Nature-Based Infrastructure: A powerful tool for women's empowerment in climate adaptation

The briefing examines how nature-based infrastructure (NBI) can provide equitable benefits for women, who are disproportionately affected by climate change. It highlights that while women often face barriers to accessing natural resources due to social norms and land tenure systems, NBI projects—such as mangrove restoration in Senegal or agroforestry in Belgium—can protect livelihoods and improve public health. The author emphasizes that integrating gender-responsive approaches and capacity-building strategies is essential for making climate adaptation more effective and sustainable. To support this, the IISD's NBI Global Resource Centre aims to incorporate gender-disaggregated data and specific gender-related questions into the valuation of NBI projects to ensure inclusive benefits.

• Women in the Global South are disproportionately burdened by climate change because they rely heavily on natural resources for livelihoods, particularly in rural areas where they are responsible for food, water, and firewood collection. This increased labor intensity limits their opportunities for education, training, and income generation.
• Social and systemic barriers, including traditional norms, land tenure systems, and lack of capital, restrict women's access to and control over the land, forests, and fisheries they depend on, and lead to their underrepresentation in environmental decision-making.
• Nature-based infrastructure (NBI) can provide tangible benefits for women and communities, such as improving public health through clean water and nutrition, reducing the time and risks associated with water collection, and increasing crop yields through agroforestry.
• The Saloum Delta in Senegal serves as a key example of NBI value; this tropical mangrove ecosystem supports over 100,000 people and its ecosystem services are valued at CFA 3.589 billion (EUR 5.47 billion) over 40 years using the Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) methodology.
• To ensure equitable benefits, the NBI Global Resource Centre will integrate gender-responsive valuations by using gender-disaggregated data and analyzing local roles, specific risks faced by women and girls, and equality of access to training.

APA

Bechauf, R. (2021). Nature-Based Infrastructure: A powerful tool for women's empowerment in climate adaptation. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-09/nature-based-infrastructure-women-empowerment-climate-adaptation.pdf

Chicago

Bechauf, Ronja. Nature-Based Infrastructure: A powerful tool for women's empowerment in climate adaptation. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2021. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-09/nature-based-infrastructure-women-empowerment-climate-adaptation.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bechauf |first1=Ronja |title=Nature-Based Infrastructure: A powerful tool for women's empowerment in climate adaptation |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=September 2021 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-09/nature-based-infrastructure-women-empowerment-climate-adaptation.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bechauf2021naturebased, author = {Bechauf, Ronja}, title = {{Nature-Based Infrastructure: A powerful tool for women's empowerment in climate adaptation}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-09/nature-based-infrastructure-women-empowerment-climate-adaptation.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }