Evidencing the Gendered Dimensions of Climate Insecurity to Enhance Climate Change Adaptation

The document examines how climate change acts as a 'threat multiplier' that exacerbates gender-based violence (GBV) by interacting with existing structural vulnerabilities and gender power dynamics. It highlights that women and gender minorities face distinct risks due to their specific labor roles, such as water collection and farming, and limited access to resources. While review articles show an increase in GBV following extreme weather events, the author notes a lack of robust quantitative data and a significant knowledge gap regarding sexual and gender minorities. The brief calls for governments to translate UN Women, Peace and Security (WPS) commitments into action through gender-sensitive disaster relief and the inclusion of marginalized groups in adaptation planning.

• Climate change increases the risk of conflict and violence by intensifying existing political tensions, grievances, and structural vulnerabilities, effectively serving as a 'threat multiplier'.
• Gender-based violence (GBV) during or after extreme weather events is often driven by factors such as food insecurity, economic instability, mental stress, disrupted infrastructure, and increased exposure to men outside a woman's own community.
• Specific labor tasks performed by women, particularly water collection and farming in low-income societies, increase their susceptibility to GBV and displacement under climate-induced insecurity.
• There is a critical lack of research on how climate change affects sexual and gender minorities, with only one identified paper on the subject of extreme weather and this group.
• Current research on the climate-GBV nexus is limited by a reliance on qualitative, self-reported data, creating a need for robust quantitative studies and new data collection to establish causal links.
• USAID estimates identify Somalia, Yemen, South Sudan, and Afghanistan as the countries with the highest risk scores regarding the nexus of gender and climate insecurity.
• While some UN Member States have included climate change in their National Action Plans (NAPs) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS)—including Norway, Finland, and the United States—the translation of these commitments into material changes remains uncertain.

APA

Koning, J. (2024). Evidencing the Gendered Dimensions of Climate Insecurity to Enhance Climate Change Adaptation. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/74e3f187-eed3-4175-9220-c08177ae563d/GPS Policy Brief 02-2024.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Koning, Jens. Evidencing the Gendered Dimensions of Climate Insecurity to Enhance Climate Change Adaptation. Peace Research Institute Oslo, 2024. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/74e3f187-eed3-4175-9220-c08177ae563d/GPS Policy Brief 02-2024.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Koning |first1=Jens |title=Evidencing the Gendered Dimensions of Climate Insecurity to Enhance Climate Change Adaptation |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |date=2024 |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/74e3f187-eed3-4175-9220-c08177ae563d/GPS Policy Brief 02-2024.pdf?inline=true |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{koning2024evidencing, author = {Koning, Jens}, title = {{Evidencing the Gendered Dimensions of Climate Insecurity to Enhance Climate Change Adaptation}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {2024}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/74e3f187-eed3-4175-9220-c08177ae563d/GPS Policy Brief 02-2024.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }