Outdated assumptions around gender continue to hinder effective and fair policymaking and action for climate mitigation and adaptation, experts say in a new article.

Lead author of a new study, Dr Jacqueline Lau from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University (Coral CoE at JCU) and WorldFish, said gender — alongside other identities like race, class and age — has a powerful influence on people’s experience of, and resilience to, climate change.

She said the four most common and interlinked assumptions found are: women are innately caring and connected to the environment; women are a homogenous and vulnerable group; gender equality is a women’s issue and; gender equality is a numbers game.

«Although there is a global mandate to work towards gender equality in climate change mitigation and adaptation, efforts are hindered by a set of assumptions about gender, long critiqued in development studies,» Dr Lau said.

The study draws on post-2014 gender and climate change literature, to give an overview of how the gender assumptions manifest across recent work in adaptation, mitigation and broader climate change policy, practice and research.

The review of the literature takes a closer look at how these assumptions narrowly diagnose the causes of gender inequality.

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Materials provided by ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.