What are the gendered impacts of climate change at household level in Sub Saharan Africa? How can the capacity of women and men be strengthened to better adapt to climate change and climate variability? This executive summary provides an analysis of the findings of eight case studies carried out in Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa. It finds that women cope better with the impacts of changing circumstances than men, as women are more likely to explore opportunities that enable them to cope better.

Women are generally excluded from discussions about energy plans and policies because of gender norms around appropriate roles for women and men, gender biases in education, and gender inequalities in employment status. Yet burning wood or other biomass fuels (such as fuelwood and animal dung) is a primary source of energy in many countries, and fetching and using these fuels is commonly viewed as women's work.

What impact do cash-transfers have on gender relations? There are two main ways in which cash transfer projects are seen as having potentially negative impacts on gender relations within recipient households. First, it is supposed that women are less likely to be able to command control over the use of cash within the household compared to certain types of in-kind assistance, namely food. Second, there are concerns that cash may be more prone than food aid to being used by men to purchase alcohol and cigarettes.

An analysis of the gender impacts of climate change can help us understand how different groups in society, even at the most micro-level, are differentially at risk from threats to their livelihoods. A gender analysis can also inform possible solutions for better protecting men and women against these potential impacts. This paper maps some of the impacts of climate change in the Bohlabela district of Limpopo province in South Africa, while also assessing local knowledge on climate change adaptation in terms of food security and livelihoods.

In order for climate change mitigation or adaptive strategies to succeed gender must be taken into account. These four position papers have been written to support Capacity Building, Leadership and Action (CBLA) - a project set up to provide assistance to South African industries to enable them to mitigate against Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions - by incorporating a gender perspective. The first paper draws the links between climate change, energy-use, gender relations and the impacts on every-day lives of poor women in Africa.