First global agreement on gender and climate in sight at COP15
With just two days remaining before the end of COP-15, the world waits for a clear signal on the importance of human impacts of climate change via landmark agreement on gender equality and women's leadership.
16.12.2009 |Press Release WEDO
As the number of pages in the negotiation text continues to decrease, there is a risk of losing language that is critical for on-the-ground implementation of a global climate change agreement. This is particularly true of technical language on gender equality and women's leadership—at the Bonn negotiation there were at least 43 references to gender in the text. After the 5th meeting in Barcelona these were reduced to three references. However, through the hard work of advocacy members of the Global Gender and Climate Alliance (GGCA)—an alliance of 13 United Nations and 25 civil society organization formed to ensure the global climate change agreement is gender responsive—this week has seen a resurgence in party support of gender in the text, with currently 6 references in the Ad hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action and, for the first time, a reference to women’s leadership in the Ad hoc Working Group on the Kyoto Protocol.
The references that are currently in the text are not only more numerous but focus on gender equality and women as agents of change. Some examples include: “follow a country-driven, gender-sensitive approach to adaptation” and “give active consideration to the nomination of women as members and alternate member of the Executive Board” of the clean development mechanism under the AWG-KP. These and four other references the GGCA Advocacy Team is recommending remain in the text.
A wide range of governments from all regions have supported the gender text, including Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Switzerland, Finland, Austria, South Africa, Grenada, among others. At COP-15 the United States has also been vocal about the importance of including gender equality references in the text.
Rebecca Pearl, GGCA Coordinator, noted, "There is a lot at stake in this potential global agreement linking climate change and gender equality. The UNFCCC Secretariat will have a stronger mandate from parties to promote women's leadership in country programs on adaptation and mitigation, and to ensure that the often differing needs of women and men are considered in the initiatives and funds that are developed on climate change. Indeed, half of the world's population will suddenly come into the picture."
The GGCA, in partnership with Denmark, Finland, and other governments, is hosting a high-level side event from 13:00-14:30 on 17 December 2009 entitled Investing in Women’s Leadership for Climate Change Solutions. This event will feature the Presidents of Finland and the Philippines and U.S. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. Shortly following this event there will be a photo shoot, I am an Agent of CChange, with 100 women and men standing up for gender equality. Please RSVP to rachel@wedo.org.
Contact: Rachel Harris, GGCA Media Coordinator, rachel@wedo.org, 00447 872 241 332
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