Gender

Why Does Gender Matter for Climate Change?

Women and men who depend on agriculture across developing regions have different vulnerabilities and capacities to deal with the impacts of climate change. Gender-differentiated access to resources and financial, information, and extension services often leaves women less able to adapt. This often stands in the way of women’s empowerment in general and their role in relation to climate change adaptation and mitigation in particular.

While there are differences among households, communities, and regions — and while gender roles and relations are dynamic and changing –numerous women involved in food production are also responsible for ensuring household water supply and energy for heating and cooking. As climate change impacts increase, these tasks become more difficult. At the same time, women’s knowledge and coping strategies provide them with innovative ways to adapt to changing environmental realities. Their strategies to deal with climate variability often remain an untapped resource.

Climate action in the past has proven that involving women and men in all decision-making processes is a significant factor in meeting the climate challenge and achieving the long-term objectives of the Convention. This is particularly important since women and men may hold different knowledge and experience and play different roles in climate change adaptation and mitigation. Yet, women tend to be underrepresented in the decision-making on climate change at all levels, which severely limits their ability to contribute and implement solutions and apply their expertise

How has gender been integrated in the UNFCCC?

Gender equality is increasingly recognized as a key issue in global policy, including climate change, but did not feature formally in the UNFCCC until 2001. Parties to the UNFCCC agreed on the first text of gender equality and women’s participation in decision-making in the Convention (Decision 36/CP.7). In 2009, the UNFCCC established the Women and Gender Constituency, which enabled direct participation from the group in the UNFCCC meeting, and helped advance the ability to advocate for more gender-sensitive policies and decisions.

Direct engagement and participation have contributed to further inclusion and awareness of gender under the Convention and in the decisions of Parties.

• In 2010, the ‘Shared Vision’ section of the Cancun agreement included a specific mention of the importance of gender noting that “gender equality and the effective participation of women and indigenous peoples are important for effective action on all aspects of climate change”.
• Further progress was achieved in 2012 with Decision 23/CP.18 on gender balance and women’s participation, which also requested a workshop be held on gender balance in decision-making and in climate policy.
• A decision in 2013 (FCCC/SBI/2013/L.16.) signaled additional advances on gender issues. Parties agreed to extend the work under the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and to establish a two-year programme of work on gender balance under the Convention and workshops on gender-sensitive climate policy; as well as capacity building, training and awareness rising for delegates; and the monitoring of gender balance, gender budgeting and gender-sensitive climate policies and actions by Parties.

In addition to these specific decisions targeted to improving gender balance and raising the profile of gender issues in the Convention, numerous decisions have included aspects related to gender, whether relating to gender balance in the Convention, gender-sensitive policies or specifically referring to women. Most of these have been focused on adaptation but gender considerations are also included across other topics such as mitigation, finance and technology transfer.

Gender representation in the UNFCCC

• On the UNFCCC, the varying levels of gender parity of staff and participation within the Bodies is changing from year to year. In 2015, the representation of women varied between 40% in the Joint Implementation Supervisory Committee (JISC) and the Compliance Committee facilitative branch and 6% in the Advisory Board of the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN).
• The representation of women among heads of Party delegations to each of the sessions, since the publication of the previous report on gender composition in 2014, has varied between 26 % at COP 20 and 33% at the eighth part of the second session of the ADP.
• In 2015 four female delegates were elected as Chair or Co-Chair of a constituted body, while none were elected for the position of Vice-Chair. 

What can we expect in 2015?

Gender is currently featured in the preamble section of the negotiating text. Unfortunately, with no direct mention of agriculture in the text any longer, there are no linkages made between gender, agriculture and food security.

• Page 10 (preamble): “Emphasizing the importance of respecting and taking into account human rights, gender equality, the rights of indigenous peoples, intergenerational concerns, and the needs of particularly vulnerable groups, including women, children and persons with disabilities, when taking action to address climate change, as well as of aligning actions with the goal of promoting food security, restoration of degraded lands, national health policies, participation in environmental decision-making by civil society and individuals, and a just transition of the workforce and creation of decent work and quality jobs in accordance with nationally defined development priorities and strategies;”
• Page 13 (article 35c on adaptation): “Involve and facilitate the participation of relevant stakeholders, in particular women and indigenous peoples, in planning, decision-making, and monitoring and evaluation, and give priority to the poorest and most vulnerable communities and people;”

A short chronology of gender in the UNFCCC

• COP 7 (Marrakech, 2001): Decision 36/CP.7 calls on all parties to enable women to “participate fully in all levels of decision-making relevant to climate change”. Decision 28/CP.7 states preparation of National Adaptation Plans must be guided by gender equality.
• COP 15/ CMP 5 (Copenhagen, 2009): The Women and Gender Constituency (WGC) is established as one of the nine UNFCCC stakeholder groups.
• COP 16/ CMP 6 (Cancún, 2010): UNFCCC Cancun Agreements include eight references to gender and climate change in outcome text, and recognizes that gender equality and the effective participation of women are important for effective climate action on all aspects of climate change.
• COP 17/ CMP 7 (Durban, 2011): The governing instrument for the Green Climate Fund is adopted and includes a commitment to taking a gender-sensitive approach.
• COP 18/ CMP 8 (Doha, 2012) Parties adopted Decision 23/CP.18 on participation and gender balance
• COP 19/CMP 9 (Warsaw, 2013) Parties adopt Decision FCCC/SBI/2013/L.16. Key elements include a two-year work programme on gender balance under the Convention; workshops to further substantiate gender-sensitive climate policy.

 

Youth, agriculture and climate change

Why Does Youth Matter for Climate Change?

Climate change, and the decisions made today about how society functions, will impact our environment for generations to come. As such, there is a strong intergenerational impact of climate change on society as a whole. In addition, with a growing share of the population in developing countries being under 25 the impacts of climate change, now and in the future, fall disproportionately on youth.

While children and young people can be affected negatively by climate change, in particular those in vulnerable groups, they can also contribute to the solutions and implementation. Hence engagement and participation of youth in climate change policy making and actions at all levels is an important factor in ensuring a sustainable future for all.

In addition, youth has a particular importance in regards to agriculture and climate change. In most economies there is a trend towards fewer people working in agriculture over time, as other sectors develop and production becomes more mechanized. But as demand for agriculture goods continues, and given the potential of agriculture as a sector in poverty reduction, ensuring a new generation of farmers becomes active in the sector is essential. These young farmers need to be supported and equipped to sustainably meet world demand. So we need to make agriculture an appealing option for young people, not only as a means of ensuring food security, but also to boost rural economies. And the decisions we make today on climate change will shape the environment in which young farmers operate in the future.

How Has Youth been integrated in the UNFCCC?

Youth participation in climate change meetings is long standing. Their participation was first formally acknowledged at COP5 in Bonn in 1999. However, it was only ten years later, in 2009, that the ‘YOUNGO’ constituency was formed, allowing formal engagement in the negotiating process.

Key text under UNFCCC recognizes the importance of youth. The founding document of UNFCCC and the climate negotiation, the Convention emphasized the importance of education and participation (article 6) , which has formed one of the key basis for youth participation. In addition to the principles endorsed through article 6, the implementation activities around article 6 have also constituted an important window of opportunity for raising awareness of the importance of youth. The New Delhi work programme, and then the Doha work programme, have been at the center of those efforts, with several workshops and consultation organized over the years. The commitment to education and participation was further strengthened at COP 20 in Lima with the Presidential Declaration on Education and Awareness Raising.

In addition to these elements, the UN bodies, including UNFCCC, participate in the Joint Framework Initiative on Children, Youth and Climate Change which was created in 2008. It brings United Nations agencies and non-governmental youth organizations around activities at the national and international level.

What can we expect in 2015?

There are no major decisions expected on youth at COP 21 but as in previous years, reemphasizing youth as a cross cutting issue will be important. Currently youth are mentioned in the Preamble section, however, there are no linkages made specifically between youth and agriculture.

• Page 10 (preamble): “Emphasizing the importance of respecting and taking into account human rights, gender equality, the rights of indigenous peoples, intergenerational concerns, and the needs of particularly vulnerable groups, including women, children and persons with disabilities, when taking action to address climate change, as well as of aligning actions with the goal of promoting food security, restoration of degraded lands, national health policies, participation in environmental decision-making by civil society and individuals, and a just transition of the workforce and creation of decent work and quality jobs in accordance with nationally defined development priorities and strategies;”

In addition, the mid-term review of the Doha work programme on article 6 carried out in June 2015 resulted in a draft decision that will be examined at COP21.