Gender equality women s empowerment and climate change

Events |News |Statements |Interviews | Photos | Stories |Join the conversation

The Issue

A changing climate poses risks for all of humanity. However, for women and girls in particular, many of whom spend a disproportionate amount of time searching for food, fuel and water, or struggling to grow crops the differentiated impact is tremendous. In fact, when disasters strike, women are more likely than men to die, such as the case of the 2004 Asian tsunami were 70 per cent of the fatalities were women [1].

Women and girls are also key leaders and agents of change. They play a critical, but often unrecognized, role in climate action and the management of natural resources. In most developing countries, for example, women are the primary household energy managers and can also be powerful agents of change in the transition to sustainable energy. Women entrepreneurs have enormous potential to create distribution and service networks in rural areas, helping to lower the cost and increase access to sustainable energy. As decision-makers, they have offered innovative solutions to respond to climate change impacts and to making development more sustainable overall.

On the heels of the UN’s adoption of the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September, which includes a specific goal on climate change (SDG 13), UN Women takes a detailed look at women’s impact and role as change-makers for each of the SDGs.

Credit: IUCN, EGI and UN Women

But the gender dimensions and the key role of women in climate change action has not always been recognized in international fora. The twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties (COP)—to take place from 30 November to 11 December 2015, in Paris, France—is a significant and much-anticipated global gathering where leaders from around the world are expected to adopt a legally binding and universal climate agreement to be implemented by governments as of 2020. UN Women has been closely following the negotiations and advocated strongly for the final agreement to recognize gender equality and women’s empowerment. Read UN Women’s position.

Events

UN Women is co-organizing and will be participating in a number of side events at COP 21, mostly on 8 December, UNFCCC-designated Gender Day. At a lunchtime event that day, Parties and other participants will interact with experts on the recommendations from a recent Expert Group Meeting and exchange views on how these can support and enhance implementation of policies and action at the regional, national and local levels. Together with the Government of Morocco, UN Women will also host a series of events showcasing women’s leadership role in climate responses at the Morocco Pavilion, where the Global Programme on Women’s entrepreneurship and access to sustainable energy will be launched. UN Women will also co-organize the “Women Power: Meet and Greet the Women for Results Awardees” on 9 December and showcase relevant materials and work at the One UN Exhibit under the theme Women’s leadership. See the full list of UN Women-organized side events.

News

• Experts call for stepped-up gender-responsive climate policy and action (19 October 2015)
• Yannick Glemarec attends “Climate, women are committed!” conference (19 October 2015)
• Lakshmi Puri meets with Nicolas Hulot at Climate Conference in Morocco (3 June 2015)

Speeches and statements 

• "A changing climate means there is a shrinking window of opportunity to close the gender gap" – Yannick Glemarec (29 September 2015)
• Lakshmi Puri calls for strengthened women’s participation in addressing climate change (10 March 2015)
• Women must be partners and drivers of climate change decision-making (9 December 2014)
• Climate action now: Why there's no time to lose (19 September 2014)

Voices for change

“It’s important for youth to be involved at the high level” —youth leader and activist
Tahere Si’isi’ialafia’s, a 24-year-old Baha’i youth from Samoa and board member of the Pacific Youth Council. She speaks to UN Women about the importance of involving youth, and young women in particular, in decision-making around climate change, including at high-level fora. Read her interview »

“Women play a crucial role in marine environments and fisheries economies” —gender and sustainable development expert
Mariette Correa is Senior Programme Coordinator with International Collective in Support of Fishworkers. She speaks to UN Women about the challenges women face in the industry and how to secure sustainable fisheries for women’s economic empowerment. Read her interview »

Stories of change 

UN Women works to combat climate change by advocating for gender equality and women’s empowerment in mitigating and adapting to climate change, against the backdrop of achieving equitable and inclusive sustainable development. The organization calls for women to be heard at all levels of decision-making, from households to political arenas. In global climate change negotiations, UN Women actively promotes commitments to gender equality and women’s rights as well as women’s contributions to all aspects of mitigation and adaptation. Its global programmes and projects seek to help women build resilience, use environmentally-friendly fuel and production, and plan ahead of disasters. These human impact stories provide a snapshot of this work:

Women in Bangladesh build resilience against climate change
In 10 of the most climate-vulnerable districts of Bangladesh, more than 19,100 women have built better systems of support and preparation for disasters, while livelihood skills training has enabled more than 1,600 women to expand their businesses.

Putting women at the forefront of climate change and disaster response in the Pacific
Whether training women solar engineers in Fiji or assisting with the humanitarian response plan after a major cyclone in Tonga, UN Women is working with climate-change and disaster-management professionals across the Pacific for effective and gender-inclusive climate-change-related planning.

Join the conversation

Join the conversation around women, climate action, and the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) using the hashtag #COP21 and follow @UN_Women on Twitter. A social media package with images and messages in English, Spanish and French is available here.