UN Women calls for increased gender-focused climate finance at COP29

[Press release]

Baku/New York – As the UN climate summit COP29 commemorates Gender Day, UN Women calls for leaders to make strong decisions on climate finance that respond to the specific needs of women and girls.

Gender-responsive finance is crucial in climate action, as it ensures fair and just access to resources, opportunities, and decision-making for women, who often bear disproportionate impacts of climate change.

“The climate crisis is not gender-neutral. Women and girls disproportionately bear the brunt of climate change, yet their voices remain largely underrepresented in climate decision-making,” said Jemimah Njuki, UN Women Chief of Women’s Economic Empowerment. “We need financing to go to addressing gender inequalities and to go to grassroots women’s organizations.”

Climate change amplifies existing gender inequalities, threatening the rights, livelihoods, health, and well-being of women and girls. For instance, under a worst-case climate scenario, approximately 158 million more women and girls will be pushed into poverty—16 million more than men and boys. 

Climate change is also tied to increases in unpaid care and domestic work, which primarily falls on women. For example, in many low- and middle-income countries, women and girls are mainly responsible for collecting water and other materials for heating and cooking, tasks made more arduous by climate-induced resource scarcity. Such scarcity also magnifies risks of gender-based violence, including child, early, and forced marriage. Women environmental human rights defenders also face acute risks of violence and harassment.

Women are on the front lines of climate resilience actions in communities around the world, leading efforts in sustainable agriculture, water management, and disaster response, yet they frequently lack access to the financial services necessary to scale up their contributions. In 2022, just 3 per cent of all official development assistance on climate had gender equality-related objectives.

“Gender-responsive climate finance means to ensure that the quality of finance delivers on equity, including debt justice and uplifting those most impacted by climate shocks instead of leaving them vulnerable,” said Ayshka Najib, co-founder of Fridays For Future MAPA and a member of the Generation Equality Feminist Action for Climate Justice coalition.

Women remain underrepresented in climate decision-making, with their voices and leadership often overlooked in global climate policies and forums. Only 6 out of 78 government leaders speaking in the opening high-level segment of COP29 (less than 8 per cent) mentioned the impact of climate change on women—four of whom were women. 

Finance flows and mechanisms must adequately support gender-responsive climate actions. By integrating a gender lens into climate finance, governments, organizations, and institutions can address systemic inequalities, unlock the untapped potential of women-led solutions, and enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of climate initiatives.