The CGIAR Climate Action Program has awarded six research grants to strengthen gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) research across its global climate initiatives.
The grants will support research on inclusive climate adaptation, equitable climate finance, and the impact of climate interventions on women’s empowerment. The initiative aims to generate stronger evidence on how climate solutions can better support vulnerable communities, including women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, and other marginalized groups.
Across food systems, these groups often face the highest climate risks while having limited access to resources, services, and decision-making opportunities. CGIAR Climate Action emphasized that effective inclusion requires more than measuring participation or collecting gender-disaggregated data. It requires addressing unequal power structures and ensuring vulnerable groups can actively shape climate solutions.
The grants were launched following a review that found GESI principles were already integrated across CGIAR Climate Action’s work but with varying levels of depth and consistency. A competitive call for proposals attracted 38 submissions from CGIAR Centers, with six projects selected through a peer review process.
The selected research projects focus on three key areas. The first area explores inequalities in locally led climate adaptation, including climate information services. Projects under this theme will study how gender norms influence adaptation decisions in Kenya, while another will examine how climate information tools can better support women farmers in Ghana and Nigeria.
The second focus area examines equity in climate finance and carbon markets. Research teams will investigate how climate-smart agriculture programs distribute benefits and costs, including a project in Uganda exploring improved systems for tracking carbon-credit rice initiatives. Another study in India will analyze whether climate risk information and insurance tools can improve women’s access to agricultural finance.
The third area focuses on measuring the impact of climate action on women’s empowerment. Research in India will test new tools for assessing women’s empowerment within climate programs and examine how digital climate advisory services affect the well-being of informal women workers.
The funded projects cover regions across East Africa, West Africa, and South Asia. Each initiative is connected to existing CGIAR Climate Action programs, ensuring that findings can directly contribute to ongoing research, policy development, and climate strategies.
The six grants are expected to deliver practical evidence, research tools, and approaches that help improve the design of climate interventions. CGIAR aims for these investments to ensure that climate action grows alongside stronger inclusion and greater benefits for communities most affected by climate change.
