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Women across Asia and the Pacific region spend over four times more hours on unpaid care work than men — a gap that widens dramatically in rural and climate-vulnerable communities.
Source: UN Women Regional Outlook
About the Hub
The Asia-Pacific Care-Climate Hub is the first-of-its-kind regional knowledge and coordination platform dedicated to bridging the care economy and climate resilience agendas — with women's economic empowerment at its core. Anchored by Dharmalife Foundation gGmbH (Dharmalife Labs) and contributing to the UN Women's TransformCare Investment Initiative, the Hub brings together researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and advocates from across Asia and the Pacific region to generate evidence, co-create solutions, and shape inclusive, gender-responsive climate and care policies.
It is a living, growing platform — built to be a sustainable, institutionalized home for the care-climate movement in Asia and the Pacific region, well beyond any single project cycle.
The Care and Climate Catalyst Program Asia
A pioneering initiative funded by International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the program addresses the urgent and deeply intertwined challenges of unpaid care work and climate vulnerability across the Asia and the Pacific region. It aims to reimagine care systems, strengthen climate resilience, and advance women's economic empowerment — building on IDRC's work through the Care and Climate Initiative, UN Women's 2023 Care and Climate Nexus framework, UN Women's TransformCare Investment Initiative Asia-Pacific, and TAF's Regional Roadmap for Action on the Care Economy.
The Problem We Are Solving
Across Asia and the Pacific region, the climate crisis and the care crisis are deeply intertwined — and women bear the greatest impact of both.
11%
Only 11% of Nationally Determined Contributions globally mention women’s unpaid care work, leaving a critical policy blind spot at the heart of climate action.
Source: UNEP Gender Analysis
14-16 hrs/day
Women in climate-exposed rural areas spend 14-16 hours daily on care + water/fuel vs. 3-4 hours for men.
Source: IDRC Care & Climate Research
Climate-driven droughts, floods, and storms make basic care tasks — fetching water, sourcing cooking fuel, and providing for dependents — more time-consuming and physically demanding. These demands fall disproportionately on women and girls, who are least responsible for emissions yet most exposed to climate impacts.
Meanwhile, rising rates of climate-related illness and displacement increase caregiving demands within families and communities, further restricting women's access to economic opportunities and decent work.
Yet care systems remain almost entirely invisible within national climate policies. Across the region, only a single national climate plan includes concrete actions to reduce women's unpaid care workloads. This critical gap must be closed.
Three Critical Challenges We Address
1
Knowledge Gap
Lack of region-specific knowledge on the care-climate nexus across Asia and the Pacific region — and insufficient policy entry points for action.
2
Time Poverty
Women and girls lack time and opportunities for decent work because of disproportionate, climate-intensified care responsibilities.
3
Policy Invisibility
Governments and civil society have not yet institutionalized care within national climate responses, leaving a critical adaptation gap.
Our Approach: Three Interconnected Workstreams
The Care and Climate Catalyst Program Asia operates through an integrated, iterative three stage approach — combining research, innovation, community-driven implementation, and regional advocacy.
Connected by
Cross-Cutting Element: Knowledge Translation
Knowledge Translation is not a separate workstream — it is the connective tissue across all three workstreams. It ensures that evidence from our research is translated into clear, accessible, actionable knowledge for policymakers, practitioners, and women-led organizations. Knowledge Translation takes our findings and packages them as policy briefs, infographics, practitioner guides, and replication toolkits — turning research insights into on-the-ground impact
Piloting Climate-Smart Care Solutions Across Asia-Pacific
We are testing two complementary models that demonstrate how care and climate can be integrated at scale — one deepening grassroots implementation, the other expanding market-based innovations across the Region.
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Pilot 1 Better Skills, Better Care (India)Community-Based Model |
Pilot 2 Care & Climate Entrepreneurship AcceleratorMarket-Based Model (Asia-Pacific) |
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Location & Scale Rural India - 2 villages |
Location & Scale Asia-Pacific region - 2-3 women-led care/climate enterprises across multiple countries |
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What we're testing
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What we're testing
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Target Reach
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Target Reach
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Key Outcomes
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Key Outcomes
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Lead Partner Dharmalife Labs |
Lead Partner UN Women (ROAP) |
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Why it matters Demonstrates care and climate solutions can be delivered together at the community level, freeing up women's time for economic participation while building resilience through renewable energy and green skills. |
Why it matters Shows market-driven solutions can address the care-climate crisis while creating profitable, women-led businesses that attract private investment and scale rapidly across borders. |
What We Will Deliver By 2027
The program's four core public deliverables are:
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1 Validated Regional FrameworkEvidence-based framework for integrating care and climate in policy planning and programming across Asia-Pacific. This framework will guide governments, NGOs, and international organizations in mainstreaming care within climate action and development strategies. |
2 Piloted Care-Climate ModelsTested, scalable, locally-adapted solutions (including our India pilot) that address women's time poverty and build climate resilience. These models will be documented, costed, and ready for replication and scale-up across the region. |
3 Grassroots-to-Policymaker NetworksStrengthened platforms connecting women-led organizations, communities, practitioners, researchers, civil society advocates, and government bodies. These networks will enable sustained dialogue and collaborative action beyond the project cycle. |
4 Evidence-Based Advocacy ToolsToolkits, policy briefs, visual communications, and guidance documents for women's and civil society organizations to integrate care into national climate action plans, gender policies, and development strategies. |
Our Consortium
The Asia-Pacific Care-Climate Hub brings together a powerful coalition of organizations combining deep expertise in gender equality, care systems, climate resilience, applied research, and regional policy advocacy.
| Role | Partner | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Lead Institution | Dharmalife Foundation gGmbH (Dharmalife Labs) | Hub management and implementation. Extensive experience in care and green entrepreneurship, scalable solutions for women's economic empowerment, and driving climate-inclusive care delivery models across India and Asia and the Pacific region. |
| Consortium Partner | UN Women Regional Office for Asia-Pacific | Technical expertise on gender-transformative care systems and climate-sensitive policy integration. Strong networks with women's organizations, civil society, and care-climate enterprises. Leads ecosystem engagement through regional and national platforms. |
| Consortium Partner | The Asia Foundation | TAF will function as a regional partner, drawing on its care economy expertise and 70+ years of on-the-ground experience in Asia and the Pacific to finalize a conceptual framework on care and climate for the region, publish a policymaker engagement toolkit, and support stakeholder engagement and knowledge dissemination. |
| Academic Partner | London Business School (Wheeler Institute for Business and Development) | Ensures academic rigor in research design, monitoring, and institutional learning. Positions the program as a global reference point for care-climate-integrated solutions. |
| Academic Partner | Indian School of Business | Academic partner contributing research capacity and thought leadership on digital and networked dimensions of care and climate solutions in the Indian context. |
Theory of Change: Three Interconnected Outcomes
The program's integrated approach drives change across three reinforcing outcome areas:
Outcome 1: Policy Environment
National and regional climate and care policies become more integrated, gender-responsive, and accountable to women's time and economic needs. Governments adopt care-inclusive climate targets and allocate budget for care infrastructure in climate-vulnerable areas
Outcome 2: Economic Opportunities & Decent Work
Women gain time and economic opportunities through climate-smart care models that reduce time poverty while creating pathways to decent work, including green enterprises, skills training, and livelihood diversification.
Outcome 3: Social Norms Change
Gender norms shift toward shared care, with increased men’s participation in caregiving. Care is increasingly seen as a shared responsibility, not just women’s work. This shift is essential for sustainable change—without it, women remain time-poor. Our India pilot advances this through male engagement and community dialogue.
Get Involved
The Asia-Pacific Care-Climate Hub is a growing network and platform — and we want you to collaborate and be part of it
Researchers & Practitioners
Join the Hub's growing roster of researchers and practitioners working on care, climate, and gender in Asia and the Pacific region. We're building a community of evidence-generators, solution-builders, and knowledge-sharers
Organisations & Enterprises
Grassroots organisations, social enterprises, and women-led enterprises — register your interest to be notified when our regional solutions call opens. We're seeking partners ready to pilot and scale care-climate models.
Policymakers & Advocates
Engage with our frameworks, knowledge products, and advocacy toolkit to strengthen care-climate integration in your context. We're building tools for governments and civil society to mainstream care in national climate action.