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This year, the world celebrates the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, highlighting women’s crucial role in creating and maintaining peace. Over the past 25 years, however, the concept of peace and security has further widened to include emerging and developing threats, such as climate change and the depletion of natural resources.
Climate change impacts are not gender neutral; they affect women and girls disproportionately. Especially in countries in conflict and in many rural areas, climate change contributes to displacement and food insecurity, exacerbating existing gender inequalities and exponentially increasing the risks of violence against women and girls. Yet, while often bearing the brunt of climate change’s impact, women continue to be systematically excluded from key decision-making processes at global, national and local level.
With climate change now widely recognized as a risk multiplier, it is essential to address women’s exclusion, by centering the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda and women’s leadership and expertise at the heart of global climate action.
The intersection of gender and climate with peace and security is vital in building inclusive, peaceful and resilient societies and advancing the WPS Agenda at local and international level. Simply put: unless decision-makers are prepared to address gender inequalities and leverage women’s unique contributions to potential solutions, climate justice cannot be achieved.
Understanding the Gender-Climate-Security Nexus
Gender is a critical factor in climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts. Climate change impacts extend beyond physical and economic dimensions to include social and cultural aspects. Women often experience more severe effects from climate change than men due to societal roles and responsibilities. Their vulnerability stems from limited access to finance, technology, and information needed for adaptation. Rising costs of energy, transportation, healthcare, and food, disproportionately increase women’s poverty and insecurity. From a security perspective, environmental degradation can intensify resource competition and conflict. Because women and men interact differently with natural resources based on their distinct responsibilities, both genders’ participation in conflict prevention is essential. Climate threats to livelihoods require targeted and gender-sensitive education about alternative methods for cooking, farming, and resource management.
Natural resource management practices affect men and women differently, with resource degradation often disproportionately impacting women who rely on these resources for household and income-generating activities. Despite women’s crucial knowledge in sustainable practices, conservation, and biodiversity protection, their contributions to resource management are often undervalued. Women’s participation is vital for resource efficiency and effective climate adaptation, as they are primary food producers in many countries and key promoters of sustainable agriculture. However, discriminatory norms limit their access to resources and decision-making processes. Gender equity is essential for addressing sustainable development challenges, particularly in natural resource management and environmental protection. Gender mainstreaming in environmental initiatives promotes equal opportunities by considering different positions and knowledge, ensuring information reaches both genders, and recognizing their distinct environmental roles and priorities.
The OSCE’s Work on the Gender, Climate and Security
National, regional and international actors have increasingly adapted their work around the gender/climate nexus to better prevent conflicts and respond to growing security challenges posed by climate change. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), with its comprehensive approach to security encompassing the three politico-military, economic-environmental and human dimensions, is a leading actor on this theme. The OSCE’s comprehensive security framework recognizes that true security goes beyond traditional military concerns and includes good economic governance, environmental co-operation, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. This approach highlights the interconnection of these aspects for lasting stability, is crucial for early warning, conflict prevention and crisis management, and considers gender equality and support to women’s inclusion a cornerstone for its comprehensive security.
The OSCE views the intersection of gender, climate and security as a key part of its mandate, and recognizes that climate change is a risk multiplier that disproportionately affects women and girls. It further asserts that women’s perspectives are essential for effective climate action and sustainable development, calling for their stronger participation in climate decision-making in its 2021 Ministerial Council decision on strengthening cooperation to address the challenges caused by climate change.
The OSCE actively works to integrate gender perspectives into its climate-related initiatives and policies, ensuring women’s full, equal, and meaningful participation in decision-making processes. Through the Gender Issues Programme and funded by the WIN project, the OSCE focuses on awareness-raising initiatives and supporting the next generation of women leaders in climate and security through strategic networks. Furthermore, the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities actively promotes equality in climate and environmental matters, including by strengthening women’s networks and leadership in the water management and renewable energy sectors.
In 2024, the OSCE published a report on the Gender and corruption in the access to natural resources: Preliminary findings, exploring the intersection between gender and corruption practices in the context of access to natural resources. The report examined how corruption in natural resource management disproportionately affects women and other marginalized groups, offering policy recommendations for addressing these challenges including the importance of women’s participation in climate-related decision making.
The report was further discussed at the 68th Commission on the Status of Women in an event co-organised with Ireland and Italy, under the title No woman’s land: Unpacking the nexus and finding solutions on gender, corruption and access to natural resources, which shed light on the pervasive impact of corruption on women in their access to natural resources and provided an understanding of the political, environmental, social, and economic ramifications of corruption in this sector. The event fostered meaningful conversations on policy approaches that could promote gender-responsive policies and approaches.
In parallel, in line with its commitments to the WPS agenda and recognizing the intricate linkage between climate, gender and security, in 2025 the OSCE launched a dedicated high-level mentoring Women’s Peace Leadership Programme under the OSCE Networking Platform for Women Leaders, including Peacebuilders and Mediators. With the participation of 25 women experts from across the OSCE as well as the Mediterranean and South East Asia, this flagship action aims to support the women’s meaningful participation in climate action including participation in national delegations at international negotiations.
In 2025, the OSCE commissioned a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SPIRI) on the gendered dimensions of climate-related security risks in the OSCE region. Drawing on policy analysis from Central Asia, the South Caucasus, South-Eastern Europe and Eastern Europe, as well as insights from expert interviews, the study highlights both the vulnerabilities and the opportunities to advance equality in the face of climate change and security challenges. The report not only fills a critical research gap but also provides a solid evidence base for action. Building on its findings, the OSCE will develop a practical toolkit to guide policymakers in integrating gender considerations into climate and security policies, turning research into concrete strategies for more inclusive and resilient societies.
These initiatives reflect the OSCE’s commitment to addressing the interconnected issues of gender equality, environmental management, and security in a comprehensive manner.
The Way Forward
Based on the OSCE experience, and recognizing the significant challenges in advancing gender-responsive climate security—including women’s limited representation in decision-making roles, weak implementation of gender-sensitive policies, and insufficient gender-specific data collection—the path forward requires coordinated actions building on strong partnership with international and civil society partners. This includes:
- Investing in women’s leadership and expertise by developing and implementing targeted capacity-building programmes that empower them to lead climate action initiatives and participate meaningfully in security dialogues. This should include leadership training, mentorship opportunities, and creating formal mechanisms to incorporate women’s perspectives in policy development.
- Ensuring sufficient and predictable funding for women-led climate initiatives by establishing dedicated funding streams for gender-responsive climate security initiatives. International organizations, governments, and private sector partners should commit to long-term financial support that allows for sustained programming rather than short-term interventions.
- Promote inclusive decision-making mechanisms, including technical and financial support to strengthen women’s representation in climate-related policy making, negotiations, consultations, and governance structures.
- Fostering intergenerational dialogue by creating and leverage existing platforms and networks where experienced women leaders can share knowledge with younger generations, while also learning from youth perspectives on climate innovation. Intergenerational approaches ensure both traditional wisdom and new ideas are valued in developing climate security solutions.
- Improving data collection and analysis by investing in research that captures gender-differentiated impacts of climate change. This is essential to develop effective policy responses and adaptation measures.
- Supporting women’s leadership role and leveraging expertise in addressing the gender-climate-security nexus is essential to create a more resilient and equitable societies at global level. The WPS agenda represents a necessity for global peace, stability and for addressing growing threats and challenges. As we mark the 25th anniversary of UNSC Resolution 1325, it is now time to redouble efforts to translate important high-level commitments into concrete action at regional, national, and local levels.
Women’s active participation in climate change response and prevention is a strategic imperative for effective and sustainable solutions. As we look back on 25 years of the WPS agenda, we must ensure that transforming commitments into tangible action remains an urgent collective responsibility.
Author Bio: Dr. Lara Scarpitta is the OSCE Senior Adviser on Gender Issues and Head of the Gender Issues Programme. An expert in peace mediation and the WPS agenda, she has over a decade of experience promoting women’s participation in peace processes across South East Europe and the MENA region, particularly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Syria, Yemen, and Libya. Before joining the OSCE, she spent more than 15 years with the European Commission and the European External Action Service, including assignments in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Brussels, and the EU Delegation to the UN in Geneva. She played a key role in launching the Syrian Women Platform and has advised grassroots activists and human rights defenders on mediation and conflict resolution. Dr. Scarpitta holds a PhD in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Birmingham. She is a member of Women in International Security Italy. In her private capacity, she is a visiting professor at the College of Europe – Tirana campus, where she teaches peacebuilding and reconciliation.
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