Gender equality is integral to effective, efficient, and equitable conservation and sustainable development—a principle increasingly understood by the global community. Ensuring that women’s and men’s unique perspectives, capacities, needs, and ideas are informing and integrated into policies and initiatives at all levels is key toward that end.
International policy frameworks have significantly provided for this recognition, including valuable instruments for guiding and governing conservation and sustainable development, specifically in the Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through programmes and projects at all levels and across sectors, countries are now putting these commitments into practice.
However, evidence of how women’s empowerment and gender equality are being integrated into environmental management remains insufficient. Without data to track progress and identify gaps, policymakers and practitioners alike suffer from inadequate knowledge regarding the extent to which environmental initiatives are contributing toward gender equality—or the extent to which gender gaps are actually undermining them.
