Climate change adaptation interventions in cities of LMICs from a gender lens: A qualitative systematic review of intervention features and implementation issues

Extreme climatic events like heat waves, floods, and droughts affect men and women from the marginalized sections differentially. The vulnerability to climate change is exacerbated by the intersection of gender with other inequalities such as class, social status, and location. This review attempts to develop a typology of climate change adaptation (CCA) interventions to tackle extreme weather events resulting from climate change in urban settings in low- and middle-income countries. The peer-reviewed publications as well as grey literature studies in English describing CCA interventions and their implementation are eligible for this review.
A comprehensive and systematic search strategy relying on searching multiple academic databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, PLOS Climate, Cochrane, and Campbell libraries, supplemented by grey literature searches, citation tracking, and hand searches of selected journals is used. The study selection, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment of studies are done by two researchers.
The intervention features are synthesized using the TIDIeR checklist. Also, a gender analysis of the included intervention designs is done to assess where the interventions may be placed along a spectrum of various approaches spanning from gender-blind, gender-neutral, and gender-accommodative to gender-transformative. The implementation issues are analyzed using a thematic synthesis.
The findings of the review are useful in assessing the constituents of varied CCA interventions, the barriers and facilitators in implementing interventions, and also to see whether these interventions are gender-responsive. Equity, climate justice, social justice, and inclusion-focused actions promote climate-resilient development, lessen trade-offs, and more sustainable results (IPCC 2023: 4.4). This review is thus important from the SDGs perspective as well as towards developing resilient societies.