How can climate policies meant to build resilience end up deepening inequality?
Dr Anika N. Haque explored this question by highlighting an often overlooked aspect of urban climate adaptation in developing countries: gendered maladaptation. Drawing on long-term research with women in low-income settlements in Dhaka, she demonstrated how climate policies and everyday coping strategies can unintentionally exacerbate gendered vulnerability and create adaptation lock-ins that hinder long-term progress.
She argued that the gap between high-level climate policies and people’s lived realities heightens this problem, noting that this mismatch is especially harmful for poor and marginalised groups. The discussion that followed stressed the need for more inclusive, gender-responsive urban climate policies and stronger collaboration between researchers, policymakers, and civil society in developing countries.
Dr Anika N. Haque is an Associate Professor in Human Geography and Environment at the University of York (UK). Her research focuses on urban inequality, climate change, and development, with long-term work in urban Bangladesh since 2009. She has contributed to major global assessments on cities and climate change, including IPCC-related work, and is the recipient of the 2023 AXA IM Research Award for her contributions to urban climate resilience research.
