Gender equality and climate change in plural legal contexts: A critical analysis of Kenya's law and policy framework

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Abstract: Although the UN 2030 Development Agenda and several international,regional and local laws and policies in Kenya recognize the importance of ensuring and integrating gender equality,on the one and,and climate change mitigation and adaptation,on the other,these laws and policies continue to sideline women and face implementation challenges. The challenges abound because the policies and laws are characterized by incongruences that fail to recognize three things. First,as a threat multiplier,climate change impacts on both women’s livelihoods and their participation in decision making,limiting their choices and silencing their voices in climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. Second,women’s knowledge and experiences have not been integrated into mainstream knowledge on climate governance. Despite the acknowledgment that women are important agents of change,women’s knowledge on climate governance,like other forms of women’s knowledge,has been left out of the science of climate justice. Third,implementation challenges persist in the African context,especially because of discrepancies between the so-called formal and informal legal contexts and norms. This chapter uses Kenya’s law and policy framework on gender equality and climate change to explore these incongruences,especially as they occur in informal legal settings.