Although climate change affects everybody, it is not gender neutral. Through a range of case study examples this book provides a nuanced discussion of various gender impacts of climate change as well as coping strategies women have employed and opportunities for policy intervention. For example, poorer urban households, which are often headed by women, can be affected by climate change due to the vulnerable positions of their houses and inadequate infrastructure. While gender-responsive land-use planning can assist in creating more climate resilience, local women’s responses have included creating a lending cooperative to buy land or build better houses.

The book argues that, while women are often seen as victims of climate change, their positive roles as
agents of change and contributors to livelihood strategies are often overlooked. For climate change
strategies and projects to be successful, gender concerns need to be mainstreamed at local, national and
international levels and women need to be included in technological developments.  The book also advocates for:

• employing a human rights and global justice perspective with solutions building on women’s local and indigenous realities and knowledge;
• integrating pro-poor and gender-sensitive perspectives into urban planning;
  
• promoting women’s participation in decision-making on climate change.