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Climate adaptation and mitigation

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Recent Submissions

From vision to action: Five interlocking solutions for equitable food, land and water systems by 2050
(Book Chapter, 2026-10-25) Lecoutere, Els; Muchiri, Caroline; Voss, Rachel
Gender equality and inclusion are foundational concerns for the current and future resilience, productivity and sustainability of food, land and water systems (FLWS). In this period of drastic change fueled by the polycrisis, anticipating and responding to future scenarios is critical. In this report, we have identified how gender and social inclusion dynamics in FLWS may evolve in the coming decades and noted key risks and emerging opportunities, so we can put appropriate foundations in place today that support more equitable, inclusive and sustainable FLWS by 2050. This report underscores that pathways toward lasting gender equality and inclusion require coordinated and collaborative efforts across multiple scales and sectors to drive gender transformative change. Off-farm work is growing, but the growth of decent jobs still lags behind. Projections of gender and intersectional equality outcomes in FLWS by 2050 suggest that, as part of broader agricultural transformation trends, women’s and youth participation in FLWS will increasingly shift from primary agriculture to off-farm activities. Yet progress toward equitable and decent employment is projected to remain slow and uneven, with substantial geographic variation, and at risk of reversal due to persistent inequalities in access to land, water and other resources, and compounded by climate change, conflict, geopolitical instability and the gendered migration patterns these may trigger (chapter 1). Resilience must be built into systems — quick technological fixes will not suffice. Building just and inclusive FLWS by 2050 relies on equitable resilience to intersecting compounding shocks of climate change, demographic shifts and the wider polycrisis. Technical innovations alone are insufficient; they must be bundled with strategies that address restrictive norms, formal institutions, agency, resources and governance to strengthen resilience in ways that respond to gender and intersectional inequalities (chapter 2). Land and water access remain sharp fault lines. Natural resources such as land and water are the foundation of FLWS-based livelihoods yet face intensifying socioeconomic and environmental pressures, risking deeper disadvantage for those who already have the weakest rights and least power to access and use these resources. Achieving intersectional gender equality in land and water access, rights and governance by 2050 will require integrated, rights-based solutions that dismantle structural inequalities rooted in laws and social norms while strengthening women’s individual and collective agency and leadership (chapter 3). Digital innovations present a key opportunity for advancing intersectional gender equality in FLWS by 2050, but digital inclusion requires agency, not just access. Digital tools must be accessible and usable, but digital inclusion critically depends on women’s and socially excluded groups’ meaningful agency in digital spaces: their ability to shape how digital systems are designed, make informed decisions about technology use, and benefit in ways that serve their individual and collective interests. Bundled solutions that address interacting gendered factors — technology, infrastructure, affordability, skills, institutions and social norms — are essential to ensuring that digitalization drives equality and does not deepen existing divides. At the same time, digital inclusion needs to be underpinned by digital systems, including data and AI governance, that are built to be materially accessible, socially usable and politically accountable (chapter 4). Young women face a double burden of exclusion; compared with men, older women and young men, they have limited visibility and decision-making authority in FLWS. Growth in off-farm activities offers an important entry point — one that can be strengthened through decent working conditions, reduced start-up costs, improved access to financial services and bundling technical innovations with gender-transformative approaches, positioning young women as drivers of change in FLWS (chapter 5).
Solutions to support young women to thrive and drive transformation toward equitable, resilient and sustainable food, land and water systems futures by 2050
(Book Chapter, 2026-10-25) Heckert, Jessica; Anariba, Sara Bonillia; Bullock, Renee; Muñoz, Natalia Odette Gutierrez; Miruka, Maureen; Mulinganya, Noel; Raghunathan, Kalyani; Shijagurumayum, Meghajit; Ángel, Natalia Triana; Loon, Jelle Van
Youth livelihoods and unemployment have received considerable attention and become highly politicized. Many policymakers increasingly pay attention to youth needs and prioritize youth jobs, driven in part by the need to capitalize on the relatively large youth cohorts in many LMICs to fulfill the demographic dividend and to avoid the alleged risks of this same youth bulge. At the same time, these approaches are largely gender blind, and the unique experiences and needs of young women are often overlooked, while further marginalizing young women who reside in rural agrarian communities. Even when not fully acknowledged by their communities, young women play significant and meaningful roles across food, land and water systems (FLWS). To that end, this chapter identifies solutions to support young women’s empowerment in FLWS, with a focus on key entry points for decent employment.
Solutions for digital inclusion and digital innovations for inclusion by 2050
(Book Chapter, 2026-10-25) Singaraju, Niyati; Jones-Garcia, Eliot; Magalhaes, Marilia; Grossi, Amanda; Chamberlin, Wendy; Martins, Carolina; Kumar, Drishti
Food, land and water systems (FLWS) are transforming unevenly: off-farm work is expanding, youth employment in agriculture is falling in most regions, and women’s participation and earnings remain shaped by persistent regional gaps. Digital technologies will increasingly mediate information, finance, markets, advisory services and governance in these changing systems. Inclusive digital systems could lift approximately 30 million women out of extreme poverty and add around US$1.5 trillion to the global economy by 2050, but these gains depend on who can access, control, trust and shape digital systems. In South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, mobile-ownership and internet-use gaps remain slow to close. This chapter asks which digital inclusion strategies can support gender and intersectional equality in FLWS by 2050, and under what conditions. It draws on chapter 1 projections to frame future priorities, while recognizing that comparable longterm, gender-disaggregated digital agriculture projections remain limited. This chapter is situated within the report’s wider framing of the polycrisis, set out in the introduction along with the report’s conceptual framing. This chapter focuses specifically on how digitalization may either reinforce exclusion or expand agency in future FLWS.
Solutions for gender equality in land and water access, rights and governance within inclusive and resilient food, land and water systems
(Book Chapter, 2026-10-25) Elias, M.; Zaremba, Haley; Bohra, Babita; Gumucio, Tatiana; Kyle, Jordan; Najjar, Dina; Mapedza, Everisto D.
Food, land and water systems (FLWS) embed profound gender and social inequalities, including in terms of who has rights to the essential elements of land and water. These inequalities are not incidental, but rather systemic expressions of unequal power relations that shape who controls resources, whose knowledge is recognized, and whose voice is heard in FLWS governance. This chapter aims to identify effective strategies, approaches and actions, referred to as solutions, that can strengthen women’s access and rights to land (including forests and rangelands) and water, to chart more equitable, sustainable and resilient pathways for FLWS. Specifically, we ask: (1) What evidence-based solutions can support women’s access and rights to land and water, as well as their full and effective participation in land and water governance? (2) Under what conditions are these solutions effective? And (3) How can research, policies, investments and practice support the adaptation, implementation and scaling of these solutions? To begin, we provide a brief background on gender and intersectional equality related to land, water and their governance. Drawing on evidence from diverse contexts, we then outline solutions for addressing gender and intersectional inequalities and the conditions under which these solutions have been effective. Finally, we provide recommendations to adapt, implement and scale these solutions.
Solutions for equitable resilience capacity building in times of the polycrisis
(Book Chapter, 2026-10-25) Puskur, Ranjitha; Malhotra, Aayushi; Mukhopadhyay, Prama; Ajay, Anamika; Obiero, Evaline; Sharma, Isha; Chakraborty, Ananya; Abraham, Neha; Ravula, Padmaja
Climate change — through rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns and more frequent extreme weather events — is disrupting access, utilization and stability of food, land and water systems (FLWS). At the same time, demographic shifts including rural-to-urban migration, aging rural populations, growing youth populations with changing aspirations and climate-induced displacement are reshaping livelihoods and placing additional pressures on these systems. Large-scale conflicts and geopolitical instability further undermine food security and resource governance, with growing competition over land, water, grazing areas and agricultural resources contributing to violence and displacement in fragile settings. These dynamics often reinforce existing gender inequalities, as women and socially excluded groups face disproportionate barriers to resources, services and decision-making. Scholarship on feminist political ecology, climate justice and climate coloniality highlights how climate change, food insecurity, displacement, environmental degradation and economic instability are shaped by deeper political, economic and institutional arrangements that unevenly distribute risks, resources and opportunities. The contemporary polycrisis therefore reflects the interaction of environmental change with historical and ongoing inequalities that shape vulnerability and resilience across populations and places. For instance, in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the dynamics of the polycrisis with compounding impacts are evident. Climate stress intersects with conflict, displacement and economic fragility to intensify gendered vulnerabilities in FLWS. Drought, water scarcity and declining agricultural viability contribute to livelihood erosion and migration, particularly in dryland systems affected by political instability and unequal resource access. Women often assume expanded agricultural and caregiving responsibilities under conditions of weakened public services, insecure tenure and restricted mobility, while displaced and refugee women frequently remain excluded from formal labor markets, land rights and social protection systems. This chapter examines how interacting and compounding environmental, social, economic and political pressures are reshaping gender and intersectional equality and social inclusion within FLWS. It adopts a resilience perspective, understanding that resilience is not simply the ability to recover from shocks, but as the capacity of individuals, households and FLWS to anticipate, absorb, adapt and, where necessary, transform in response to shocks and stresses. Distinguishing between ex ante capacities to prepare for and reduce risks and ex post responses to cope with and recover from shocks, the chapter explores how structural drivers create and reinforce gendered vulnerabilities. It also identifies pathways to strengthen equitable resilience and support more just and sustainable FLWS in the face of the polycrisis.