UN Women strengthens regional cooperation on feminist climate justice in Nepal

Authors: Bivishika Bhandari and Sangharsha Panta 

As climate impacts grow more severe across South and South-East Asia, countries around the Bay of Bengal are ramping up cooperation to ensure women are not just protected but positioned as leaders in the subregion’s climate response.

A two-day workshop in Kathmandu, Nepal provided a platform and technical support for this regional cooperation. Organized by UN Women in collaboration with the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the workshop brought together 20 gender and climate experts from BIMSTEC Member States.

Discussions focused on aligning national and regional approaches to implement BIMSTEC’s Plan of Action on Environment and Climate Change in ways that are inclusive, locally grounded and responsive to the realities women face on the front lines of the climate crisis. These conversations contributed to the development of a regional road map that outlines shared priorities, actionable entry points and opportunities for collaboration on gender-responsive climate action.

“We must go beyond inclusion to transform systems that currently reproduce women’s vulnerability by recognizing, reducing and redistributing the burdens of unpaid care, and by investing in clean energy, care infrastructure and social protection that empowers women,” said Patricia Fernandez-Pacheco, UN Women Nepal Country Representative.

In addition to supporting the implementation of the Plan of Action, the workshop also contributed to institutionalizing gender equality and social inclusion more broadly within BIMSTEC’s climate strategy.

Tshewang Dorji, Director of the Environment and Climate Change Division of the BIMSTEC Secretariat, said the recently adopted Plan of Action would benefit from the workshop’s recommendations, and that gender equality will remain a key priority in BIMSTEC climate initiatives moving forward.

Pema Gyamtsho, Director General of ICIMOD, emphasized the workshop’s relevance for the region and called for collective action to ensure that climate resilience is inclusive and transformative. “This workshop is not a stand-alone event but part of a larger movement towards intersectional inclusion, cooperation and regionally grounded climate governance. Through this, we will continue to co-create the tools, language and relationships that will shape how women lead, adapt and thrive in climate responses across the Hindu Kush Himalaya and BIMSTEC region.”

Participants shared experiences from their countries, explored practical models for integrating gender into climate finance and monitoring, and examined tools such as the ‘Gender with Age Marker’ to improve accountability.

At the same time, participants acknowledged that significant gaps remain. Despite growing political commitment, many countries still lack the data and evidence needed to design gender-responsive climate policies. Weak monitoring systems continue to hinder effective implementation and impact assessment.

To address these gaps, participants recommended establishing a regional gender-responsive climate task force. They also called for strengthened engagement with ICIMOD’s Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Community of Action and emphasized the need for stronger regional cooperation mechanisms.

There was a broad consensus on the importance of continued capacity-building, evidence-generation and knowledge production on the gender-climate nexus. Participants also emphasized the need to expand access to gender-responsive climate finance and strengthen engagement with global climate mechanisms.

The workshop was built on UN Women’s sustained efforts to advance a feminist climate agenda across Asia and the Pacific, including its engagement in Nepal’s Sagarmatha Sambaad, a global climate dialogue platform, earlier this year. Taking this momentum forward, hosting this workshop in Nepal also offered a timely opportunity to translate global and national insights into regionally grounded discussions, strengthening the role of BIMSTEC in shaping inclusive climate action.

With growing regional commitment and a road map in-hand, countries around the Bay of Bengal are laying the foundation for climate strategies that are not only resilient, but just and inclusive.