Climate change has devastating impacts on the environment and planetary health. These effects are not gender-neutral: they exacerbate inequalities and humanitarian emergencies that acutely affect women and girls. In order to better combat these effects, official development assistance (ODA) should be further leveraged to support gender-responsive climate action.

• Financing levels show a record high for total volume of ODA to climate action (USD 33.1 billion) and to climate ODA integrating gender equality (USD 18.9 billion).
• However, climate ODA that is dedicated to gender equality as the “principal” objective stood at only USD 778 million in 2018-2019 – a little over 0.04% of all climate-related ODA.
• Of the USD 18.9 billion of climate ODA integrating gender equality, programmes with multiple purposes for climate change adaptation and mitigation; and climate change adaptation programmes present the highest shares of climate ODA integrating gender equality objectives (above 60%). Mitigation programmes show the lowest shares of ODA integrating gender equality objectives (46%).
• In their efforts to help build back better and greener from the COVID-19 pandemic, OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members should ensure that programming and commitments towards climate action are instigated and implemented with gender-sensitive measures undertaken from the start.

Gender inequality means that women face higher risks and greater burdens from the impacts of climate change, which is exacerbated further in compounding situations such as that of poverty or a global health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic.