Henri Njangang

Context and Motivation

In the last two decades, climate change and gender inequality have emerged as two major and interrelated challenges to inclusive development in Africa. Although the continent contributes minimally to global greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for less than 4%, it remains disproportionately affected by the adverse effects of climate change. Rising temperatures, unpredictable weather patterns, droughts, floods, and other extreme climate events have disrupted livelihoods, increased food insecurity, and contributed to population displacement and health crises. Women and girls are especially vulnerable in this context due to pre-existing gender-based inequalities that limit their access to resources, education, healthcare, and decision-making processes.

Gender and climate change are often viewed as distinct policy areas. However, a growing body of literature has started to explore their intersection, highlighting how climate change magnifies existing gender disparities (Desai & Mandal, 2021; Njuki et al., 2023). Women, especially in rural areas, are deeply involved in agriculture and the management of natural resources. These roles expose them directly to the adverse effects of climate change, while systemic inequalities hinder their ability to adapt effectively. This asymmetry in exposure and capacity to respond to climate risks makes the case for targeted climate finance that addresses not just environmental goals, but also social justice, particularly gender equality.

The concept of gender-sensitive climate finance has thus emerged as a pivotal approach in recent climate policy frameworks. Its goal is to ensure that climate financing mechanisms, whether aimed at mitigation or adaptation, explicitly consider gender dynamics. This includes supporting women-led projects, improving access to clean energy and water resources for women, and ensuring their representation in climate governance. Despite the conceptual appeal, there is still limited empirical evidence on the extent to which gender-responsive climate finance contributes to reducing gender inequality in practice, especially in the African context. This research seeks to address this gap.

Research Objectives and Contributions

The primary objective of this project is to evaluate whether and how gender-sensitive climate finance influences gender inequality in African countries. More specifically, the study seeks to answer the following research questions:

• Q1. Does gender-sensitive climate finance lead to measurable improvements in gender equality across dimensions such as employment, education, and health?
• Q2. Through which mechanisms or transmission channels does this effect operate?
• Q3. Are the effects more pronounced for certain types of financing, mitigation versus adaptation?

Empirical Strategy and Expected Outcomes

To rigorously assess the effect of gender-sensitive climate finance on gender inequality, the study addresses potential endogeneity by employing an instrumental variable strategy inspired by recent empirical literature. Several external instruments are considered to capture exogenous variation in climate finance flows. These include: (i) the share of important votes aligned with donor countries at the United Nations General Assembly, reflecting geopolitical alignment and aid allocation priorities; (ii) a shift-share (Bartik-type) instrument based on historical exposure to donor-specific funding trends; and (iii) the average GDP of G7 countries, used as a proxy for the overall fiscal space and climate finance supply from major donors. These instruments aim to isolate variation in gender-sensitive climate finance that is plausibly unrelated to country-specific gender outcomes.

The analysis covers 42 African countries and controls for key economic and institutional characteristics. The expected outcomes are twofold: first, that gender-sensitive climate finance significantly reduces gender disparities, particularly in education and health; and second, that these effects are mediated through institutional and policy channels such as women’s political participation and access to essential services. Overall, this research highlights the transformative potential of gender-responsive climate finance in promoting not only environmental resilience, but also social equity across Africa.