This commentary examines the intersection of gender, resource governance, and climate politics in South Sudan’s fragile transitional period (2021–2023). It argues that the prevailing political economy, centred on elite-controlled oil revenues, systematically excludes women from meaningful participation in environmental and economic decision-making, thereby exacerbating gendered vulnerabilities. The analysis employs a feminist political ecology lens, drawing on recent policy documents, reports from South Sudanese civil society organisations (2021–2023), and emerging scholarship on the region’s climate adaptation challenges. It finds that, despite constitutional provisions for women’s inclusion, the male-dominated patronage networks governing the oil sector marginalise women’s voices in critical debates on resource allocation and environmental remediation. Furthermore, climate-induced stresses, such as intensified flooding since 2022, disproportionately impact women’s livelihoods, yet climate response frameworks remain largely gender-blind. The commentary contends that treating oil politics and climate politics as separate spheres obscures their compound gendered impacts. Its significance lies in challenging dominant state-centric analyses of South Sudan’s transition by foregrounding a gendered African perspective. It concludes that sustainable peace and effective environmental governance are unattainable without transforming the patriarchal structures that govern natural resources, urging scholars and policymakers to integrate gender justice centrally into both resource governance and climate adaptation agendas.