Climate finance and gender in the ground: Insights from mitigation and adaptation interventions in Indonesia

Abstract

Key messages Financial mechanisms and climate change-related interventions should prioritize activities that are locally adapted and accessible for both genders, considering the different roles and constraints of each gender. Ministries responsible for climate action require a specifically tagged budget to enable interventions to be gender-responsive. The gender-specific indicators provided in this study can support ministries responsible for delivering climate action to include gender within the Indonesian KRISNA (‘Collaborative Planning and Budget Performance Information’) budget system. On-the-ground interventions need to acknowledge the necessity of integrating women and the poor as vital allies in achieving climate change adaptation and mitigation objectives – from the design phase through all stages of implementation – and translate this into pro-poor and gender-responsive strategic planning and operational guidance. Building the institutional capacities of stakeholders is required at all levels so that plans and actions can be synergized, and different finance sources can be combined to ensure positive gender and pro poor outcomes and the long-term sustainability of finance mechanisms. Gender-responsive budgeting needs to include gender variables in monitoring at all levels: this includes indicators for immediate and intermediate results that act as stepping stones in changing longer-term gender relations, therefore contributing to gender transformational change. Indicators need to go beyond the usual economic assessments, to look at the social factors related to decisionmaking processes, agenda setting, the representation of women in institutions, their access to assets and markets, and capacity building.