Agency Acknowledged: The Representations of Women in National Adaptation Plans

To address the impacts of climate change, numerous countries have developed National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), which outline their goals, priorities, and strategies for mitigating the effects of our warming world. Within these plans, women are primarily framed as victims of climate change, with little recognition of their potential contributions to adaptation. While previous research has focused on their representation in NAPs, it has largely overlooked the underlying factors shaping these portrayals. Using a combination of textual and statistical analysis, this study explores the role of external support–specifically from international organizations such as the United Nations–in shaping how women are framed in NAPs. The findings suggest that countries receiving assistance from international organizations in creating their NAPs are more likely to acknowledge women’s agency in climate adaptation. However, contrary to expectations, the creation of the Enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender (LWPG) which was intended to promote gender inclusivity in climate policies, did not significantly influence how women are portrayed in these plans. These results, while not robust, underscore the importance of international organizations like the UN in advocating for greater recognition of women's adaptive abilities in NAPs, while also highlighting that the Enhanced LWPG has not yet achieved the intended shift in framing women’s roles within NAPs.