Cabo Verde held its first Forum on Gender and Climate Change on July 8–9. This pioneering initiative, together with the publication of the Study on Gender and Climate Change, underlines the importance of understanding the differentiated impacts of climate change and sets the theme for this issue of the Portal do Clima newsletter.

We know that gender and climate are cross-cutting issues. Men and women, boys and girls, play different social roles, are still perceived differently, and, as a result, are affected differently by the impacts of climate change. So, how can we best address this intersection? How can we adapt to a changing climate while taking our gender-specific needs into account?

To help answer these questions, the Cabo Verdean Institute for Gender Equality and Equity (ICIEG) signed an operational partnership agreement with the Climate Action Programme, supported by Luxembourg cooperation. The main goal of this agreement is to update and operationalize the Gender Observatory, contributing to the effective implementation of Cabo Verde’s National Gender Indicators System, now incorporating a climate dimension. Within this framework, the following actions were planned:
(i) the development of the Study on Gender and Climate Change in Cabo Verde,
(ii) the production of a dedicated infographic,
(iii) capacity-building sessions for ICIEG, the National Institute of Statistics (INE), and the Interministerial Gender Committee on cross-cutting gender and climate indicators, and
(iv) the organization of Cabo Verde’s first Forum on Gender and Climate Change.

With the Forum now successfully held and the study published, we have every reason to dedicate the ninth edition of the Portal do Clima newsletter to Gender, featuring contributions that draw on the study’s findings and explore the gender–climate nexus across key sectors such as fisheries, energy, rural development, and human health, culminating with the inspiring perspective of young female leadership.

This work will only be truly complete when the upcoming review of the National Gender Equality Plan (PNIG) integrates climate as a cross-cutting dimension, making the most of the revision process scheduled for next year.