Accelerate inclusive and gender-responsive climate action now: An urgent call from Asia and the Pacific

Date:

Photo: ARROW/Ploy Phutpheng
Participants discussing the Call to Action at the Asia-Pacific Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue on Gender Equality and Climate Action in Bangkok, Thailand. Photo: ARROW/Ploy Phutpheng

Bangkok, Thailand — The recent disasters across the Asia-Pacific region have once again highlighted how the climate crisis disproportionately affects women and marginalized communities.

In Bangladesh, disastrous floods in August 2024 affected 3.05 million women and put over 78,000 pregnant women at great risk due to disrupted health services. A month later in Viet Nam, Typhoon Yagi damaged 251,000 hectares of crops, heavily affecting the livelihoods of agriculture workers, a majority of whom are women.

These are just some of the many accelerating and devastating climate impacts around the world – underscoring the urgent need for integrated approaches to climate action that prioritize gender equality.

At the same time, women are at the forefront of response, recovery, and resilience-building efforts. They are championing sustainable solutions and driving transformative change across communities and society, despite facing barriers such as discriminatory norms, gender-based violence, unequal burdens of unpaid care work, limited access to resources, and underrepresentation in leadership.

The Asia-Pacific Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue on Gender Equality and Climate Action, organized last 17-18 October 2024, brought together diverse voices to take stock of the progress and deliberate on solutions to accelerate gender-responsive climate action in the Asia-Pacific region.

The dialogue convened over 120 representatives from governments, women’s rights organizations, civil society organizations, youth, and development partners across the Asia-Pacific region. Based on their recommendations, the Call to Action emphasizes five overarching areas:

  1. Accelerating the production and use of intersectional gender and environment data to strengthen the implementation, monitoring, and accountability of climate actions;
  2. Driving just and inclusive transition to advance gender equality and support women’s meaningful engagement in climate action;
  3. Adopting a rights-based and gender-responsive approach to adaptation planning and action to ensure co-benefits of achieving both gender equality and sustainable climate solutions;
  4. Urgently scaling up gender-responsive climate finance that is accessible, inclusive, and accountable; and
  5. Addressing the critical interlinkages of climate change, sexual and reproductive health, and gender-based violence in climate plans, policies, and programmes

Participants in the dialogue emphasized the importance of these areas.

Cyrene Vai from the Solomon Islands‘ Ministry of Women, Youth, Children and Family Affairs. Photo: ARROW/Ploy Phutpheng

“Gender is not just a women’s issue; it is a cross-cutting issue that affects everyone. Therefore, gender must be integrated into the policies and programmes of all government agencies to ensure inclusive solutions.”

— Cyrene Vai from Solomon Islands, Provincial Development Officer, Ministry of Women, Youth, Children and Family Affairs

Robeliza Halip from the Indigenous Peoples Major Group for Sustainable Development and Right Energy Partnership with Indigenous Peoples. Photo: ARROW/Ploy Phutpheng

“We need to recognize the leadership of Indigenous women and youth in advancing a just energy transition and give them the capacity to lead, operate, and manage renewable energy technologies.”

— Robeliza Halip from the Philippines, Coordinator at the Indigenous Peoples Major Group for Sustainable Development and Right Energy Partnership with Indigenous Peoples

 

Virtual panelist Kathryn Tobin from the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO)

“Increased access to gender and environment data will help build an understanding among our policymakers, our funders, and our movements, of how gender issues intersect with the causes and impacts of climate change, and will help lead to evidence-based and better-informed policymaking.”

— Kathryn Tobin, Co-Coordinator of the Gender and Environment Data Alliance and Senior Programme Manager at the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO)

Virtual panelist Seema Panthaki from AVPN

"While there is a huge amount of interest among investors on the intersection of gender and climate change, there remains a lack of robust gender-disaggregated data, affecting their capacity to make informed investment decisions. Additionally, there is still a lack of know-how on integrating gender-responsive mechanisms into the investment process. Although there has been progress from awareness to action, more work needs to be done.”

— Seema Panthaki, Director of Gender Equality Platform, AVPN

Geilee Skandakuma from the Gender Justice Collective in Sri Lanka and UN Women‘s 30 for 2030 Network. Photo: ARROW/Ploy Phutpheng

“We should integrate the interlinkage of climate change, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and gender-based violence into the school curriculum, because we cannot afford another generation to grow up and be aware of these issues only in their 20s.”

— Geilee Skandakuma from Sri Lanka, Co-Founder of the Gender Justice Collective and Member of UN Women’s 30 for 2030 Network

The Call to Action will guide advocacy efforts leading up to the 29th session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) and the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing +30).

Access the Call to Action here: Gender Equality and Climate Action Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue Call to Action

This initiative is supported by Women’s Fund Asia as well as the Governments of Germany, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland through the EmPower: Women for Climate-Resilient Societies Programme (EmPower).

For more information, please visit www.empowerforclimate.org or contact:

Maria Holtsberg
Humanitarian Action, Disaster Risk Reduction, Climate Portfolio Lead
UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
e: [ Click to reveal ]

Parimita Mohanty
Programme Management Officer, Climate Change Division
UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
e: [ Click to reveal ]