UN Climate Change News, 1 September 2020 – As the momentum to integrate gender into national climate policies and plans grows, UN Climate Change is organizing a series of virtual regional workshops to share knowledge and support countries in doing so. Following the Asia-Pacific virtual workshop which took place in July, the next regional workshop featuring Europe and Central Asia will take place on 2 September, with interested countries, civil society organizations and individuals invited to attend.

This series of workshops is especially important given that countries will submit new or updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2020.

NDCs are at the heart of the Paris Climate Change Agreement and embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Each NDC reflects the country’s ambition, taking into account its domestic circumstances and capabilities and is updated every five years, starting in 2020.  

Submitting a new or updated NDC in 2020 provides countries with the opportunity to mainstream gender considerations as one way to increase ambition by ensuring that the NDC takes social factors into account and provides a frame for more just and effective climate action. 

Encouragingly, there is a growing number of countries that aim to integrate gender into their climate planning. Of the updated or new NDCs that have already been submitted in 2020, seven include references to gender. Additionally, out of the 15 countries that participated in a survey on NDCs in Latin America, 80% indicated that they are planning to include gender in their enhanced NDC. The series of regional workshops aim to move this important work forward.  

During the July Asia-Pacific-focused workshop, over 150 government and civil society experts shared inspiring success stories, and lessons learned in integrating gender into national climate policies, plans, strategies and action. Workshop resources including the workshop recording and speaker presentations are available on the UNFCCC Gender website.

Participants were inspired by the leadership of the Philippines, who, beyond integrating gender into their nationally determined contribution (NDC), reformed institutions and prioritized collaboration between the Climate Change and Women Commission to further sustainable and inclusive policy and action. 

Another highlight in the region came from Nepal and its recently published national climate change policy which includes gender as a cross-cutting thematic area. The country plans to form a gender equality social inclusion thematic working group which will join the active Gender Working Group for Forests, Biodiversity and Climate Change. This builds on prior analysis demonstrating the importance of ensuring different types of vulnerabilities, including based on gender, are specifically considered during program design and program cycle management.

Discussion among participants was encouraged in order to facilitate information sharing of inspiring success stories beyond those countries that presented on the main floor. Participants heard from Kiribati regarding a gender analysis which informed its national adaptation plan, while Bhutan shared plans to consider how gender may be included in its NDC revision process.

The virtual environment allowed a wide range of actors, including grassroots experts who may not normally attend in-person events, to discuss in-depth regionally specific considerations in gender analysis, institutional arrangements, as well as alignment and coherence considerations. Additionally, interactive tools and breakout discussions allowed all participants to share their valuable perspective; this feedback was collected and is available on the UNFCCC Gender website.

At the UN Climate Change Conference COP 25, held in Madrid, Spain in December 2019, countries agreed the five-year work programme and gender action plan which forms the overarching international policy framework and agenda on gender and climate change, and highlights Parties’ key priorities and needs.  As part of this, countries acknowledged the need and committed to mainstreaming gender “through all relevant targets and goals in activities under the UN Climate Change Convention as an important contribution to increasing their effectiveness, fairness and sustainability”.  

Originally planned as in-session workshops under the Gender Action Plan (GAP), these regional workshops are now taking place as virtual workshops due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. UN Climate Change is organising virtual workshops from July to October 2020 and will conclude with an in-person session in 2021. Momentum has not slowed as interest in mainstreaming gender into climate action increases.

Additionally, the recently launched “Virtual Marketplace Document” enables countries and organizations to share solutions.

All regional workshops will include presentations on case/country examples and take place at the following times: 

Europe & Central Asia 2 September 1 pm CEST -- 2 pm UTC+3;  

Americas and the Caribbean 16 September 5 pm CEST --10 am UTC-5;  

Sub-Saharan Africa, 30 September 2 pm CEST -- 2 pm UTC+2;  

Middle East and North Africa 14 October 2 pm CEST -- 2 pm UTC +2 

There will be an opportunity for participants to engage in discussion and exchange experiences in working groups and through interactive tools.  All workshops are open for anyone to attend, but prior registration is necessary.  Interpretation will be available for the Americas and the Caribbean (Spanish), Sub-Saharan Africa (French) and Middle East and North Africa (Arabic) workshops. 

See here for more information and to find out more about other activities under the UNFCCC gender action plan, including the upcoming workshop in October dedicated to strategies and tools for effective engagement for National Gender and Climate Change Focal Points and anyone working at the intersection of gender and climate change.