What does gender have to do with adaptation planning? 4 things I learnt at Asia Pacific Regional Climate Week.

Did you know that female land ownership rates in Asia are generally low, and that only 13% and 9% of landholders in India and Indonesia respectively are women? Or that gendered social norms in Nepal can prevent women from having their voices heard during community discussions on climate adaptation?

Across the world, including in the Asia Pacific region, women’s unequal access to resources and decision-making processes can increase their vulnerability to climate impacts, making it harder to adapt or respond in the face of extreme weather and climate change. Women are not inherently more vulnerable to climate impacts than men, but entrenched inequalities and sociocultural norms mean that women may have less of a say in decisions or fewer resources to draw on during times of crisis.

This is why countries, when committing to the Paris Agreement, agreed that gender equality should be an important consideration in adaptation action. And this is also why at Asia Pacific Regional Climate Week in July, the UK - as incoming COP26 Presidency - brought together experts and policy makers from across the Asia Pacific region to address this challenge. 

Panellists spoke in particular about how to integrate gender into National Adaptation Plans or NAPs (the process by which countries set out how they will prepare for and adjust to both the current effects of climate change and its predicted future impacts). Here are the top four things I learnt during the event:

1. Progress is being made but opportunities exist for further integration. Angie Dazé, International Institute for Sustainable Development’s (IISD) Gender Equality lead noted that NAPs are increasingly referencing gender in a meaningful way, moving beyond characterisation of women as a vulnerable group, and instead recognising their position as a key stakeholder group. Fiji and Kiribati were highlighted as particularly strong examples in the-Asia Pacific region. More countries are undertaking targeted gender analyses to support NAP processes, and others are collecting or using sex-disaggregated data. However, it was emphasised that more progress is needed to support vertical integration, to develop inclusive mechanisms for ongoing stakeholder engagement, and enhance synergies between policy makers working on adaptation and on gender.
2. Gender analysis and stock-taking exercises are important first steps. An intersectional gender analysis can help to identify the local challenges that contribute to inequality. Many layers of marginalisation, not just gender, can contribute to inequality. Dilriuba Akter, an Assistant Director in the Government of Bangladesh, spoke about her experience working to integrate gender into national adaptation planning, emphasising the value of a bottom-up approach and stocktaking processes.
3. Getting inclusive and participatory adaptation planning right means ensuring that underrepresented voices can participate in all parts of the NAP process. In many cases, this may require additional resources and capacity building. It also means looking beyond the national and bringing in subnational and local perspectives, as pointed out by Vositha Wijenayake of the SLYCAN Trust. Putthy San talked about ActionAid Cambodia’s “Women’s Champion’s” Network which is empowering local women leaders to ensure their voices are heard in community and government level decision making on adaptation and resilience. 
4. There is value in learning from past experience. Vositha Wijenayake noted the importance of tracking progress and sharing information about what went wrong and what can be improved as the NAP process continues. Continuous assessment of who is and isn’t benefiting from adaptation actions may help countries decide how to adjust their approach.

Ahead of COP26 in November, the incoming UK Presidency is encouraging all countries to come forwards with an inclusive Adaptation Communication, and a NAP if this is already in progress. As per the Paris Agreement we encourage Parties to consider how to meaningfully incorporate gender-responsive adaptation action, traditional knowledge, knowledge of indigenous peoples and local knowledge systems, and support for other marginalised groups, through these processes. 

Addressing gender equality as part of climate action is also reinforced by the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan (GAP), agreed at COP25.  The UK is fully committed to implementing the Gender Action Plan through our domestic and international climate policies, action and finance. We are using our presidency platform to strongly encourage other parties to do the same, and will use Gender Day at COP26 to drive forward progress on this.

We are very grateful to those of you who joined the session to share experiences and expertise: Judith Herbertson, Development Director at the FCDO in Bangladesh, who facilitated the discussion; Angie Dazé, Senior Policy Advisor and Gender Equality Lead at the International Institute for Sustainable Development; Dilruba Akter, Assistant Director of Climate Change, Department of Environment, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in Bangladesh; Vositha Wijenayake, Executive Director and Director Adaptation and Resilience Programme, Sri Lankan Youth Climate Action Network (SLYCAN) Trust; and, Putthy San, Disaster Risk Reduction & Climate Change Team Leader, ActionAid Cambodia. 

You can find a full recording of the event here.