2026/01/22 by Ana Victoria Dominguez Britos, Hayley Stevenson · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Gender Politics and Representation #Gender, Security, and Conflict #International Human Rights and Reproductive Law
paper · doi:10.1080/09644016.2026.2616987
openalex publication_date 2026/01/22 · openalex created_date 2026/01/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/14
The UN climate regime’s gender agenda is characterised by competing signals about the relevance of gender. Efforts to promote an expansive agenda have been constrained by efforts to narrow the focus to women’s vulnerability in developing countries. We assess the impact of these competing signals by comparing Parties’ performance on participation and policy. We find a persistent North-South divide: developed countries perform better on participation and developing countries on policy. However, we find evidence that gender considerations are expanding. We argue that these performance patterns are reinforced by external political-economic forces. Unlike developed countries, developing countries often receive external support to prepare their Nationally Determined Contributions and face incentives to consider the interests of external institutions whose finance is required for implementation. Given that gender equality has become a criterion for finance, we are more likely to see commitment signaled in NDCs from the Global South than the Global North.