Supporting climate action through gender-responsive budgeting in Nepal

The document argues that while Nepal has established national frameworks for gender-responsive budgeting since 2007, these have not effectively translated to local levels due to technical knowledge gaps, patriarchal social norms, and a lack of integration between gender and climate budget codes. It highlights that women, particularly in agriculture, are disproportionately affected by climate change and that gender-responsive investments are necessary to improve their adaptive capacity. The brief recommends capacity building for local leaders, improved financial literacy for women, and the alignment of climate and gender budget monitoring systems to ensure equitable outcomes.

• Nepal introduced gender-responsive budgeting in 2007 and established ministerial committees, but integrating these perspectives into local budgeting remains a significant challenge.
• Gender inequalities, specifically regarding land ownership, hinder women's climate resilience; 2011 census data indicates only 19.7% of households included women who owned land or property.
• There is a critical lack of alignment between the gender-responsive budget code and the climate budget code (introduced in 2013), meaning there is no evidence that gender budgeting is currently used to improve women's climate resilience.
• Local government leadership remains heavily male-dominated, with women holding only 2% of positions such as mayors or chairpersons of urban and rural municipalities.
• Budget monitoring in Nepal focuses on allocation rather than expenditure or impact, leaving gender commitments without evidence of equitable outcomes.
• Evidence suggests that combining climate budgets with gender-responsive budgets is more effective for introducing climate-smart agricultural technologies to women than using climate budgets alone.

APA

Sandal, G., & Sadhukhan, B. (2021). Supporting climate action through gender-responsive budgeting in Nepal. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Mainstreaming-Gender-Responsive-Budgeting_25Mar2021.pdf

Chicago

Sandal, Geeta, and Bedoshruti Sadhukhan. Supporting climate action through gender-responsive budgeting in Nepal. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2021. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Mainstreaming-Gender-Responsive-Budgeting_25Mar2021.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sandal |first1=Geeta |last2=Sadhukhan |first2=Bedoshruti |title=Supporting climate action through gender-responsive budgeting in Nepal |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=March 2021 |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Mainstreaming-Gender-Responsive-Budgeting_25Mar2021.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sandal2021supporting, author = {Sandal, Geeta and Sadhukhan, Bedoshruti}, title = {{Supporting climate action through gender-responsive budgeting in Nepal}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2021}, month = mar, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Mainstreaming-Gender-Responsive-Budgeting_25Mar2021.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }