By 2050, nearly two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities. Urban areas are at the frontline of the climate emergency, but they are also laboratories for transformation. If cities are to lead the transition to sustainable and resilient futures, that transition must be equitable by design.
Climate change is not gender-neutral. Women and marginalized groups often face disproportionate exposure to climate hazards, limited access to resources, and structural barriers to economic participation.
Too often, climate strategies assume neutrality while overlooking how gender, disability, age, and social inequities shape vulnerability and opportunity. For climate action to be effective, it must be inclusive. And for inclusion to endure, it must be institutionalized.
This is where Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) becomes critical. GEDSI is an approach that ensures policies, planning, and investments actively address structural inequalities, promote equal participation in decision-making, and remove barriers that prevent women and marginalized communities from accessing opportunities and services. It shifts inclusion from aspiration to accountability.
ICLEI’s Gender Declaration reinforces this imperative, committing local governments to embed gender equity across sustainable development pathways, from economic empowerment and leadership participation to gender-responsive data, planning, and climate action. The Declaration aligns with ICLEI’s Equitable Development pathway and recognizes that sustainable development cannot be just without gender equity at its core.
Across regions and throughout capacity-building, ICLEI is supporting cities in translating these commitments into systemic change.
In Indonesia, under the UrbanShift project, cities are redefining how inclusion is embedded into urban climate action. During the second National–Local Dialogue, held in October 2025, five cities -Jakarta, Palembang, Semarang, Bitung, and Balikpapan- engaged with experts in a dedicated workshop to develop Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that measure how effectively GEDSI principles are integrated in local development and climate action planning.
Key frameworks, including Just Transition principles, highlight the disproportionate impacts of climate change on vulnerable groups such as women, persons with disabilities, and the elderly, making their inclusion in planning and decision-making essential for effective and equitable urban development.
At the workshop, the shift was transformative. Rather than focusing solely on numerical targets, such as achieving 50% participation by women or ensuring 100% of vulnerable groups benefit from a service, cities developed qualitative indicators that assess the quality and depth of inclusion. Are women and persons with disabilities empowered through economic participation? Are public services delivered without discrimination? Is inclusion embedded in long-term planning instruments?
Crucially, cities emphasized the need for gender- and disability-disaggregated baseline data to track progress and inform decision-making. They also explored how to link these KPIs to formal planning documents such as the Regional Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMD), ensuring inclusion is anchored in official governance frameworks, and strengthening accountability and sustained commitment to inclusivity.
Embedding equity into policy requires institutions capable of implementing it. In December 2025, under the Enhancing Socially Inclusive Resilience in Asia (SIRA) project, ICLEI Indonesia convened 15 local governments for intensive GEDSI training aligned with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030), which places inclusion at the centre of risk planning.
More than 50 local government representatives participated in hands-on simulations, vulnerability mapping exercises, and systems-based policymaking workshops. National ministries highlighted ongoing gaps in gender-responsive budgeting and in addressing differentiated climate impacts on women and children.
The training reinforced a central lesson: Resilience that fails to integrate social equity risks deepening existing vulnerabilities. Inclusive climate adaptation requires coordination across national and local levels, strengthened institutional capacity, and meaningful integration of gender considerations into planning, budgeting, and implementation.
Capacity-building of this kind transforms inclusion from principle into practice.
Across governance reform and sectoral innovations, a consistent message emerges: Gender equality strengthens climate ambition.
Inclusive governance improves data quality, enhances the legitimacy of policy decisions, strengthens adaptation outcomes, and ensures that climate investments reach those most affected. It aligns with Just Transition principles and safeguards social cohesion in times of accelerating environmental change.
As we mark International Women’s Day on 8 March, ICLEI reaffirms that equitable climate action is not an add-on to sustainability. It is a structural condition for resilience.
Because the future of climate action is not only low-carbon; it is inclusive, accountable, and equitable. And cities are leading the way.
