Search Climate Insights Directory

This Request for Proposal (RFP), issued by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) on 21 December 2021, seeks a qualified firm to design and build a website for the Gender Equality in a Low Carbon World (GLOW) programme. The project involves a planning phase in early 2022, development in March-April, and subsequent deployment. The website is intended to showcase action research on gender barriers to economic opportunities and sustainable climate-resilient recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The document examines the expansion of transnational corporations (TNCs) in Latin America and the Caribbean, specifically within the energy and agriculture sectors. It argues that neoliberal reforms, free trade agreements, and the dismantling of state institutions have enabled TNCs to control territories, leading to widespread dispossession, environmental degradation, and human rights violations. The report highlights a systemic pattern of anti-democratic governance and a specific, severe impact on women's rights and land tenure. It concludes by proposing strategies for resistance, including the promotion of food sovereignty, agroecology, and the establishment of a UN Binding Treaty on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations.

The report examines how technological advancements in Burkina Faso's mining sector—ranging from automated machinery in industrial mines to mechanical crushers in artisanal sites—threaten traditional employment, particularly for low-skilled workers and women. It highlights that while industrial companies often downplay these shifts, automation in excavation, topography, and administration is reducing the need for human labor. In the artisanal sector, the introduction of centrifuges and crushers is displacing women's traditional roles in ore processing. The document recommends enhancing transparency in technology adoption, investing in local skill development, and promoting 'local content' strategies to mitigate job losses and ensure sustainable economic benefits for local communities.

The report examines how voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) can support poverty reduction for smallholder farmers across three dimensions: access to resources, opportunities and choices, and power and voice. Through an analysis of 13 major VSSs and interviews in six countries, it finds that while VSSs can improve crop income, natural resource management, and skills development, their overall impact on poverty is inconclusive and context-specific. Significant barriers to smallholder access include high certification costs, limited financial resources, and asymmetrical power relations in supply chains. The report recommends that VSSs better integrate gender equality, support business diversification, and harmonize standards, while urging governments to provide better land tenure and financial support to enable smallholder compliance.

The Local2030 Coalition is a UN-anchored platform aimed at bridging the gap between global SDG targets and local implementation. Based on a global baseline study, the coalition identifies critical gaps in advocacy, action, and monitoring. Its strategy focuses on empowering local actors, fostering multi-stakeholder partnerships, and leveraging UN expertise to ensure a green and inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The coalition is co-chaired by UN-Habitat and other rotating UN entities, with a focus on providing a convening space for knowledge sharing, policy alignment, and improved access to SDG financing.

The document details the priorities for the second week of COP26, highlighting the critical role of nature-based solutions, the need for a functional Enhanced Transparency Framework, and the funding gap for adaptation and loss and damage. It emphasizes the necessity of integrating science and gender equity into climate action, the decarbonization of the built environment and transport sectors, and the urgent need for tangible financial commitments and representation for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and Indigenous peoples.

The document outlines a framework for integrating gender equality into climate finance projects, emphasizing the need for local expertise, robust baseline data, and continuity between project design and implementation. It provides specific recommendations for project teams and climate funds, supported by case studies from various sectors and regions.

The report analyzes the evolution of gender-related provisions in trade agreements, categorizing them into five types: reaffirmation of commitments, avoidance of adverse effects, preservation of the state's right to regulate, promotion of women's economic empowerment, and cooperation mechanisms. It highlights a shift toward dedicated 'trade and gender' chapters in recent agreements, such as those involving Canada and Chile, though it notes these often lack enforceable targets or budgets. The author argues that current provisions are frequently 'gender-blind' or overly focused on women as formal workers, neglecting their roles as consumers, carers, and rights holders. To improve policy, the report advocates for ex ante gender impact assessments—citing Canada's GBA+ and the UNCTAD Trade and Gender Toolbox—and ex post monitoring to generate sex-disaggregated data. It concludes that for trade to be inclusive, gender mainstreaming must move beyond symbolic cooperation toward a holistic approach grounded in human rights frameworks like CEDAW.

The report finds that while Swedish development practitioners value research, they struggle to find and implement it due to time constraints and a communication mismatch with researchers. It recommends bridging this gap through co-creation, better communication formats, and institutionalized networks.

The document outlines the Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) model, a holistic approach to securing long-term ecological, social, political, organizational, and financial sustainability for conservation areas. It details a five-phase process—identification, evaluation, preparation, design, and implementation—and emphasizes the need for a shared vision, a robust financial model, and independent fund management. The guide provides specific case studies from the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Program, including ARPA for Life in Brazil, Herencia Colombia, and Patrimonio Natural del Perú, illustrating how these frameworks are applied to protect millions of hectares of biodiversity.

The document establishes a direct link between gender-based development pillars—specifically secondary education for girls and access to modern contraception—and the capacity of vulnerable populations to adapt to climate change. It highlights that women in low- and middle-income countries face disproportionate climate impacts, which often trigger a cycle of early marriage and school dropout. The brief provides evidence that education reduces disaster vulnerability and that family planning improves maternal and child health, thereby increasing household resilience. It concludes that these strategies are largely absent from National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and calls for their integration into climate finance and policy frameworks.

The document identifies girls' education and family planning as critical, yet overlooked, long-term strategies for climate adaptation. It details how these interventions reduce vulnerability to natural disasters, improve agricultural productivity, and enhance overall community resilience. The authors call for these components to be formally included in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), supported by dedicated climate finance.

The report examines how gender norms and power dynamics influence vulnerability and adaptive capacity in the ocean economy of SIDS and coastal LDCs. It highlights the undervalued roles of women in small-scale fisheries and tourism and analyzes how climate change, market shifts, and COVID-19 disproportionately affect women due to socio-economic structures. The document advocates for the systematic collection of sex-disaggregated data, the implementation of gender-transformative policies, and the alignment of international finance, such as Official Development Assistance (ODA) and climate risk insurance, with gender equality goals to enhance overall community resilience.

The policy brief argues that gender-smart sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) can scale up financing for gender objectives by utilizing multi-KPI structures. It analyzes four different approaches to determining 'trigger events'—the conditions that lead to financial adjustments like coupon step-ups—using examples from Schneider Electric, EQT, H&M, and BlackRock. The authors recommend that issuers avoid structures that allow KPIs to be ignored and instead prefer frameworks requiring the full achievement of all sustainability targets to ensure high ambition and credibility.

The document argues that Zimbabwe exhibits the form but not the substance of constitutionalism, characterized by an overweening Executive that subordinates the Judiciary and Legislature. It details a 'party-military-business coalition' that maintains power through the militarisation of politics, organised violence, and the shrinking of civic space. Economically, the report describes chronic fragility, hyperinflation, and a failing parastatal sector plagued by corporate governance breaches. While the government has introduced anti-corruption strategies and joined the APRM, civil society contends these are often symbolic, noting a persistent 'catch and release' syndrome for high-profile offenders and a lack of genuine political will to align laws with the 2013 Constitution.

The document analyzes how socio-economic vulnerabilities—including gender, age, disability, and minority status—increase the risk and impact of climate-related hazards in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It highlights that disadvantaged groups are more likely to live in hazard-prone areas and lack the resources to adapt. The brief argues for inclusive policymaking and warns that both adaptation and mitigation strategies can lead to 'maladaptation' or detrimental socio-economic effects if not carefully designed to protect the most vulnerable populations.

The report analyzes how multidimensional inequality and poverty in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) intersect with environmental risks and policy. It finds that marginalized groups—including Roma communities, women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities—face disproportionate exposure to pollution and hazards, while social norms limit their access to natural resources. The document argues that environmental policies can either exacerbate these inequalities (e.g., through energy taxes) or mitigate them (e.g., through energy efficiency in social housing). It recommends collecting disaggregated data, increasing the representation of disadvantaged groups in decision-making, and implementing gender-responsive budgeting to ensure a more inclusive and effective environmental strategy.

The document argues that cross-cutting climate projects perform better in impact and efficiency than isolated ones. It recommends using design-thinking processes, joined dashboards for indicators, and economic modelling to identify synergies and manage trade-offs between adaptation and mitigation. Furthermore, it emphasizes the need to align Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) with long-term development strategies to streamline financial flows and mobilize non-environmental stakeholders.

The People-Centered Accelerator (PCA), a partnership of over 45 organizations, calls for an 'energy revolution' to address energy poverty and inefficiency. The statement emphasizes that achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) requires removing systemic barriers, such as limited financing for women, and implementing needs-based energy planning that accounts for gendered energy poverty. The PCA advocates for a just energy transition that is 'gender-responsive, youth-inclusive, locally-led and globally connected,' specifically through the adoption of a multi-stakeholder Gender and Energy Compact.

The South Asia Regional Resilience Dialogue emphasizes the need to reposition local actors, particularly women and youth, as agents of change rather than victims. It identifies systemic barriers such as top-down interventions, limited recognition of women's efforts, and inflexible financial architectures. The document advocates for decentralized finance delivery, the co-creation of knowledge, and the mobilization of diverse funding sources, including private sector investment and microfinance, to ensure climate resources reach the most vulnerable populations.