RESEARCH SYNTHESIS BRIEF Gender, development and sustainability – 2017 update

The document argues that gender inequality and unequal power relations frequently exclude women from environmental decision-making and the benefits of development programmes. It emphasizes that gender intersects with other vulnerabilities, such as disability and class, and calls for the integration of disaggregated gender data into technical models and climate finance to ensure equitable outcomes in the energy transition and natural resource management.

• Unequal power relations and stereotypes continue to marginalize women in environmental decision-making, even when gender mainstreaming is attempted. In Cambodia and Vietnam, women are underrepresented in stakeholder engagement for environmental impact assessments (EIAs), which limits their influence over decisions regarding landfill sites, village relocations, and dam approvals.
• Gender inequality intersects with other social diversities, such as age, ethnicity, and disability. For instance, people with disabilities are four times more likely to die during disasters than those without, and disabled women and girls face higher risks due to unsafe shelters and displacement.
• In Central Vietnam, research in Ky Nam commune demonstrates that access to credit, forest land, and water is influenced by a combination of gender, age, class, and household headship, with female heads of households being more likely to be marginalized.
• Women are central to the energy transition in sub-Saharan Africa, where two-thirds of the population uses traditional biomass for cooking. Recognizing women's roles in modernizing energy systems and establishing small businesses for energy services can drive inclusive economic growth and poverty eradication.
• The transition to a green economy faces gender-based barriers, including employment norms and pay gaps. In Estonia's bioeconomy, the gender pay gap is particularly wide in the agriculture sector, and men continue to dominate the agriculture and forestry sectors despite more women completing related degrees.
• There is a critical lack of gender-disaggregated data and expertise in technical modelling for water and energy systems. SEI is developing guidance to mainstream gender and social equity into tools like LEAP (Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning) and WEAP (Water Evaluation and Planning) to address these gaps.
• Climate finance design often suffers from gender 'blindness'. SEI is conducting a pilot study in Lao PDR to track funding allocated to gender and social equity in climate projects to highlight unrecognized patterns in how climate finance is expended.

APA

Biskupska, N., Aung, M. T., Resurrección, B. P., & Davis, M. (2017). RESEARCH SYNTHESIS BRIEF Gender, development and sustainability – 2017 update. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-RSB-2017-Gender-development-sustainability.pdf

Chicago

Biskupska, Natalia, May Thazin Aung, Bernadette P. Resurrección, and Marion Davis. RESEARCH SYNTHESIS BRIEF Gender, development and sustainability – 2017 update. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2017. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-RSB-2017-Gender-development-sustainability.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Biskupska |first1=Natalia |last2=Aung |first2=May Thazin |last3=Resurrección |first3=Bernadette P. |last4=Davis |first4=Marion |title=RESEARCH SYNTHESIS BRIEF Gender, development and sustainability – 2017 update |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=2017 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-RSB-2017-Gender-development-sustainability.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{biskupska2017research, author = {Biskupska, Natalia and Aung, May Thazin and Resurrección, Bernadette P. and Davis, Marion}, title = {{RESEARCH SYNTHESIS BRIEF Gender, development and sustainability – 2017 update}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2017}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-RSB-2017-Gender-development-sustainability.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }