Introduction:

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have supported and continue to support climate actions
that promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and vulnerable groups.
Governments and civil society actors with support from international organizations have
strengthened their national policies and institutional mechanisms, planned gender responsive
climate change actions, and enhanced national-level capacities to incorporate gender equality
considerations. These countries have also developed climate change and gender action plans,
gender responsive Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and National Adaptation Plans
(NAPs). They also support gender responsive programmes related to climate-smart agriculture and
energy projects.
The objective of the paper is to highlight examples of gender responsive climate actions
implemented by Small Island Developing States (SIDS) that contribute to the achievement of
the country’s climate goals and commitments, as well as the implementation of the Paris
Agreement and the Enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender and its Gender Action Plan.
Special attention is given to the role of gender considerations in enhanced NDCs, or examples of
SIDS with gender responsive actions already included in their first or updated NDCs, all of which
inform the analysis. The paper focuses on and highlights how countries are moving from policy to
action and provides a comprehensive analysis of the enabling conditions required to implement
gender responsive climate mitigation and adaptation actions on the ground. In this context, the
paper identifies best practices in SIDS across regions that showcase national actions to ensure
the development and implementation of gender responsive climate policies and strategies. It is
expected that the case studies featured in this technical paper will inform and inspire countries in
other regions to implement gender responsive climate change actions.
The case studies were identified through a call for country experiences issued by The Alliance of Small
Island States (AOSIS) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Virtual interviews with
key stakeholders in the Caribbean, African, and Asia-Pacific regions complemented this call. In
addition, information was obtained through a web-based scoping study followed by a desk review.
The paper includes two types of examples and good practices on:
1. How countries have strengthened the enabling conditions related to governance, planning, and
policy required to implement gender responsive actions on the ground and
2. How countries have implemented gender responsive actions across specific sectors related to
mitigation and adaptation.
The selection of the case study examples was based on the following criteria:
1. Transformational impact: The case study contributed to significant, sustainable, and
sustained change at the policy, programme and/or institutional level.
2. Synergy with the Sustainable Development Goals: The case study contributed to the
fulfilment of one or more Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda.
3. Contribution to the implementation of the Lima Work Programme on Gender and its
Gender Action Plan.
4. National or subnational impact: Development impact at regional or national level clearly
demonstrates gender responsive impacts.
5. Replicable approaches: Case study examples which demonstrate unique gender responsive
elements in climate change actions that can be replicated or upscaled.

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