Climate justice and gender: a study of metropolitan Sydney local councils' climate policy : a thesis presented to the Department of Geography and Planning in the Faculty of Arts of Macquarie University, NSW in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Research (MRES)

Empirical evidence shows that men and women have different capacities to cope with climate change. Accordingly, they are affected by, and act differently during, climate events such as floods or bushfires, raising concerns for climate justice. However, research suggests that these 'climate sensitive gender differences' have not been addressed adequately in climate policies. Moreover, there has been little research considering the relationship between climate change and gender in developed countries. In this context, this research aims to explore how and why gender issues are incorporated within local councils' climate policies in metropolitan Sydney and the implications for climate justice. Through desktop mapping across all local councils in metropolitan Sydney and policy analysis and interviews in three case study councils, the research considers how councils are approaching climate issues in policies, how gender is currently addressed and the opportunities and challenges for addressing gender in climate policies. The research shows that local councils in metropolitan Sydney are at various stages in terms of formulating climate policies. While many of these climate policies have identified vulnerable populations, there is little consideration of gender within their policies. In practice, however, the councils do address gender issues, such as domestic violence or skills provision. In conclusion, the research shows that while there is 'no climate justice for gender' in the climate policies of metropolitan Sydney's, the practice of local councils allows for 'limited climate justice for gender'.