The secretariat organised a virtual session to provide information on the events and negotiations on gender at COP 27.

The second part of the event was a scene-setting for Technical Dialogue on Gender Budgeting on Gender Day.

Presentations:

UNFCCC and WGC

UNFCCC Finance landscape 

UNDP Gender in Climate Finance Frameworks and NDCs

Did you miss it?

Watch the recordings in English, Spanish and French 

Meeting Room 1

Webcast available here

Background

The reports prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its sixth assessment cycle provide strong evidence of the differentiated impacts of climate change on the most vulnerable across regions, including women, indigenous peoples, migrants, and persons with disabilities. According to the AR6, about 3.3 to 3.6 billion people live in regions with high human vulnerability to climate change. Vulnerabilities vary by location and are shaped by intersecting processes of marginalization, including gender, class, race, income, ethnic origin, age, level of ability, sexuality, and nonconforming gender orientation.

Understanding the positive and negative connections between climate action and gender equality goals is essential both to avoid exacerbating existing gender-based inequalities and to foster gender-transformative and effective climate action. In most parts of the world, the role of women and other marginalised groups in implementing meaningful, effective, and long-lasting climate-resilient policies and promoting necessary systemic changes continues to be underestimated and undervalued yet is essential to achieve low-carbon and climate-resilient development for all. While the AR6 highlights the value of inclusive governance to overcome the climate crisis, successful examples of integrating gender in climate policies remain rare. Governance arrangements and practices still need to be improved to reduce risk and facilitate climate-resilient development.

If we are to close the adaptation and mitigation gaps, there is a need to move beyond short-term planning to develop long-term, concerted pathways that include enabling conditions for gender-transformative climate action. Empowering women and educating men towards inclusive decision-making could lead to improvements in both mitigation and adaptation efforts. Policies that increase the political access and participation of women and other marginalised groups, increase the democratic impetus for climate action. Thus, gender-transformative, inclusive, equitable and just adaptation and mitigation pathways are critical for low-carbon and climate-resilient development.

In line with the 5-year enhanced Lima work programme on gender and its Gender Action Plan (GAP), the SBI-SBSTA will present relevant key findings from AR6.

Mandate

At COP 25, Parties agreed a 5-year enhanced Lima work programme on gender and its gender action plan (Decision 3/CP. 5). Activity A.4 of the Gender Action Plan (GAP), invites Parties, relevant organizations, the research community and the IPCC to participate in an event to present relevant information upon publication of the Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC. This special event by the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) will be held at COP 27 (November 2022).

Key Objectives

1. Disseminate key findings of the AR6 on gender and climate change
2. Raise awareness about the importance of diversity among IPCC contributors to enhance the plurality of perspectives in reports
3. Promote understanding of the differentiated impacts of climate change and non-inclusive climate action on gender equality, and the need for inclusive governance to achieve climate resilient development for all
4. Discuss pathways for gender-transformative climate action

Agenda

New! The report on the Joint dialogue on advancing the leadership and highlighting the solutions of local communities and indigenous women in climate policy and action is available here.

Images: UNFCCC Flickr

A dialogue to highlight the climate solutions led by women from indigenous peoples and local communities in terms of local resilience and climate stability and to understand how to advance their leadership in international and national climate policymaking and action.

General background

Every day, women from indigenous peoples and local communities significantly contribute to achieving climate change targets. Their leading agency in innovating and transmitting the traditional knowledge necessary to cope with the effects of climate change has been crucial to guaranteeing resilience and inter-generational equity in entire communities living at the frontline of climate change. As it has been recognized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Sixth Assessment Report, both women and indigenous peoples constitute an important asset to enhancing Parties’ action and ambition and facilitating climate resilient development. The report further highlights those developing partnerships with both women and indigenous peoples in the framework of climate action.  

The Paris Agreement also acknowledges that Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity. The proactive role of women, indigenous peoples and local communities in climate action is key to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. The agreement also invites Parties to foster gender equality and empower women, and enhances gender-responsive adaptation action, taking into consideration vulnerable groups, communities and ecosystems (Article 7, paragraph 5). 

In line with the 5-year enhanced Lima work programme on gender and its Gender Action Plan (GAP) and the second three-year workplan of the Facilitative Working Group of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP), a joint dialogue will be dedicated at COP 27 to discussing the enhancement of indigenous women climate leadership.  

Concept note

The concept note of the event is available here.

Agenda

The recording of the first part of the Joint Dialogue is available here.

 The continuation of the Joint Dialogue took place on 10 November 2022, in meeting room 20, area E at 16:00. Recording available here.  

14 November 2022

The role of women in dealing with all aspects of the climate change challenge is central, crucial and indispensable. Women continue to bear a disproportionate burden from the adverse impacts of climate change, and despite some progress having been made over recent years, the gender perspective needs further work to be fully integrated into the processes of formulating and implementing policies and actions on the ground. The Gender Day aims to bring this issue to the forefront and to provide a platform to discuss existing challenges and to share success stories from around the world with a view to increasing awareness and sharing experiences and promoting gender sensitive and responsive policies, strategies and actions. The day will shed light on the woman’s role in adapting to climate change.

Dialogue on Gender Budgeting on Gender Day

15:00 - 16:30

Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

Meeting Room 20

Webcast available here

Climate, finance and gender are not stand-alone, independent topics. The climate crisis exacerbates existing gender inequalities, making the need for responsible gender budgeting crucial to narrow gender gaps and mitigate women and girls’ disproportional vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. While strong efforts have been carried out in recent years by governments, international institutions and civil society organizations to mainstream gender budgeting tools, the integration of gender and climate into budget execution and implementation remains a challenge.

The dialogue discussed the concept of gender-budgeting and how it addresses gaps in funding for readiness and implementation of gender-responsive climate policy and action. Public finance can build confidence, de-risk or lower the risk for private investments and generally create a more conducive environment for project and private sector financing at the nexus of gender and climate change.

The in-Session Dialogue on Gender Budgeting at the Gender Day, a mandated activity under the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan seeks to raise awareness and enhance coherence on gender budgeting in the context of climate policy.

Related information:

COP 27 Presidency events on Gender Day are available here

National Gender and Climate Change Focal Points (NGCCFPs) met on 15 November 2022. 
A summary of the meeting will be shared with NGCCFPs.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of some of the gender events that took place at COP 27, organized by Partners and relevant organizations:

• WGC and WEDO key events
• Youth as Key Leaders in Transforming Climate Promises into Inclusive Action
• Women led Cooperative Climate Finance lending to build resilient community- A case study of Nepal
• Reaching Women Farmers with Climate Resilience Strategies in Africa and Asia
• From CSW66 to COP27: Ensuring accountability for gender-transformative climate action
• Gender-just climate finance: from barriers to actionable solutions
• Feminist Action for Climate Justice – Interactive Panel discussion and dialogue
• The Role of Gender Equality for a Just, Sustainable and Climate Resilient Energy Transition
• Accelerating gender-smart and inclusive climate finance through public and private investments
• Enhancing climate action through rights-based, gender-responsive, and integrated approaches
•  Nordic & African Leaders: Why Gender is Key to the Green Transition
• Women for Climate Justice Leading Solutions on the Frontlines of Climate Change
• Showcasing Gender Just Climate Solutions for inclusive global action
• A Food System in Crisis: Gender equitable responses to build resilience to climate and other shocks
• Tackling the Triple Planetary Crisis by Promoting a Gender-Transformative Just Transition
• For food Sovereignty: Voices and proposals from the women of the Global South
• Burning Critical: Where science leads & where must politics dare to go: Reversing Loss & Damage
• Delivering a gender-responsive just transition
• Empowering & Mobilizing Girls & Young Women Climate Entrepreneurs
• Women in Climate Action
• Seeds for equality: young women shaping regenerative agriculture and empowering female farmers in the Global South