Climate mitigation projects are often associated with technology, infrastructure and emissions reductions. Yet the transition to a low-carbon economy is ultimately about people. Who benefits from climate investments? Who participates in decision-making? And how can climate action avoid reinforcing existing inequalities?
These questions have guided the Mitigation Action Facility’s first Gender Action Plan (GAP 2023–2025). To better understand what works, what challenges remain, and how support can be strengthened, the Mitigation Action Facility commissioned a Process Evaluation of the implementation of its Gender Action Plan across 26 projects in its portfolio.
The findings offer valuable insights not only for the Mitigation Action Facility, but for the wider climate finance community.
Looking beyond a compliance exercise
Too often, gender considerations in climate projects risk becoming a box-ticking exercise.
The evaluation set out to explore whether projects were moving beyond compliance and embedding GESI into project design and implementation in meaningful ways.
The findings were encouraging. Across the portfolio, projects increasingly integrated gender considerations into project activities, conducted dedicated GESI analyses, and developed tailored GESI Action Plans. Newer projects in particular demonstrated stronger and more context-specific approaches than earlier generations of projects.
The evaluation found that projects are increasingly moving from gender-sensitive approaches towards gender-responsive approaches, actively identifying barriers and opportunities for different stakeholder groups and designing interventions accordingly.
Why social inclusion matters
One of the strongest lessons emerging from the evaluation was the importance of looking beyond gender alone.
The experiences of projects showed that barriers to participation are often shaped by multiple and intersecting factors, including ethnicity, disability, age, income level, geography and social norms. Understanding these realities is essential for ensuring that climate interventions do not unintentionally exclude or disadvantage certain groups.
Rather than being an additional layer of complexity, an intersectional perspective helps projects identify risks early and strengthen their “do no harm” approach. It enables project teams to better understand who may benefit from climate investments, who may face barriers to participation, and what measures are needed to ensure more equitable outcomes.
This aligns closely with evolving international discussions on climate justice and inclusion, including the UNFCCC’s recently adopted Belém Gender Action Plan, which highlights the importance of addressing multiple and intersecting dimensions of inequality.
Strong ambition in technical sectors
The evaluation also highlighted the importance of maintaining ambition on gender equality even in highly technical sectors such as energy, transport and industry.
The Mitigation Action Facility has anchored its approach in the OECD DAC Gender Equality Policy Marker, ensuring that gender equality remains a distinct and significant objective across the portfolio. The evaluation found that this commitment has helped projects move beyond generic inclusion statements towards more concrete and measurable actions.
At the same time, it reinforced the need to continue broadening the lens to include wider dimensions of social inclusion, recognising that sustainable and just transitions require attention to a diversity of stakeholder groups.
Turning lessons into action: Developing the GAP 2.0
A core objective of the evaluation was not only to assess progress, but to inform future improvements.
The findings are now directly feeding into the development of the Mitigation Action Facility’s Gender Action Plan 2.0 (GAP 2.0), which will strengthen guidance, expectations and support for future projects.
Among the planned improvements are:
- stronger operationalisation of “do no harm” approaches;
- elevating social inclusion alongside gender equality throughout project design and implementation;
- clearer guidance on the role and resourcing of GESI focal points;
- enhanced support, peer learning and training opportunities for projects;
- stronger monitoring, evaluation and learning on GESI outcomes; and
- increased attention to sustaining GESI gains beyond project completion.
The objective is twofold: to encourage projects to aim higher while also providing clearer guidance and practical support on how to do so.
Continuous learning for more inclusive climate action
The evaluation demonstrates the value of learning-oriented approaches in climate finance. Rather than viewing evaluation as an end point, the Mitigation Action Facility sees it as an opportunity to continuously strengthen its approach and improve support to projects.
As countries accelerate efforts to implement their climate commitments, ensuring that mitigation actions are both effective and inclusive will become increasingly important. The lessons from the first Gender Action Plan show that integrating gender equality and social inclusion is not separate from climate action—it is part of making climate action more effective, sustainable and equitable.
The full evaluation report and summary publication are now available for download.
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