A Feminist Policy Analysis of the Gender and Climate Change Nexus in the Colombian Coal and Energy Sector

Abstract

A gender-responsive climate policy (GRCP) draws attention to actions needed to address drivers and vulnerabilities of the climate crisis while supporting more gendered equitable pathways towards sustainability. Although the need for the incorporation of gender perspectives in climate policies is widely accepted, questions remain about (a) how gender is perceived and incorporated in Colombia’s climate and coal policies and (b) how current policies can be strengthened to promote gender equality and respond more efficiently to the climate crisis. Relying on a policy analysis of the climate, coal, and gender sectors in Colombia, this chapter analyses the policy approaches to the climate-gender nexus in the framework of the energy sector and coal sub-sector. The findings suggest, firstly, climate and energy policies are currently not gender-responsive and incorporate stereotypical understandings of gender. Secondly, it shows that gender policies have not sufficiently incorporated concerns about the climate crisis. The latter includes the inability to work with community understandings of their territory and the environment; limited opportunities for communities to participate in these policies; and approaches that are unable to incorporate an intersectional perspective that addresses the contexts in which environmental/climate crisis-related challenges come into being. The chapter concludes by showing the urgency of formulating and implementing a gender-responsive climate policy (GRCP), which is based on intersectional approaches, allowing to foster gender equality and, in turn, leading to better climate policies and the achievement of a just transition.