Climate change is a threat multiplier that worsens existing gender inequalities across sub-Saharan Africa. Women and men experience its impacts differently due to unequal access to resources, decision-making, and opportunities. Women and girls are particularly vulnerable to climate impacts because they are primarily responsible for securing water, food, and energy for their households—resources that are increasingly scarce and unreliable due to climate shocks brought on by shifting weather patterns, resulting in more or longer droughts, floods, and other weather events. These responsibilities intensify under environmental stress, increasing the burden of unpaid care work and often forcing girls to drop out of school. In parallel, climate-induced poverty, displacement, and instability are fueling higher incidences of forced child marriage, transactional sex, human trafficking, and gender-based violence.
This policy brief, created by Regenerate Africa in collaboration with Population Institute and Panorama Global, draws on evidence from eight sub-Saharan African countries—Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia—to assess how gender is reflected in climate change policies, plans, strategies, and financing.