Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) for Reducing Community Vulnerability to Climate Change in Northern Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS)

The document assesses gender dynamics, legal frameworks, and socioeconomic baselines in Palau, FSM, and RMI to ensure that ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) interventions are gender-responsive. It identifies significant gaps in sex-disaggregated data and highlights high rates of gender-based violence across the region. The report proposes a Small Grants Facility (SGF) with specific gender screening tools and quotas to ensure women's equitable access to finance, decision-making, and technical training. It emphasizes the value of traditional knowledge held by women in managing coastal and terrestrial resources to build climate resilience.

• There are significant gaps in available gender-disaggregated data across the target countries, with no figures available for the Gender Inequality Index (GII) or Gender Development Index (GDI) for Palau, FSM, and RMI.
• Gender-based violence (GBV) is prevalent in all three nations: 51% of women in the Republic of the Marshall Islands experience domestic violence, 32.8% of ever-partnered women in FSM have experienced physical or sexual partner violence, and 23% of women in Palau have experienced physical partner violence.
• Land tenure systems vary by country, with matrilineal traditions remaining strong in the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Palau, while in the Federated States of Micronesia, it varies by state, such as women owning all lineage resources in Chuuk but inheritance predominantly going to men in Pohnpei.
• Women and men hold distinct roles in ecosystem services: in the fisheries sector, men comprise approximately 85% of the harvesting workforce, while women perform 90% of the processing work.
• Women in the Northern Pacific possess critical traditional knowledge for climate adaptation, such as using traditional wells in Pohnpei during droughts and planting mangroves and Pandanus in the Marshall Islands to prevent coastal erosion.
• The programme will implement a gender-responsive approach for its Small Grants Facility (SGF) based on three elements: recognizing differences in adaptation needs, ensuring equitable participation in decision-making, and providing equitable access to finance and benefits.
• To mitigate risks of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH) and GBV, the programme will establish a robust grievance and redress mechanism and provide women-only training opportunities to reduce disenfranchisement in the workplace.
• Educational attainment gaps are pronounced in FSM, where the proportion of men with bachelor's degrees (5.3%) is roughly double that of women (2.8%), whereas Palau and RMI show little to no gender gap in primary and secondary enrollment.

APA

Green Climate Fund (2023). Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) for Reducing Community Vulnerability to Climate Change in Northern Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS). https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/sap029-gender-assessment.pdf

Chicago

Green Climate Fund. Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) for Reducing Community Vulnerability to Climate Change in Northern Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS). 2023. https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/sap029-gender-assessment.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Green Climate Fund |title=Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) for Reducing Community Vulnerability to Climate Change in Northern Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS) |date=13 July 2023 |url=https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/sap029-gender-assessment.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greenclimatefund2023ecosystembased, author = {{Green Climate Fund}}, title = {{Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) for Reducing Community Vulnerability to Climate Change in Northern Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS)}}, institution = {Green Climate Fund}, year = {2023}, month = jul, url = {https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/sap029-gender-assessment.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }