10 Things to Know: Gender Equality and Achieving Climate Goals

"Climate compatible development is about transforming development pathways to face the climate problem in a way that moves beyond the traditional separation of adaptation, mitigation and development strategies. Climate compatible development processes adopt strategies and goals that integrate the threats and opportunities of a changing climate, and so lower greenhouse gas emissions, build resilience and promote development simultaneously."

This report provides a synthesis of findings from research conducted in Peru, India, and Kenya into how gender approaches contribute to climate compatible development. The research sought to provide evidence on the advantages and challenges of integrating a gender dimension into climate compatible development strategies in urban settings. Overall, the objective is to contribute new evidence to this arena and provide insights that will help policymakers and practitioners to foster more inclusive climate and development interventions. The research project was carried out by Practical Action Consulting with support from the Institute of Development Studies, commissioned by and supported by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN). (For individual country reports and findings, see Related Summaries below.)

As stated in the document, “While international frameworks are gradually becoming more aware of gender issues, all too often gender is simply 'added' to existing policies. Women’s views, needs and participation are frequently excluded from climate change responses and development initiatives. Moreover women are often perceived as victims with little consideration for the contribution and leadership they could provide in adaptation and mitigation efforts.”

The report identifies 10 key findings based on a comparable analysis of research into three projects in Peru, India, and Kenya. All projects have climate-related disaster risk management and climate change adaptation goals, are urban-based, and have integrated gender approaches into the programmes in some way. The research asked the following questions:

• What is the evidence of the relevance of gender-sensitive programming in climate compatible development to promote and achieve people’s empowerment?
• What socio-economic, political, and cultural factors constrain or favour gender-sensitive approaches in the context of climate compatible development?
• Does a gender-sensitive approach enable better climate compatible development outcomes and if so, how?

The following are the 10 findings and conclusions that emerged out of the research. They prove that gender-sensitive approaches lead to better climate and development outcomes, and give some insight on how it can be done, as well as some of the challenges.Each finding offers practical examples from the country case studies - both successes and challenges - to support the point.

1. It matters: Gender-sensitive approaches recognise people’s different needs.
“When organisations are planning climate vulnerability and capacity assessments, these are enhanced by gender-sensitive analysis. Such analysis not only provides a more in-depth understanding of the effects of climate change. It also reveals the political, physical and socioeconomic reasons why men and women suffer and adapt differently to everyday climate-related challenges, extreme events and longer-term environmental changes.” For example, the case study in India showed that the lack of adequate sanitation is a major aspect of urban dwellers’ vulnerabilities, especially for women who will often eat or drink less during floods in order to avoid having to go to the toilet.

2. It works: Gender-sensitive approaches lead to more sustainable outcomes for climate compatible development.
The study found evidence from programmes in Peru and India that initiatives with higher women’s involvement tend to be better organised. Initiatives which have been designed with women’s – as well as men’s – needs in mind deliver results which are more comprehensive and long-lasting. “This may be linked to the fact that the planning and implementation of activities traditionally associated with women’s roles (including access to water, healthcare, education) are more effective if women are fully involved and their knowledge is recognised.”

3. Location matters: Urban livelihoods differ and so should gender approaches to urban development.
“Cities present different social, economic and political structures to rural areas, which has implications for how climate compatible development programmes should be implemented in order to support women and men’s access to resources according to their contexts and priorities.” For example, research in India showed that social cohesion seemed significantly lower in urban areas than in rural ones. Conversely, women in Kisumu, Kenya had better access to community support mechanisms such as self-help groups, compared to women from the rural areas. Location will also affect people’s food security as it affects their ability to to grow their own food during floods or droughts.

4. Vulnerability to urban climate risks is exacerbated by everyday gender inequalities.
“Vulnerabilities of people to environmental hazards are rooted in everyday inequalities and poverty. These can be uncovered when using a gender approach. Without a gender approach, the realities of the most marginalised members of society and those discriminated against remain ignored and unaddressed by projects which are supposed to enhance people’s resilience.” For example, discriminatory social norms and gender-based violence limits women’s capacity to respond to unexpected events, such as natural disasters, and isolates them from their social networks. In India, patriarchal structures can prevent women from attending meetings, particularly upper class women who have to behave in an expected manner to maintain their perceived higher status. Men would also resort to physical violence when household duties are neglected, so that household care responsibilities inhibit women from participating in governance processes.

5. Beyond just ‘needs’: Gender approaches address power imbalances and unequal decision-making.
“A gender-sensitive strategy recognises and addresses the different interests and capacities shown by both men and women, as well as the pre-existing power relations between them. It should go beyond just women’s ‘needs’ and address power imbalances and unequal decision-making.” For example, unequal power relations are manifested in women’s access to economic assets such as land. As land ownership is mainly male-dominated, this means that women cannot make decisions in interventions, such as improved housing, without consent. In Kenya, just 3% of the land was owned by women in 2011, and the lack of collateral means that women find it difficult to take out a loan. The research found that “[i]mproving women’s access to new livelihood opportunities in urban areas can improve specific aspects of their lives. But this might not help them gain control over assets and decision-making if the intervention does not follow an explicit transformative approach that recognises and challenges women’s unpaid workload and responsibilities.”

6. Promoting gender equality must be an explicit goal at the start of any project.
If not, "the design and implementation of activities might not only ignore differences between men and women’s vulnerabilities and capacities, but projects might also maintain the status quo and perpetuate gender inequalities. Projects need to adopt gender-based targets for participation and set up objectives that aim to transform gender relations from the beginning, so that they monitor and evaluate performance adequately.” For example, in the India case study, men and women were involved in all city-level consultative meetings, but the representation of women was much lower than that of men. This is because women’s participation was not explicitly sought and because very few women hold decision-making roles in either public or private institutions or in technical disciplines related to the project. As a result, gender dimensions were neither captured in any project documents nor debated at the city government level.

7. When projects don’t use a gender approach, participatory processes can still "save the day".
In the absence of an explicit gender-based approach, the involvement of team members with gender expertise can, even in an unplanned manner, lead to successful – if limited – outcomes in terms of gender equality. Facilitating interactions between men and women can also serve to raise men’s awareness about and appreciation of the challenges faced by the other sex: a vital element of any initiative that intends to address gender inequality.

8. The drivers for gender-sensitive climate compatible development are: commitment, policy, and skills.
The research identified the following main drivers for moving towards gender-sensitive policies and practices: 1) Existence of a favourable policy environment together with an appropriate institutional and legal framework at the national level; 2) Participatory programme design processes at the local level; 3) Committed and competent staff or volunteers in organisations to implement gender-sensitive activities and the existence of a dedicated focal point for gender issues, who can ensure that activities are inclusive. In addition, an entrepreneurship approach can be effective in combining efforts to preserve the environment and reduce the effects of climate change, while contributing to the economic empowerment of urban dwellers, including women and youth.

9. Still a long way to go: Multiple obstacles prevent initiatives from transforming power relations.
There are many political and institutional, economic, and cultural obstacles that prevent transformative climate compatible development from occurring. Some of the conditions and norms that hinder progress towards gender-sensitive climate compatible development are:

• Cultural - Issues include cultural norms and attitudes that treat women as second class citizens and restrict their mobility and autonomy. Also, in societies where patriarchal structures are strong, it is more difficult to explore gender issues and to convince local stakeholders and communities of the importance and relevance of gender, especially on a relatively new issue like climate change.
• Political and Institutional - Issues include lack of political will to address gender inequalities or allocate resources to develop capacities of marginalised groups to become more self-reliant and resilient; lack of equal participation in the political arena and lack of understanding of political and decision-making processes among marginalised groups; and lack of awareness, understanding, and competencies among authorities to address inequalities or develop gender-sensitive climate-compatible development policies and plans.
• Economic - For example, cities that receive high numbers of rural migrants, such as the capitals of states or provinces, lack the resources to address climate compatible development and gender problems.

10. Monitoring and evaluation of gender outcomes is vital to promote gender equality.
“So far, there are mostly inadequate tools for monitoring and evaluating gender and climate compatible development interventions. Moreover, the lack of explicit objectives, outcomes, and indicators on gender equality means that most current standard monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems do not reflect social changes. This not only reduces the availability of information on what initiatives achieved (or did not), but also makes it impossible to follow up on any potential positive climate compatible development gender equality outcomes, address negatives ones and limits any efforts to advocate for greater equality.”

The report concludes that "the crises brought about by a changing climate can, at times, be an opportunity to challenge the unjust status quo and promote gender equality. But this requires simultaneous action on all levels, and for those working in favour of gender-sensitive climate compatible development to link up efforts on the private, local, national, and global levels."