The impacts of climate change, environmental degradation and disasters are unequally felt across Asia and the Pacific. Women and marginalized groups have less access to information, resources, finance and technologies, leaving them with greater challenges in coping and rebuilding after a crisis. But despite being underrepresented in environmental decision-making, women can play powerful roles in accelerating positive change.
Jointly implemented by UN Women and UNEP, the EmPower: Women for Climate-Resilient Societies programme Phase II (EmPower) aims to strengthen gender equality and human rights in climate change and disaster risk actions in the Asia and the Pacific region.
The EmPower programme works on three outcomes:
- Asia-Pacific actors increase action on gender responsive climate change adaptation and mitigation.
- Women in all their diversity and other marginalized groups are represented as key environmental actors in climate and DRR decision-making.
- Women and other marginalized groups in Asia-Pacific engage in climate-resilient livelihoods.
Supporting member states for Implementing gender responsive energy policies
EmPower works with national and regional actors to advance the implementation and monitoring of gender-responsive energy policies, by providing tailored capacity building support to institutions. This includes the conducting of regular mentoring and peer-learning sessions and technical assistance in the implementation and monitoring of gender-related commitments underscored in their NDCs and other climate-related policies.
Raise investment for renewable energy and women’s economic empowerment
Through the first phase of EmPower (2018-2022), UN Women, UNEP and partners successfully engineered alternative livelihoods for vulnerable communities, reduced emissions through renewable energy and sparked intergovernmental commitments to ensure gender-responsive policies and actions in the Asia-Pacific region. EmPower has a well-established methodology supporting the setting up of women economic livelihood projects that harness the potential of renewable energy. UNEP through the EmPower programme has committed to raise investments for renewable energy technologies and its interventions which would be gender responsive and uphold the principles of leave no one behind.
Skill development in the context of just clean energy transition
In the second phase of EmPower (2023-2027), UNEP and UN Women are scaling up the lessons learned, and the approaches developed for a gender just energy transition. This involves working with the financial sector to enable access to finance for renewable energy systems for underserved communities. Additionally, EmPower aims to foster use of renewable energy for women’s economic empowerment and climate resilient livelihood while focusing on access to finance, providing appropriate skills and facilitate the transition to low carbon, sustainable development and enhance climate resilience.
