On 6 September, CABRI was invited to participate in a South-South exchange on, “Integrating gender equality and social inclusion in climate budgeting and planning processes & innovative climate finance in the Asia-Pacific Region”, which was held from 6-7 September in Jakarta, Indonesia.

In hybrid format, the workshop was hosted by the Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection of The Republic of Indonesia and the Ministry of Finance of Indonesia and convened under the auspices of the Gender and Social Inclusion (GSI) Expert Reference Group of the Climate Finance Network (CFN), co-chaired by UN WOMEN and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). CABRI partook in an experience-sharing roundtable along with representatives from Bangladesh, Fiji and Cambodia. The platform was an opportunity for us to share our experience of the Inclusive Budgeting and Financing for Climate Change in Africa (IBFCCA) programme, a partnership between CABRI, the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the UNDP.

The CFN builds on UNDP’s Strengthening the Governance of Climate Change Finance (GCCF) programme, which worked to mainstream climate considerations into national budgets, with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the British Department for International Development (DFID) since 2012. The goal of the CFN is that Governments in Asia and the Pacific mobilize and manage increased climate finance to combat climate change effectively while promoting gender equality, human rights, and poverty reduction leading to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

Objectives and expected outcomes

The objective of the workshop was to contribute to peer-to-peer learning for all relevant stakeholders in the discussions related to how to advance innovative and gender-responsive climate change financing processes and interventions and chart a way forward for better collaboration and greater effectiveness to enhance impacts. This workshop, presented as a multi-stakeholder and participatory learning event aimed to provide an opportunity to share experiences and ideas and gain knowledge and evidence across this complex topic, relevant to specific contexts and levels (national and subnational), and allowing to scale up and improve the effectiveness and tangible impact of efforts over time.

The workshop aimed to:

• Present country experiences to highlight entry points for better prioritization of climate finance budgeting that have traceable social inclusion, gender equality and poverty reduction co-benefits, including integrating various tools in budgetary systems and processes

• Explore the role of innovative financial mechanisms in unlocking gender-responsive and socially inclusive climate change (CC) finance

• Identify solutions for coordination and policy alignment across central, thematic and sub-national levels of government, integrated into sectoral and local systems and actions and capacity challenges, adequate M&E frameworks

• Discuss the role of CSOs, oversight institutions and Parliamentary Committees have potential to promote traceability and accountability over inclusive and gender-responsive CC finance

• Critically discuss the role of the GSI Reference Group and reinvigorate its network