Understanding the Gender-Climate Nexus

Mar 11, 2024 | Understanding the gender-climate nexus
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The ongoing global discourse regarding climate change emphasises the need to address the disproportionate impact of climate change on women and the necessity of involving them in climate action to achieve success.

Pakistan is one of the countries experiencing the most severe climate change consequences, costing the economy $38 billion annually. Additionally, the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index highlights Pakistan’s position among the countries with the most significant gender gaps. The gender-climate nexus presents an opportunity to address both areas.

Pakistan acknowledged the nexus between gender and the environment in its National Conservation Strategy, adopted in 1992. This was followed by the National Climate Change Policy, adopted in 2021, whose goal is to ‘ensure that climate change is mainstreamed in the economically and socially vulnerable sectors of the economy, and to steer Pakistan towards climate compatible development’. Using this as a basis, the Climate Change Gender Action Plan (2022) identifies key steps that underlie the need to incorporate a role for women in the decision-making process.