Four key levers can promote gender-transformative, holistic climate action in research and practice in China: improved data availability, combined research agendas, awareness and capacity, collaboration on inclusive programmes and dedicated funding.
Current situation among researchers and practitioners
Research and programming on climate action, rural revitalization and gender equality and social inclusion has been relatively siloed in China. There are some trailblazing experts on gender equality and climate change, and on the differential vulnerability of social groups to climate risks in Chinese contexts. However, when looking for support on designing gender-transformative programmes, several interview and questionnaire participants reported challenges in finding an expert on gender and inclusion in climate action. Most researchers and practitioners working on rural revitalization, gender equality and social inclusion reported that they were not familiar with many organizations working on the needs of vulnerable social groups, including on gender equality in the context of climate change. Nearly half of researchers and practitioners working on sustainable development and climate action reported the same. Across these sectors, most respondents reported that they did not work very closely across environmental and social sectors (including climate change adaptation and mitigation, poverty alleviation and rural development, gender equality and social inclusion). Gender equality and women’s development experts reported particularly low levels of collaboration with environmental organizations and specialists, which may be due to political sensitivities and the perception of climate change as a technical, scientific issue.
There is geographical variation in the degree of exchange and collaboration among experts and practitioners. Researchers and NGO practitioners in urban centres, particularly Beijing, Shanghai and the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, had more interdisciplinary networks than those in the rural areas surveyed. These were based on informal networks, as well as capacity-building and training opportunities, such as workshops on gender mainstreaming for climate change specialists. This may be partly due to the larger presence of international NGOs in these urban areas, which more commonly take cross-cutting approaches to environmental and socio-economic development issues.
Interest in gender and inclusion in climate action has been growing in China’s NGO community in recent years, and experts across social and environmental fields emphasize intersectoral linkages relating to inclusive approaches to climate action. In a confidential questionnaire, participating environmental specialists rated the consideration of vulnerable groups in their work as quite important – with a mean rating of 7.8 on a scale of 0–10, with 0 being ‘not important’ and 10 being ‘very important’. The same participants rated gender and inclusion similarly with 7.6 out of 10. Among participating specialists in rural revitalization, gender equality and social inclusion, the mean rating of the importance of climate change mitigation to their work was 7.7 out of 10, and 7.2 out of 10 for the importance of climate change adaptation. Overall, experts’ modal ratings of the importance of the other issues to their work were 8 and 10 out of 10, reflecting a diversity of views within the expert community on the relevance of cross-cutting approaches. However, experts across these different fields highlighted supporting the resilience of vulnerable groups and promoting their participation in climate action as key intersectoral synergies.
While some areas of competition among NGOs exist – particularly around attracting funding and opportunities to engage in multi-stakeholder dialogues with the Chinese government – experts generally found research and programmes in rural revitalization, climate action and women’s development to be highly complementary. Poor coordination among work in these sectors also poses risks, including maladaptation – or climate change adaptation practices that exacerbate gender and other social inequalities. Through interviews, questionnaires and workshops, experts in these diverse fields identified shared challenges, and opportunities for joint solutions – informing four levers to advance gender-transformative and inclusive climate action in China.
Data collection
Quantitative data
Compared with other countries, research on gender and social inclusion and climate change in China is limited. A key contributing factor is the limited availability of sex-, age- and diversity-disaggregated data on environmental impacts in China. Disaggregated data can be used to identify and understand different social groups’ levels of vulnerability to direct and systemic climate change impacts. Without access to this data, it can be challenging to design tailored gender-transformative programmes and inclusive policy approaches.
Disaggregated data can be used to identify and understand different social groups’ levels of vulnerability to direct and systemic climate change impacts.
The Chinese government data collection system is decentralized, as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) largely compiles data collected by ministries at lower levels. Data on gender and social factors are not collected on climate change-related topics, as they are often not perceived as relevant. For example, the environmental statistics provided by the NBS for the China National Programme for Women’s Development (2011–20) did not mention gendered differences. Notably, the Chinese government is developing its big data capacity, including remote sensing and field measurements, to inform national environmental governance. While such measures can achieve environmental data collection on a huge scale, and inform science-based policymaking, they can also involve the penetration of government digital technologies into people’s everyday lives, with privacy implications.
The government data on climate change vulnerability that does exist can be challenging for NGOs to access. To inform inclusive policy approaches, researchers and NGO practitioners can collect sex-, age- and diversity-disaggregated data on environmental issues in China at a local level. Many already do, particularly specialists in rural revitalization and poverty reduction. This can entail collecting individual level data to identify the differential impacts of macro trends, which can often be overlooked in national-level policy discussions. For example, due to the gender division of labour, improving the availability of affordable clean energy particularly benefits women’s health – by reducing indoor air pollution – and can reduce their burden of unpaid household labour. To develop the capacity to collect sex-, age- and diversity-disaggregated data, researchers may need support from specialist consultants or from grassroots organizations. Many international best practices exist for collecting disaggregated data on environmental issues, which can be tailored to Chinese contexts.
Qualitative data
The collection of qualitative data can help to clarify the interactions between social inequalities and the natural environment – serving as a reminder of the political nature of environmental impacts and need for systemic rather than purely technical fixes. It can also elaborate the root causes of vulnerability to climate change impacts, informing more effective programmes and policies. Interdisciplinary research on the vulnerability of different social groups to climate change, and the effectiveness of climate change adaptation strategies for diverse social groups, can inform tailored local-level programming. Participatory research approaches that include the perspectives and experiences of socially marginalized groups are particularly effective.
For example, evidence from Anhui province and other regions of China suggests that women farmers are less likely to adopt climate-resilient farming practices than male farmers. This is due to their more limited access to information, resources and education on climate change adaptation measures. However, a qualitative study in Anhui province – one of China’s key agricultural areas – found that female smallholder farmers preferred to share information about climate change and adaptation strategies through social networks and were more inclined to adopt climate-resilient agricultural practices when receiving information through these trusted networks. With this in mind, cross-cutting qualitative research can help to inform the design of gender-transformative climate change adaptation initiatives that leverage social networks among women farmers to support their uptake of climate-resilient practices.
Building an evidence base of quantitative and qualitative data in diverse Chinese contexts can help galvanize inclusive climate policies. Data on differential climate impacts and the distribution of costs and benefits of climate change mitigation efforts can help to ‘make the case’ for the relevance of gender-transformative climate change adaptation measures and just transition policies. It can contribute to capacity-building for government officials at all levels. This data collection can also support with monitoring and evaluating China’s progress on international targets such as the SDGs – for which several of the environmental goals have gender indicators. Collecting and disseminating such data can also help to build public awareness on the differential impacts of climate change.
An interdisciplinary ‘community of practice’ on gender and inclusion in climate action
Integrating research agendas
Participants reported that among climate change researchers and practitioners in China, awareness of the relationships between gender and other social inequalities and climate change impacts and solutions is relatively low but increasing. Participants attributed this to several factors, including a predominant understanding of climate change as a scientific rather than a political and economic issue; political sensitivities around gender equality; limited exposure to relevant research and debates on the topic; and perceptions that such evidence and debates are primarily Western. However, participants felt that the prominence of gender and inclusion in the climate change NGO community in China had increased in the last decade. This was partly due to the increased prominence of gender in the international climate change regime and international climate change research and advocacy. Requirements for gender and inclusion in monitoring and evaluation by some international funders, and the increased availability of capacity-building programmes on gender and inclusion in China were also key. The increased prominence of public discussions on gender equality-related issues in China may also have contributed to increased awareness. Many urban environmental NGOs have a high proportion of younger women employees, some of whom reported a higher awareness of gender equality issues.
Together, such a network could build a strong evidence base to support the development of inclusive programmes and cross-sectoral policy dialogue.
There is a nascent interdisciplinary ‘community of practice’ on gender and inclusion in climate action in China. Building on existing informal networks among NGOs and research institutions across relevant topic areas – for example, by establishing ‘communities of practice’ – can enable convenient exchanges of experience and knowledge and foster new opportunities for research collaborations. This could entail regular networking opportunities, or interdisciplinary exchange through cross-cutting publications and conferences in the academic sphere, or workshops and collaborative programmes by NGOs. Rural revitalization organizations can share important experience on inclusive approaches to climate action, as many integrate gender and social considerations as well as environmental ones into their work (see Box 7). Together, such a network could build a strong evidence base to support the development of inclusive programmes and cross-sectoral policy dialogue.
Several participants suggested that participatory research is another way to break down what may appear to be disciplinary silos from academic or policy perspectives. Elevating the voices of underserved social groups and supporting their leadership can generate joint solutions to environmental and social challenges that are most relevant to vulnerable communities. Box 4 explores how community dialogues on social and environmental issues faced by vulnerable social groups in Hong Kong SAR bridged silos on this topic.
