Bridging Gaps: Empowering India's Women in Climate Resilience

The report by Chase India highlights India's fragmented approach to gender-responsive climate finance. It calls for coordinated strategies to empower women as leaders in climate resilience. Recommendations include exclusive funds for women-led initiatives, enhancing financial literacy, and integrating gender-specific challenges into climate policies.

A new report by Chase India, supported by Global Counsel, has revealed significant gaps in India's gender-responsive climate finance strategy. Despite progress in gender-focused policies, the report underscores the need for cohesive frameworks to make women pivotal in climate resilience efforts.

Presented at the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, the report emphasizes the fragmented impact of current women-focused climate policies. It highlights the disconnection between various ministries and their standalone efforts. For example, India's draft National Policy for Women 2016 independently prioritizes gender issues during climate-induced distress.

The report advocates for dedicated climate finance funds targeting women-led initiatives and suggests financial literacy programs at the grassroots level. It calls for gender assessments in policy planning and fiscal incentives for gender-inclusive practices to bridge financial gaps and promote women’s leadership in climate resilience.

(With inputs from agencies.)