EMPOWERING WOMEN IN JUST TRANSITIONS

The GLOW programme identifies four primary routes for simultaneous women's empowerment and climate action: improving existing activities, enabling entry into male-dominated sectors, consolidating low-carbon business models, and accessing new green technologies. Key findings emphasize that climate action must be rights-based and locally appropriate, as social norms significantly shape women's ability to adopt new practices. The report argues that women's leadership in decision-making and access to productive assets are essential for the effectiveness and sustainability of just transitions. It recommends integrating gender-responsive budgeting, strengthening the gender capacity of local government personnel, and promoting technologies that reduce the drudgery of unpaid care work.

• The GLOW programme identified four main routes to combine women's economic empowerment with climate mitigation and adaptation: making existing activities more productive and climate-smart; helping women enter traditionally male-dominated activities; supporting the consolidation of existing low-carbon business models; and enabling access to entirely new low-carbon jobs, such as those in the biocircular economy.
• Climate action must be rights-based and tailored to local contexts because social norms—including age, marital status, ethnicity, and caste—dictate women's mobility and their ability to access information, skills, and new jobs.
• Women's active involvement in the design and decision-making of climate initiatives is a pragmatic necessity for success, as they provide unique perspectives on production, logistics, and marketing that improve the overall effectiveness and sustainability of these projects.
• Emergent low-carbon technologies, such as aquaponics, hydroponics, and black soldier fly farming, can lower barriers to entry for women because they often require smaller land footprints and lower upfront capital than conventional production systems.
• There is a significant gap between national gender equality laws and their local implementation; for example, in Nepal, progressive constitutional provisions are often not translated into practice due to gaps in regulatory instruments, budgeting, and institutional mechanisms.
• Collective action through women's unions and associations is an effective strategy for securing productive assets and market access, as demonstrated in Guinea where a union of women market gardeners acquired land and accessed solar irrigation equipment.
• The report highlights the importance of addressing unpaid care work as part of climate action, suggesting that low-carbon technologies like solar-powered irrigation can reduce the physical drudgery of women's work and free up time for other income-generating activities.
• Climate finance remains largely gender-blind; a stocktaking report cited in the document found that 78% of climate transactions are 'not even gender aware', with only 5% being 'intentionally gender-focused'.

APA

Climate and Development Knowledge Network (2024). EMPOWERING WOMEN IN JUST TRANSITIONS. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2024-12/WEB-SSN-GLOW-Report-English.pdf

Chicago

Climate and Development Knowledge Network. EMPOWERING WOMEN IN JUST TRANSITIONS. 2024. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2024-12/WEB-SSN-GLOW-Report-English.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |title=EMPOWERING WOMEN IN JUST TRANSITIONS |date=2024 |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2024-12/WEB-SSN-GLOW-Report-English.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateanddevelopmentknowledgenetwork2024empowering, author = {{Climate and Development Knowledge Network}}, title = {{EMPOWERING WOMEN IN JUST TRANSITIONS}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2024}, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2024-12/WEB-SSN-GLOW-Report-English.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }