Women's civil society organisations and the diffusion of the international climate-gender norm. A comparative qualitative study on the diffusion of the climate-gender nexus through implementation processes in Serbia and North Macedonia

Abstract: The gendered issues of climate change have been acknowledged by the international community, which has led to the creation of policies addressing the climate-gender nexus. Through this international institutionalisation, the climate-gender nexus has become an international norm. The diffusion of international norms to national contexts has regularly not been an easy task as they are often vague and open to interpretation. Hence, implementation in practice varies, which may inhibit the norm from achieving its initial goal. Additionally, women’s movements have been acknowledged as influential actors when it comes to pressuring their states to implement international norms and policies. The thesis investigates the diffusion of the climate-gender nexus in two European Union accession countries, Serbia, and North Macedonia, through the perspectives of women’s civil society organisations (WCSOs). The purpose is to provide a bottom-up approach to international norm diffusion research and to investigate the opportunities for WCSOs to influence national climate policymaking. Data was collected through 12 semi-structured interviews with representatives from WCSOs and an analysis of 11 policies on the climate-gender nexus. A thematic analysis was applied where the themes; Climate-gender, Interpretation, Implementation in practice, Opportunities, Challenges, and Influence, were used to analyse the data. The findings of the study show that there were various interpretations of the climate-gender norm, and WCSOs provided perspectives of lacking implementation, paper compliance, and persisting patriarchal norms inhibiting their level of influence. Finally, the study argues that WCSOs perspectives in climate policymaking are needed in order for the climate-gender nexus to properly diffuse.