ABSTRACT
Climate institutions at different levels – i.e. intergovernmental organisations, national, regional and municipal authorities as well as sectorial institutions – are authoritative key actors in climate policy-making. There are, however, often shortcomings in their policy-making, most prominently their prevalent focus on technical innovations and economic incentives, and the lack of attention to social dimensions. There are important climate-relevant social differences that deserve recognition. If social differences are left unattended, climate policy will likely reinforce existing inequalities, but it will also risk overlooking differential effects and ending up becoming ineffective and give rise to protests among groups who feel unjustifiably challenged by climate policies and decisions.
The chapter outlines a theoretical framework based on institutional approaches combined with gender and intersectional perspectives to explore both formal and informal climate institutions and how they work with gender and other intersecting social categories. The chapter discusses how such theoretical approaches can contribute to an increased understanding about power relations and social differences in climate policy-making and climate-relevant sectors in industrialised states and thereby highlight the challenges and opportunities for advancing gender equality, equity and social justice.
