Women often face greater risks from climate change than men due to differences in their vulnerabilities and exposures to environmental and occupational hazards, structural gender inequalities as well as socio-economic and cultural factors.
This policy paper focuses on the role of green policies, finance and infrastructure in supporting women’s empowerment. It presents channels and gaps in the gender-environment nexus and considerations for mainstreaming gender in environmental policy. It also analyses the extent to which gender-related considerations are integrated in green and sustainable finance and provides recommendations to foster synergies between gender and environmental goals in finance.
The paper concludes by examining gender gaps in infrastructure planning and implementation, the role of gender-inclusive green infrastructure in the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as challenges and recommendations for mainstreaming gender across the different stages of the infrastructure investment project cycle.