Linking Gender and Climate: Gender Equality Resources from Climatelinks

One of the themes for today’s program at COP28 is Gender Equality. Climate change exacerbates existing inequalities and increases the vulnerability of women and other marginalized and underrepresented populations to gender-based violence, disempowerment, poverty, and more. Empowering women to conserve land, water, and biodiversity—including by contributing critical Indigenous knowledge—is key to sustaining bold climate action. Gender equitable and inclusive climate programming improves adaptation, mitigation, and resilience results while also reducing gender inequality and elevating women as climate leaders. 

USAID’s Climate Strategy accounts for the unique knowledge, skills, and networks that make women and girls critical stakeholders in designing and implementing climate solutions. USAID works with women and girls, as well as youth, Indigenous Peoples, and other marginalized and underrepresented groups, to identify and implement climate actions, ensuring climate solutions do not exacerbate inequalities or lead to unintended consequences in the process.

To ensure USAID’s ambitious climate actions achieve sustainable impacts, climate and development programs must take a rights-based, gender-responsive, and socially inclusive approach. Here are some gender and climate-related resources on Climatelinks to help gender and social inclusion practitioners understand how their work intersects with climate change programming.

Gender Analysis for the USAID Climate Strategy 2022-2030

A gender lens strengthens all development approaches by providing insights into the norms, power dynamics, laws and policies, governance structures, and more that dictate the lived realities of all members of society who are impacted by climate change. This gender analysis was conducted using a desk review of the available literature and consultations with gender and climate experts from across USAID to inform the Agency’s Climate Strategy. 

Gender Equality and Climate Finance Technical Brief

Climate finance offers a pathway to achieve equitable climate action and support a transition to a low-carbon future, but most climate finance to date has been gender-neutral. Research suggests gender-diverse individuals often face an increased risk of discrimination because of their gender identities. To ensure equitable climate action outcomes, climate finance must explicitly consider the gendered impacts of climate change and gendered disparities in access to finance.

Climate Adaptation Support Activity (CASA) Gender, Inclusion, and Localization Strategy

Local communities are often at the forefront of climate change impacts but face challenges in building resilience, adapting to, or weighing in on the decisions that affect them most. The negative effects of climate change disproportionately affect women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, and other marginalized and underrepresented groups. The documents and tools in this resource help define and operationalize key adaptation priorities, including locally led development and equity and inclusion.