The Gender and Youth in Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategies document is an Insight Brief published by the NDC Partnership in February 2024. It reviews how gender equality and youth engagement are included in countries’ Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategies (LT-LEDS) and identifies gaps and opportunities to strengthen inclusion in long-term climate planning.
Key insights:
By September 2023, 45 NDC Partnership country members had submitted LT-LEDS to the UNFCCC.
Among the 45 reviewed LT-LEDS, only 9 countries included significant consideration of both gender and youth, showing a clear gap in inclusive long-term planning.
Gender and youth are often mentioned in stakeholder engagement, but less often translated into concrete sectoral actions, targets, monitoring systems, or implementation measures.
The energy sector had the highest number of gender references, while education was a major priority area for youth inclusion.
Examples highlighted include Tonga, Chile, Morocco, Fiji, Ethiopia, Nepal, Cambodia, Tunisia, and Mexico.
The brief recommends deeper integration of gender and youth in LT-LEDS, stronger whole-of-society engagement, use of gender and youth experts, capacity building for public officials, and better monitoring and evaluation.
Main message: Long-term climate strategies should not only plan for low emissions, but also ensure that women and youth are meaningfully included in planning, implementation, and monitoring.
