orests provide essential livelihoods and environmental services. They harbour a disproportionate amount of the world's biodiversity, regulate key aspects of the global carbon cycle and weather patterns, and contribute directly to national incomes and the local livelihoods of millions of people worldwide. Their role in sustainability transitions is re-emphasized by multiple current international sustainability agendas. Forests can be linked to most-if not all-of the Sustainable Development Goals through contributions to ecosystem services, green economic opportunities, and social and environmental justice agendas 1,2. Forests are also essential to the Paris Climate Agreement, 3 the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework 4,5. Further, the Bonn Challenge aims to bring under restoration 350 Mha of degraded lands globally by 2030, and the New York Declaration on Forests identifies 10 specific global forest goals 6. Forests are a key mechanism for mitigating climate change through forest protection, restoration and afforestation 7,8. This prominent attention to forests, especially in human-dominated tropical and subtropical regions, creates a need for a comprehensive policy-oriented research agenda. Research on forests and livelihoods has typically focused on trying to understand how household-or community-level dynamics, including rights to resources and land-use decisions, affect local livelihoods and forests 9. However, new research on forests demonstrates the importance of links between human and natural systems at regional, inter-continental and global scales 10. For example, demand for commodity crops in Europe, North America and emerging economies is driving environmental degradation in the Amazon, Congo Basin and Indonesian peatlands 11. In turn, smoke from forest and peat fires in Indonesia affects human health in Southeast Asian countries 12. Identifying and understanding large-scale processes linked to forests and livelihoods with disproportionate effects on
This review assesses the empirical knowledge base on gender-based differences in access, use and benefits from rural climate services to analyse gender equality challenges and identify pathways for making climate services more responsive to the needs of rural women and men. While existing research is limited, the review identifies key gender-related factors and processes that influence inequalities in access and use. Differential access to group processes and to Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) can significantly limit women's access to weather and climate information. Moreover, socio-cultural norms that define women's and men's labour roles can also influence the resources and decisions under women's and men's control, affecting their differing climate information needs and demand. Ways forward suggested by the literature concern inclusion of women's groups and networks in communication channels and development of ICTs that respond to women's preferences. Furthermore, meeting women's climate information needs and pursuing crosssectoral collaboration will be important to enhance action on climate information. Research opportunities include analyses of the potential for women's and mixed-gender groups to enhance women's access to climate information; evaluation of the communication processes that improve women's understanding of climate information; and further connection with the body of knowledge on intra-household decision-making processes.
In the context of climate change, climate variability has become a major issue in recent years in sub-Saharan countries. Climate information services (CIS) could be a vital resort for African producers to better manage climatic risks. This study aimed to identify CIS needs and analyze the most adapted dissemination channels while also determining factors that influence smallholder access. This was done with a gender lens where 1170 farmers (20% women) were surveyed from 11 regions in Senegal. Two probit regressions were performed. Results revealed that men and women have different needs for CIS, with 95% of women requesting information relating to the onset date of rainy season against 90% for men (p < 5%). Similarly, 46% of women prefer rural radios as a CIS broadcast channel compared to 39% of men (p < 5%). Also, the main factors influencing the access are ethnicity, area of residence, and farmers' perceptions of the utility of CIS. Among women, the native status and the willingness to act against climate change affect the access to CIS. Thus, to facilitate access to CIS for relevant decision-making, it remains important to capacitate farmers and to consider the producers' organizations as platforms for CIS dissemination and trainings.
Emerging global crises such as climate change, massive migrations, pandemics, and environmental degradation are posing serious risks to humanity, threatening ecosystems and rural livelihoods across the globe. The poor, and especially the most marginalised among the poor, are disproportionately affected. Climate change in particular is expected to exacerbate pre-existing social inequalities, including gender inequalities. Therefore, innovative and equitable climate adaptation and mitigation strategies will be needed. This article reviews the progress so far in integrating a gender perspective into climate change policy discussions and agreements at global and national levels.
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