Accounting for gender in climate policy advice: adapting a gender impact assessment tool to issues of climate change

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article discusses how gender impact assessment (GIA) can be adapted and utilised to better include gender aspects in climate policy advice. The article explains the re-modelling of the equality governance tool gender impact assessment in the context of climate change and adaptation policies, programmes and projects on behalf of the German Environment Agency. While the focus of the tool remains on women and men, it operates with an intersectional and non-binary gender+ concept and understanding of sex and gender relations. The main novelties of the tool are its evidence-based educational elements and that it encompasses seven gender dimensions addressing the main areas of life that play critical roles in producing and reproducing gender disparities. This allows for the identification of how climate policies interact with gender relations and can make substantial contributions to gender equality, as well as of areas in which addressing gender issues could render climate policies more effective. Drawing on the case of the GIA tool in Germany, we argue that core insights gained during the tool development and testing can be applied to gender mainstreaming strategies of climate policies and interventions in other jurisdictions, as well as holding potential for adoption in other policy domains.