Supported by Gates Foundation and GIZ

With support from the Gates Foundation and GIZ, we’re developing the world’s first validated Climate Change Stress Scale focused on gender and gender-based violence. This new tool will help researchers, policymakers, and practitioners understand how climate-related stress affects people’s lives—particularly women, girls, and marginalised communities—and how these impacts intersect with health, safety, and wellbeing.

2025 (Phase One)

The project runs from 2024-2026, with qualitative research taking place in Ethiopia, Zambia, Lesotho, and Pakistan in 2025. This is the first phase of a larger multi-year initiative that will ultimately scale globally.

Climate change is deepening gender inequality—and we lack the data to respond.

Women and girls are disproportionately affected by climate change through displacement, economic insecurity, increased unpaid care, and exposure to violence. Yet there is no standardised tool to measure these impacts, meaning critical experiences are left out of data, policy, and funding decisions. This project aims to close that gap—so that those most affected are no longer excluded from the solutions.

We’re combining desk-based reviews, expert consultations, and in-depth fieldwork with communities experiencing climate stress. Guided by feminist and intersectional approaches, our team will co-design and validate a new scale that can be embedded into global data systems. We’re also engaging with key stakeholders and regional bodies like SADC to ensure the tool is useful, scalable, and widely adopted.

Looking Ahead
This is the foundation for longer-term work. A future phase will include quantitative testing across multiple countries and full integration into existing data systems. Our goal is to position the Climate Change Stress Scale as a global public good—ready for use by governments, researchers, and multilateral. It has the potential to influence climate adaptation strategies, GBV prevention efforts, and financing decisions—helping ensure that those most affected are no longer left out of the data or the solutions.

This is more than a research project - it’s a pathway to transform how the world understands and responds to the gendered dimensions of climate change.