Women-led decarbonisation initiatives

State of implementation/results

• The first step has been to build the capacities of local women’s organizations and create community groups led by grassroots women that will collectively work on the decarbonization initiatives.
• The project has organised consultations in the three targeted Indonesian cities: Yogyakarta, Makassar and Ambon. These were attended by women from the communities, government officials and community representatives. The stakeholders were introduced to the project and learnt about its objectives and next steps.
• Afterwards the implementation of the Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) began in six communities in the three aforementioned cities. The meetings were titled "Why decarbonisation is a feminist issue?" Local feminist organisations that organised the discussions accommodated the daily lives and needs of the participating community women in relation to their time limitations, and the lack of spaces that could accommodate a safer space for the gatherings of women. They also found a common language. These steps were necessary to accommodate age differences, local languages and terminology that was accessible to everyone, and to enable discussion of sensitive topics. More than one hundred women in Makassar, Ambon and Yogyakarta have already participated in the FPAR, developing their understanding of a feminist decarbonization pathway.
• The FPAR in the communities resulted in initial ideas for decarbonization. So far, the grassroots women’s groups have identified the following possible decarbonization initiatives: greening of their communities e.g. by planting mangroves and community gardens in their villages, recycling of household "waste"; sustainable transport via green alleys (which are currently occupied by motorcycles); and using solar panels.
• Through the regular meetings with the participating grassroots women they have shared that their understanding and awareness of decarbonisation issues is growing, and that they are increasingly empowered to share their views as well as enthusiastic to work on decarbonization. This translates into raising awareness among their respective community members about learnings of the interlinkages of gender, climate, and decarbonisation, to encourage other women and their communities’ members to adopt an eco-friendly lifestyle and also share their needs and views also with respective village governments and government agencies.
• A participating woman from Tallo in South Sulawesi (Makassar) summarised her learnings by saying that: “I just learned that women and men have the same rights. From this discussion, I realize that women roles aren’t limited in home. Women are able to delivered their voice and speak out about problems of climate change. We also happy that our voice and planning can be heard.”

Latest Update:
12/2025