Pathways to Gender-Responsive and Inclusive NDCs

The report presents a global stocktake of how countries supported under UNDP’s Climate Promise have integrated Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) planning and implementation between 2019 and 2024. Drawing on evidence from 134 countries and 275 policy instruments, tools, and processes, it assesses progress under two flagship initiatives, the Pledge to Impact Programme and the NDC Support Programme, focused on second-generation NDCs.

The report identifies eight key entry points through which countries operationalize GESI: institutional coordination, capacity development, stakeholder engagement, GESI analysis, planning instruments, finance strategies, transparency systems and policy coherence. These entry points provide a practical framework for embedding gender and inclusivity across the full NDC cycle.

Findings show growing momentum, with 84 countries systematically integrating GESI into NDC planning and implementation processes. Particularly, integration of gender equality and women’s empowerment are furthest developed, followed by youth engagement and empowerment, while progress on inclusion of other groups, such as Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities and older persons, remains uneven. Further gaps remain in coordinated and systematic implementation, access to inclusive climate finance and availability of disaggregated data.

The report highlights a wide range of concrete country practices that demonstrate how countries are integrating GESI into NDC processes. It concludes with strategic recommendations to strengthen policy integration, scale up inclusive finance, improve data systems and embed GESI in just transition frameworks.