Doubling the Damage: World Bank Climate Investment Funds Undermine Climate and Gender Justice

Possible damage could arise from the CIFs. Specifically, this report points to the overall lack of gender perspectives in the funding, planning and implementation of similar World Bank projects to date. The paper draws attention to the disproportionate impact of climate change on poor people, and particularly women. It is critical of the lack of effort to involve women in consultations and policy processes that have resulted in initiatives such as the CIFs. The paper notes that women’s exclusion in this way is true for many of the international financial institutions responsible for disbursing funds, which tend to have weak operational procedures and policies in relation to gender, while those that do exist are poorly implemented and enforced across all sectors and institutions. The paper recommends that alternatives to CIFs be found, with the funds diverted to the UNFCCC Adaptation Fund. It calls for climate funding to be allocated as grants rather than policy-based loans, for more gender-aware procedures, and for civil society organisations to play an accountability role with regard to climate financing.