Guidance Note – Integrating Climate Change into National Action Plans for Women, Peace and Security
Publication Date: April 18, 2025
Total Pages: 44
Organization: UN Women
Languages: English
Country/Region: Asia Pacific
Topic Area: Gender equality and women’s empowerment, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), National planning, Disaster Risk Reduction
Year: 2025
Resource Type: Manuals/Guides
Abstract
This UN Women Guidance Note provides practical, evidence-based guidance on integrating climate change into National Action Plans (NAPs) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS). Climate change is a major driver of conflict and insecurity in different contexts, and NAPs offer key benefits in addressing the challenges and opportunities it presents for peace and security.
A first of its kind, this Guidance Note focuses on the unique challenges and solutions in the Asia-Pacific region while incorporating comparative experiences and models from other regions to provide broader insights that can be adapted locally.
With the aim of fostering resilient and secure communities – especially for women – in response to the escalating climate crisis, it provides practical examples and suggests pathways for integrating a peace and security perspective into climate change frameworks through the WPS Agenda.
It is intended for policymakers, practitioners and civil society actors involved in the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of NAPs on WPS. It is also relevant for stakeholders working on climate change and peacebuilding who seek to leverage the potential of the WPS Agenda to advance their goals.
Among its conclusions, the Guidance Note:
- Positions women as agents of change and resilience in their communities while showing how climate change and conflict disproportionately affect them.
- Calls for various actors to coordinate efforts, raise awareness and develop strategies to address the complex nexus between climate change, gender equality, peace and security.
- Offers a roadmap of recommendations for mainstreaming climate considerations into WPS Agendas and vice versa.
This Guidance Note was developed with the generous support of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as part of the UN Women Regional Framework Towards Peaceful, Inclusive Societies: Advancing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and Inclusive Governance in the Asia-Pacific Region.
