In this paper, we present the results of a rapid review of the literature on gender and coastal climate adaptation. The IPCC's 2019 Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere (SROCC) highlighted some of the major ways in which gender inequality interacts with coastal climate change. However, the report does not consider how gender interacts with adaptation interventions. This review was driven the need to understand these dynamics in more detail as well as deepen the understanding of how coastal climate adaptation affects the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Our analysis is based on a screening of over 1,000 peer-reviewed articles published between 2014 and 2020. The results were strongly populated by natural science publications leading to very low coverage of gender as a social dimension of adaptation. Of the papers reviewed, a mere 2.6% discussed gender and often only in a cursory manner. While the literature surveyed does not allow us to close the gap present in the SROCC in any meaningful way, the results do provide important new insights from the literature that does exist. Of particular note is the fact that adaptation measures may have positive and negative gender outcomes currently invisible under the SDG5 framework. We conclude that there is a need to collect gender-disaggregated data on coastal adaptation efforts and to review SDG5 targets and indicators to ensure that the gender dimensions of climate adaptation are fully captured and accounted for.
Climate change impacts are being felt across sectors in all regions of the world, and adaptation projects are being implemented to reduce climate risks and existing vulnerabilities. Climate adaptation actions also have significant synergies and tradeoffs with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 5 on gender equality. Questions are increasingly being raised about the gendered and climate justice implications of different adaptation options. This paper investigates if reported climate change adaptation actions are contributing to advancing the goal of gender equality (SDG 5) or not. It focuses on linkages between individual targets of SDG 5 and climate change adaptation actions for nine major sectors where transformative climate actions are envisaged. The assessment is based on evidence of adaptation actions documented in 319 relevant research publications published during 2014–2020. Positive links to nine targets under SDG 5 are found in adaptation actions that are consciously designed to advance gender equality. However, in four sectors—ocean and coastal ecosystems; mountain ecosystems; poverty, livelihood, sustainable development; and industrial system transitions, we find more negative links than positive links. For adaptation actions to have positive impacts on gender equality, gender-focused targets must be intentionally brought in at the prioritisation, designing, planning, and implementation stages. An SDG 5+ approach, which takes into consideration intersectionality and gender aspects beyond women alone, can help adaptation actions move towards meeting gender equality and other climate justice goals. This reflexive approach is especially critical now, as we approach the mid-point in the timeline for achieving the SDGs.
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