climate stressors and shocks manifest. The feminist perspective considers climate change a shared priority and an issue of human security, emphasising that resilience cannot be strengthened without transforming the unequal power relations that shape access to resources, opportunities, and decision-making. Feminist analyses also underscore that a just transition must extend beyond phasing out male-dominated, high-emission industries. It must also reform the systems that perpetuate economic insecurity, informal labour, and undervalued care work (Harmeling et al., 2023). These structural barriers ultimately constrain women from attaining their rightful social and economic rights. Policy frameworks within the Asia-Pacific increasingly acknowledge these dynamics. The Paris Agreement and the SDGs serve as the foundation for national climate strategies, emphasising the integration of gender-responsive approaches into adaptation, capacity building, and disaster risk reduction(DRR). For example, the Maldives has implemented a gender-responsive climate change strategy, establishing a significant model for other small island states. Globally, female leadership from the region has demonstrated transformative influence. Sherry Rehman’s instrumental role in negotiations for the Loss and Damage Fund at the Conference of the Parties(COP) illustrates how women’s leadership can shape inclusive and justice-oriented climate diplomacy. Nonetheless, significant oversights persist. The complexities of gender inequalities, exacerbated by climate change, necessitate context-specific, intersectional approaches to translate commitments into tangible action(UNESCAP, 2023). While many governments in the region employ gender-sensitive language in climate and disaster strategies, these references often remain rhetorical, falling short of embedding feminist frameworks that recognise power relations, agency, and differentiated vulnerabilities. This gap limits the transformative potential of climate policy. For instance, Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, in their Nationally Determined Contribution(NDC) plans, make no reference to gender or women, nor do they acknowledge women’s agency and leadership in climate change mitigation and sustainable resource management (Papagioti, 2023). Such omission reflects a technocratic and depoliticised approach to climate governance, prioritising economic efficiency and carbon metrics over social justice and participation. Embedding feminist principles, by contrast, would shift the focus from narrow mitigation targets to more inclusive, people-centred approaches that enhance both social and ecological resilience. Women continue to be significantly underrepresented in leadership roles related to environmental issues throughout Asia and the Pacific region. Only seven per cent of ministries associated with the environment—such as those overseeing agriculture, energy, climate, fisheries, and transportation—are led by women, compared to a global average of 12 per cent(UN Women, 2023). This underrepresentation hampers the integration of feminist perspectives into climate governance, as evidenced by the limited gender considerations in just energy transition initiatives. Although women are primary energy consumers and managers and are uniquely positioned to promote the adoption of cleaner and more sustainable energy technologies, independent evaluations by CSOs highlight several persistent gaps. These include inadequate identification of gender-specific issues, the absence of gender-disaggregated data, limited consultation with women, local women’s rights organisations(WROs) and other marginalised groups, and an overall failure to address entrenched gender norms during implementation (UNESCAP, 2024a; Victorio& Lauranti, 2025). Therefore, Asia-Pacific countries’ selective strategies weaken the transformative power of feminist approaches to climate justice. A genuinely transformative climate agenda must centre lived experiences, community knowledge, and social equity, and prioritise the redistribution of power, voice, and resources—especially to those most affected by environmental degradation. By recognising women not merely as passive victims but as active agents such as farmers, negotiators, and community leaders, the region can move towards a fairer, more resilient, and more sustainable climate future for everyone. 2.3.4 Peace and Security Traditional security frameworks have long prioritised the protection of state sovereignty and military defence. However, feminist scholarship challenges this narrow conception and argues for a redefinition of security; one that encompasses human security, economic and social stability, and protection from threats such as domestic violence, rape, poverty, gender subordination, and ecological destruction(Caprioli& Boyer, 2001). Feminist literature also illuminates that the“security of the state” often coincides with the insecurity of women and marginalised groups, as state-centred approaches overlook the structural and everyday forms of violence that shape people’s lives(Wibben, 2020), especially when states themselves become agents of structural or physical violence. Feminist perspectives also critique the neoliberal practices and capitalist modes of production, which are themselves sources of gendered insecurity, as they reproduce hierarchies and economic exclusions. For feminist scholars, security is a global and multidimensional concept, encompassing political, economic, and ecological facets that are as important as its military dimensions. Analyses of the“continuum of violence” across the individual, state, and international levels enable a more nuanced understanding of how insecurity operates in both peacetime and wartime(Wibben, 2020). A feminist vision of security emphasises gender equality, women’s rights, demilitarisation, accountability frameworks, and the recognition of misogyny as a security risk(Cheung et al., 2021). 26 Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.