The Care and Climate Catalyst Program Asia

Women in the Asia-Pacific region perform over four times more unpaid care work than men, a burden that is intensified by climate-driven shocks such as droughts, floods and resource scarcity. As a result, women’s time poverty increases, their economic opportunities shrink and community resilience weakens — yet, these links remain largely invisible in national climate strategies and policies.

This project addresses that gap by targeting the intersection of gender, care and climate resilience, aiming to build resilient care systems that can adapt to climate change impacts. It will mobilize a wide range of stakeholders, generate context-specific evidence and catalyze a paradigm shift in how governments, communities and markets value and invest in care systems.

The project will combine applied research, regional policy reviews and practical pilots. These include climate-smart community care centres in India. It will also include linkages with key partners to tap into existing innovation pipelines and conduct applied research on scalable business models that reduce unpaid care burdens, expand women’s access to green and care jobs and strengthen climate resilience.

By 2027, the project will deliver: a validated regional framework on the care-climate nexus; piloted models that free women’s time and increase incomes; stronger networks linking grassroots actors to policymakers; and advocacy tools to embed care within regional and national climate strategies. The ultimate goal is to position care as a core dimension of climate action, creating systems that are more equitable, resilient and sustainable.