose out than men in the face of climate change?
This report sets out why it is vital to address the gender dimensions of
climate change. It identifies key gender impacts of climate change and clearly
maps the global and national policy architecture that dominates climate change
responses.
The report maps pathways for making climate change responses more gender aware
and – potentially –
transformative, arguing that gender transformation should be both a potential
end goal and an important
condition of effective climate change responses and poverty reduction.
The report provides inspiring examples of locally relevant, gender-aware
innovations from diverse global
regions and contexts. Recommendations include:
- Take into account the multiple dimensions of gender
inequality and women’s and men’s experiences of climate change on the
ground, and invest in research to enable this.
- Move beyond simple assumptions about women’s
vulnerability to highlight women’s agency in adapting to and mitigating
climate change. This will involve integrating women’s valuable knowledge
and practical experience into policymaking processes.
- Learn from people-focused, gender-transformative
approaches at the local level and apply these lessons to national and
international policy.
- Promote a rights-based approach to climate change and
ensure that all future climate change policies and processes draw on human
rights frameworks such as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms
of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
- Find alternatives to market-based approaches where
possible, but when they are used to address climate change mitigation,
ensure they benefit women equally and do not exclude or further
disadvantage women.
- Address the underlying causes of gender inequality,
tackling issues such as unequal land rights through legislative reforms
and awareness-raising, as well as through the implementation of CEDAW and
other relevant frameworks.
Gender
and Climate Change Cutting Edge Pack - Supporting Resources Collection
This Supporting Resources Collection - part of the BRIDGE Cutting Edge Pack on Gender and Climate Change- showcases existing work on gender and climate change. It presents summaries of a mix of conceptual and research papers, policy briefings, advocacy documents, case study material and practical tools from diverse regions. Examining why a focus on gender and climate change is important, the resources look at the human and gender impacts of climate change, the global and national responses to climate change and locally relevant gender aware responses to climate change. They seek to address a wide range of questions including:
- How do gender inequalities affect the ways that women
and men are affected by climate change and constrain the choices women?
- How can we ensure human rights are at the centre
of climate change responses?
- How can we ensure women play an equal role in
decision-making around climate change?
The
collection also provides information on international frameworks and
conventions relating to climate change, and as well as mitigation mechanisms
and key climate funds. Finally, this collection contains a 'networking and
contacts’ section, which gives details of the organisations featured in the
Cutting Edge Pack. Details of how to obtain copies or download the full texts
of all featured resources are provided with each summary.
Gender
and Development In Brief ‘Gender and Climate Change’ – Edition 22
Climate change is increasingly being recognised as a global crisis, but
responses to it have so far been overly focused on scientific and economic
solutions. How then do we move towards more people-centred, gender-aware
climate change policies and processes? How do we respond to the different needs
and concerns of women and men, and also challenge the gender inequalities that
mean women are more likely to lose out than men in the face of climate change?
This In Brief sets out why it is vital to address the gender dimensions of
climate change. It maps pathways for making climate change responses more
gender aware and – potentially – transformative and suggests promoting a rights
based approach to climate change. This is to ensure that climate change
policies and processes draw on human rights frameworks as well as finding
alternatives to market-based approaches. When market-based approaches are used
to address climate change mitigation they should benefit women equally and not
exclude or further disadvantage them. Another recommendation suggests learning
from people focused gender – transformative approaches at the local level and
apply these lessons to national and international policy. In this respect, the
In Brief includes inspiring examples of local, gender-aware innovations in
Colombia and India. The case studies have been produced collaboratively through
participatory workshops, semi-structured interviews and site visits with FUNDAEXPRESIÓN
in Colombia and the Community Awareness Centre (CAC) in India. FUNDAEXPRESIÓN
plays a key role in promoting strong local networks to create resilience to
climate change and CAC engages women and men in developing relevant solutions
that empower women.