Mary Robinson, the first female President of Ireland, examines how the approach to gender-based climate action has historically developed at UN Climate Change Conferences and what needs to be done to ensure that climate action plans put women at the centre.
Mary Robinson / Irish Times
Just a few days after the close of climate Cop27, we can describe the outcome as a contrast of light and shadows. The establishment of a special fund for “loss and damage” in response to the devastating effects of climate-related disasters was a hard-fought-for silver lining.
However, the loss and damage we see now are only a foreshadowing of what is to come if we do not take the immediate and urgent action needed to mitigate the worst impacts of the climate crisis. The omission of language in the Cop27 outcome on the need to phase out fossil fuels is of huge concern. We must cut emissions by 43 per cent before 2030, and achieve net zero by 2050, but the biggest emitters are failing to do what is needed to reach these critical milestones. If inertia on the climate crisis persists, we will see countries disappear from the map and others face increasingly extreme weather events. One of the gravest injustices of this crisis is that the majority of the communities most affected by the impact of climate change are those already living with a litany of other disadvantages.
In considering climate justice we must recognise that the climate crisis is multifaceted and exacerbates other entrenched inequalities. The phrase, “the climate crisis is not gender neutral”, has become a mantra in climate and women’s rights spaces in recent years, acknowledging the unprecedented impact that women and girls experience. Climate change poses a real threat to women’s livelihoods, health, and safety. In many parts of the world fuel, water and food security largely depend on the activities and access of women and girls. At the same time, women should not be seen merely as victims — they are the farmers, entrepreneurs and custodians of natural resources as well as the carers of the young and the old. Women are also innovators in finding solutions and building resilience in the face of the climate crisis.
A coherent, proactive approach to gender-just climate action should be a crucial component of the work of climate Cop [Conference of the Parties] negations. At Cop27, the final outcome for ensuring gender equality is fully integrated into climate action at all levels is also a case of both light and shadow.
During Cop20 in Lima, Peru, the first gender work programme was established through a formal decision of the conference. The decision called for gender-responsive climate policy and action, three years later, during Cop23, a Gender Action Plan (Gap) was established. Progress was reviewed during Cop25 in Madrid and at Cop26 in Glasgow, all parties agreed to the strengthened implementation of the Gap. Progressing the multilateral agenda on women, gender and climate justice has historically been a combination of ensuring a formal space in intergovernmental negotiations and the vibrant participation of civil society and the gender equality and women’s rights movement.
Despite these efforts, progress on climate and gender-related decisions remains largely insufficient: underrepresentation of women in the bodies established under the UN Climate Convention persists; there is a painful lack of gender-disaggregated climate data; as well as weak evidence on gender and climate budgeting, financing and capacity building.
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