Gender & Climate

As the world leaders return home from the Copenhagen and the world takes stock, IWDA asks where to now, particularly for the women of the developing world.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the expert body responsible for reviewing implementation of the UN Convention of the same name, has spoken out about

“its concern about the absence of a gender perspective in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and other global and national policies and initiatives on climate change.”

In a statement released during its latest session (20 July to 7 August 2009), the Committee emphasised that promoting gender equality in and through global climate change responses would lead to better overall outcomes: …policies that support gender equality in access, use and control over science and technology, formal and informal education and training will enhance a nation’s capability in disaster reduction, mitigation and adaptation to climate change… Gender equality is essential to the successful initiation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of climate change policies. The CEDAW committee calls on States Parties to include gender equality as an overarching guiding principle’ in the climate change agreement to be negotiated in Copenhagen. You can read the full CEDAW statement here

Tulele Peisa participant

If you want to know more about how climate change impacts differently on women and men, and why women’s participation and leadership is so critical, have a look at the overview article from IWDA staff member, Jo Crawford.

On the front line of climate change, IWDA partner Tulele Peisa is struggling to get the resources to relocate families from the Cateret Islands which can no longer sustain its current population because of the impacts of rising sea levels and storm surges.

If you want to connect to global efforts to address gender issues in climate change negotiations, the Gender and Climate Change Alliance website is a good place to start.

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