Taking Gender Mainstreaming Seriously in Climate Finance

This policy brief examines the integration of gender mainstreaming within climate finance, arguing that current efforts are often superficial and fail to address the root causes of gender inequality. It specifically highlights the role of public development banks (PDBs) as key vehicles for shifting financial flows toward gender-transformative climate action, recommending a move beyond 'women-focused' strategies toward a comprehensive approach that engages all genders to dismantle systemic power imbalances.

• Climate change impacts are differentiated by gender, with women and girls—particularly in the Global South—often facing higher risks, including increased vulnerability to gender-based violence, human trafficking, and child forced marriages. However, men and boys also face unique vulnerabilities and expectations regarding manhood that limit their options, though these are rarely documented, leaving the full interaction between gender and climate change incomplete.
• Gender mainstreaming in climate finance is intended to ensure that the experiences of all people, regardless of gender, are integrated into the design, implementation, and evaluation of policies to achieve gender equality. Effective mainstreaming requires a gender analysis to inform climate budgets and resource mobilisation; without it, climate finance may either alleviate or intensify existing inequalities.
• Despite international commitments and UNFCCC decisions—such as the 2016 Green Climate Fund gender policy and the 2017 Adaptation Fund Gender Policy—climate finance has a poor record of considering gender. Most climate finance remains 'gender neutral,' and there is a lack of enforcement mechanisms to ensure that gender equality priorities receive predictable funding.
• Several barriers hinder the integration of gender into climate financing, including a lack of technical capacity among experts, a misunderstanding of 'gender' among policymakers, and political resistance from those who fear that focusing on gender will detract from the goal of increasing overall financing amounts.
• Public development banks (PDBs) have a significant opportunity to lead gender-equitable climate finance, as evidenced by the 2020 Paris Development Banks’ Statement on Gender Equality and Women Empowerment. However, many PDBs currently use flawed operational frameworks that conflate 'gender' with 'women,' resulting in women-focused strategies rather than true gender mainstreaming.
• To be effective, PDBs must adopt a 'gender-transformative' approach that goes beyond treating symptoms to tackle the root causes of inequality, such as power imbalances and social norms. Recommendations include training staff on the gender-climate nexus, establishing gender units for accountability, and applying transformational mainstreaming to resource mobilisation and financial deployment.

APA

Babugura, A. A., Duran, C. V., Acosta, M., & Ferraz, J. (2023). Taking Gender Mainstreaming Seriously in Climate Finance. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SAIIA_PB_270_TakingGenderMainstreaming.pdf

Chicago

Babugura, Agnes A, Camila Villard Duran, Mariola Acosta, and Júlia Ferraz. Taking Gender Mainstreaming Seriously in Climate Finance. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2023. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SAIIA_PB_270_TakingGenderMainstreaming.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Babugura |first1=Agnes A |last2=Duran |first2=Camila Villard |last3=Acosta |first3=Mariola |last4=Ferraz |first4=Júlia |title=Taking Gender Mainstreaming Seriously in Climate Finance |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=June 2023 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SAIIA_PB_270_TakingGenderMainstreaming.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{babugura2023taking, author = {Babugura, Agnes A and Duran, Camila Villard and Acosta, Mariola and Ferraz, Júlia}, title = {{Taking Gender Mainstreaming Seriously in Climate Finance}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2023}, month = jun, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SAIIA_PB_270_TakingGenderMainstreaming.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }