Gendered Climate Vulnerability and Adaptation in the Himalayas: A Feminist and Intersectional Systematic Review (2015–2025)

Abstract

Gender has become a central analytical lens for understanding climate change vulnerability and adaptation; however, scholarship from the Himalayan region remains fragmented and largely descriptive, with limited engagement with power, inequality, and long-term transformation. This systematic review critically synthesizes 30 peer-reviewed empirical studies published between 2015 and 2025 to examine gender-differentiated vulnerabilities, adaptive practices, and institutional responses to climate change across the Himalayas. Guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) 2020 framework, studies were identified through Google Scholar and ScienceDirect and were analyzed thematically. The review identifies six interconnected themes: gendered climate vulnerability, women’s agency in adaptation, migration and labor dynamics, indigenous knowledge and agroecological practices, underrecognized adaptive labor, and patriarchal and structural constraints. Beyond mapping these patterns, the review reveals persistent gaps, including limited operationalization of intersectionality, the romanticization of women’s resilience, and weak linkages between local adaptation practices and formal governance. The findings underscore the need for longitudinal, intersectional, and gender-transformative approaches that address structural inequalities and embed gender justice within climate adaptation planning in mountain regions.