COP30 nature agenda: Modest wins, missed opportunities, and the urgent case for coherent action COP30 was promising in its symbolism, with the over 900 Indigenous Peoples in the Blue Zone, and an agenda that elevated Indigenous voices, rights and nature finance. But by the close of the final plenary, there was only evidence of small incremental changes – not the bold and ambitious outcomes needed to support transformative change, say CDKN EbA Thematic Lead, Nadia Sitas, and CDKN Senior Technical Advisor, Mairi Dupar.

New UNFCCC Gender Action Plan finds nuance in women’s needs and opportunities By Mairi Dupar and Patricia Bamanyaki. Gender equality is currently under threat. Governments are sidelining it in policy making; international agreements and negotiated texts are backsliding on once accepted gender language; and donors are retreating from prioritising gender financing. Without bold and transformative action, the hard-won gains of women and marginalised groups risk being erased.

What would be a strong outcome for the global goal on adaptation at COP30? There are high expectations that COP30 will adopt a package to measure progress on climate adaptation, but several elements must fall in place for a decision that is robust. The following article explores what a strong outcome for the global goal on adaptation at COP30 would look like – written by Mairi Dupar, senior technical advisor at CDKN, based at ODI (UK), and was originally published on the ODI website.

Empowering women through forest-based enterprises in Nepal This case study explores how grassroots women-led forest enterprises in Nepal are turning traditional knowledge into eco-products that boost incomes and support sustainable forest management. Written by Mairi Dupar, senior technical advisor at CDKN, and Kanchan Lama, a senior gender expert and Indigenous People's champion from Nepal, it was published as a background paper for the Asian Development Bank's Asia Pacific Climate Report 2025.

T20 Policy brief: Pathways to integrating adaptation and resilience into financial transition plans for climate-resilient development South African think tank initiative, T20, which is providing guidance to South Africa’s G20 presidency, has published a short policy brief calling for a shift in transition finance priorities as part of its accelerating climate action and the just energy transition taskforce. The brief was written by SSN programme leads Samson Mbewe and Phatsimo Rahman, Mairi Dupar, senior technical advisor for CDKN, based at ODI Global (UK), and SSN and CDKN director Dr Shehnaaz Moosa.

Gender and social inclusion: Time to stop outsourcing? Gender and social inclusion aren’t optional; they’re the backbone of lasting change. Yet, too often this work is outsourced to external parties. The following blog, by Patricia Bamanyaki and Mairi Dupar, explores how to overcome this challenge. It forms part of a series sharing insights from CDKN’s recent Locally led adaptation learning and reflection workshop.

‘Gender lens’: the approach that low-carbon businesses cannot do without Gender lens approaches are business models, management and operations that promote the economic empowerment of women. New evidence from the Gender Equality in a Low Carbon World (GLOW) programme makes the case that climate-smart businesses require a gender lens approach to meet their full potential for economic sustainability and positive climate impact.

Governments agree constellation of adaptation targets to guide local to global action CDKN's Mairi Dupar shares her hopes about the new framework for the global goal on adaptation, agreed at COP28 in Dubai this morning. Once intended to be a 'guiding star' for adaptation, it's evolved into more of a 'constellation', which has the potential to galvanise the action and investment the world urgently needs.

Lecciones para el GST: aprender de las y los pioneros locales en adaptación para mejorar la acción climática transformadora Un hallazgo destacado de la primera Revisión Global (GST) de la CMNUCC es que los países deben respaldar "transformaciones sistémicas" que incorporen el desarrollo resiliente al clima para intensificar nuestra respuesta a la crisis climática. Pero, ¿cómo pueden los estados miembros de la ONU en la COP28 responder a este llamado sin tener una idea tangible de cómo se ve esto en la práctica?

Study finds Locally Led Adaptation efforts hampered by lack of national and global support A new report, Lessons from Local Adaptation Practice 2023 released today by the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) and CDKN finds that global and national systems are not changing fast enough in response to the needs of local communities racing to adapt to climate change to secure their survival.

Lessons for the GST: Learning from local adaptation pioneers to enhance transformational climate action A headline finding of the first-ever UNFCCC Global Stocktake (GST) is that countries need to support “systems transformations” that mainstream climate resilient development to step up our response to the climate crisis. But how can UN member states at COP28 respond to this call without a tangible sense of what this looks like in practice?

A call to action for gender-just, low-carbon economies At COP28 in Dubai, governments will negotiate a political statement and commitment to further action on 'just transitions'. Sign this call to action for gender-just, low-carbon economies, to raise the profile of women's empowerment as a critical consideration for the climate talks and COP28 decision.