How do gender approaches improve climate compatible development? Lessons from India

This policy brief examines the integration of gender dimensions into climate compatible development in urban India, focusing on the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) project in Gorakhpur. It argues that urban gender-sensitive approaches must differ from rural ones due to complex social dimensions involving caste, class, and weaker social cohesion. The document highlights how women's active participation as agents of change—rather than mere recipients—significantly improves the sustainability and impact of resilience building, while noting that patriarchal structures continue to hinder gender mainstreaming in national and state policies.

• Gender-sensitive approaches to climate compatible development in Indian cities must be fundamentally different from those in rural areas because urban scenarios are highly complex, involving intersecting social dimensions of caste, gender, and class.
• Urban residents face distinct vulnerabilities compared to rural populations, specifically a higher likelihood of food insecurity, increased risks of waterlogging and flooding due to poor basic services and infrastructure, and weaker social cohesion, which increases the dependency of marginalised people and women on external assistance during crises.
• The ACCCRN project in Gorakhpur demonstrated that women's active participation in resilience planning significantly enhanced the sustainability and impact of the program, leading to better public services, improved committee functioning, greater access to potable water, and the adoption of climate resilient agricultural techniques.
• Project members indicated that without the active participation of women, the outcomes of the ACCCRN project would have been drastically lower, potentially only 10–20% of what was actually achieved.
• Gender mainstreaming is not currently viewed as essential for climate compatible development in India, often due to a belief that gender-based approaches increase the time required to understand issues and develop interventions. Consequently, the push for explicit gender integration often originates from donor organisations rather than local practitioners.
• To improve urban climate resilience, the brief recommends that national and state policy-makers in India fully implement the 74th Constitutional Amendment to mandate community involvement in urban planning and integrate women's perspectives into National and State Action Plans on Climate Change.
• The document suggests that participatory methods from rural settings can be adapted for urban use; for the ACCCRN project, this involved using Participatory Urban Appraisals conducted through several smaller meetings to capture diverse issues.

APA

Sogani, R., Viswanathan, K. R., & Clements, R. (2016). How do gender approaches improve climate compatible development? Lessons from India. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/India-gender-brief-FINAL.pdf

Chicago

Sogani, Reetu, K. R. Viswanathan, and Rebecca Clements. How do gender approaches improve climate compatible development? Lessons from India. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2016. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/India-gender-brief-FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sogani |first1=Reetu |last2=Viswanathan |first2=K. R. |last3=Clements |first3=Rebecca |title=How do gender approaches improve climate compatible development? Lessons from India |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=May 2016 |url=http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/India-gender-brief-FINAL.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sogani2016how, author = {Sogani, Reetu and Viswanathan, K. R. and Clements, Rebecca}, title = {{How do gender approaches improve climate compatible development? Lessons from India}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2016}, month = may, url = {http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/India-gender-brief-FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }