Advancing gender-responsive climate action at COP 28
(The UNFCCC’s 28th Conference of Parties)
IUCN and its partnership with USAID for Advancing Gender in the Environment (AGENT) will be at UNFCCC COP28 in Dubai, UAE to drive and support gender-responsive climate action.
Background
Advancing gender-responsive climate action
IUCN, together with USAID through the partnership Advancing Gender in the Environment (AGENT), is working on three strategic priorities at UNFCCC COP 28:
- Elevating the voices of diverse women’s leadership
- Setting a new global agenda on gender and climate data
- Amplifying attention to the cyclical impacts of climate change and gender-based violence
- As a Union of governments, CSOs and Indigenous Peoples Organizations, IUCN has historically provided capacity development support to UNFCCC Gender Focal Points (GFPs). During COP 27, IUCN provided support to the Guatemala GFP to highlight the USAID-funded Guatemala ccGAP as a key example of gender-responsive solutions within negotiations. This support led to requests from regional GFPs, who collaborated among themselves to present a request for negotiations skills training on gender and climate change. This training was conducted in July 2023, where regional GFPs agreed to use their skills to start discussing the priorities of the next UNFCCC Gender Action Plan (GAP). During the Latin American Climate Week, these negotiators reconvened to engage more regional GFPs. At COP 28, IUCN will support these GFPs to meet with other GFPs from around the world to invite their engagement in the road to the third UNFCCC GAP.
- Additionally, at COP27, IUCN supported emerging Indigenous women to attend the COP. These were Indigenous youth and women working with youth who do not have pathways or opportunities to access COPs. IUCN provided UNFCCC COP orientations, information sessions, and training on understanding and engaging in COP 27 dialogues. For COP 28, women leaders will return, engaging in IUCN’s work on gender and environment data, GBV linkages and support to gender focal points. The objective is to further develop the capacities of emerging women leaders by providing direct access to climate policy engagement.
- Collaborating with Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund and AGENT, IUCN is supporting the travel and engagement of 15 Indigenous, youth, and grassroots civil society women leaders at COP 28.
- Ahead of COP28, the Office of the COP28 President, UN Climate Change High Level Champions, UNFCCC, UN Women, IUCN and WEDO, will co-convene a two-day Global Conference on Gender and Environment Data at Expo City Dubai. The Global Conference will be a space for exchanging best practices, sharing lessons learned and discussing solutions to common challenges on the production and use of gender and environment data to inform policies, advocacy and improve monitoring of global, regional, and national climate and environment commitments.
- Informing gender-responsive progress – a scorecard: Setting gender-responsive commitments in national plans is a first step that many countries have taken. To assess progress towards these goals, IUCN is collaborating with UN Women and the Kaschak Institute for Social Justice for Women and Girls at Binghamton University to co-develop a gender and NDC scorecard, which acts as an independent data tool for assessing country progress in integrating gender equality into climate policy action. The findings will be published in a one-stop online searchable dashboard, providing measurable assessments on implementation progress.
Key Resources: gender and climate data
- Together, through AGENT, IUCN and USAID established the extensive ways in which gender-based violence is used to maintain unequal access to environment and climate roles, resources and opportunities. The Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable Environments (RISE) grants challenge is USAID and IUCN’s custom made solution. A side event at the IUCN pavilion will highlight AGENT’s investments in addressing gender-based violence and environment linkages. The event will also feature a special announcement, so we invite your participation and engagement in-person and via the livestream.
- Under Generation Equality, IUCN is a co-lead on one of eight action coalitions – the Feminist Action for Climate Justice (FACJ). Under FACJ, IUCN has a commitment to address gender-based violence and climate linkages. IUCN is also a co-founder and co-convenor for the Gender and Environment Data Alliance (GEDA), which recently opened and expanded its membership of data producers on gender and the environment.
Related resources: gender-based violence and climate linkages
Eventos
Will you be at COP28? Engage with our work at the following events, in Dubai or online. All times are listed in Gulf Standard Time (GST).
Counting on a Sustainable Future: Global Conference on Gender and Environment Data
28-29 November, 8:30 –16:15, an event of COP28: As part of existing global efforts to expand the understanding of the gender-environment nexus, the Offices of the President of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP 28) and the UN Climate Change High Level Champions, UNFCCC, UN Women, IUCN, and WEDO will convene a global conference on gender and environment data. Speakers and participants will include UN Agencies, government officials and policy makers, leaders and commitment makers of the Feminist Action for Climate Justice Action Coalition and the Gender Environment Data Alliance (GEDA), private foundations, civil society organizations, indigenous leaders and local communities and academia29.
Visit the event page to RSVP for in person or virtual participation, see the full schedule and list of speakers here.
Gender and Environment Data Alliance: Roots of Change
03 December, 16:45 – 18:15, Official side event – SE Room 7: Under Generation Equality, IUCN is a leader under the Feminist Action for Climate Justice action coalition, for which we have two commitments, one is on the Gender and Environment Data Alliance, which we co-convene with WEDO and co-founded with 16 other organizations. GEDA is working to support women from the global south/majority to generate gender and environment data. GEDA is also designed to compile and platform gender and environment data from across the globe. This event is on the alliance and includes alliance members while drawing in outcomes of the pre-COP gender/data conference. GEDA recently opened its membership drive, receiving over 1000 applications to join, so the event is a key moment to also establish GEDA’s growth goals moving forward.
Rising up to advance gender safety in climate action: Advancing the safety of women and girls from gender-based violence in climate and environmental leadership
04 December, 14:30 – 15:45, Gender Day side event – IUCN Pavilion: In this cross-sector dialogue, leading gender-based violence and environment policy-makers, researchers, practitioners and civil society will discuss how climate action can support the safety of women and girls as a part of gender-responsive climate action.
This event aims to:
- Elevate attention, particularly among climate policymakers, to the ways in which the climate crisis impacts and exacerbates gender-based violence;
- Support Parties to recognize the need to protect and defend the safety of women, girls, and other peoples from gender-based violence to assure comprehensive gender-responsive strategies to climate action;
- Elevate the voices of Indigenous Women Environmental Human Rights Defenders from Asia advancing safety from gender-based violence by promoting self-determined advocacy and protection measures with RISE grants challenge support;
- Amplify the impact climate change has on sexual exploitation in sectors such as fisheries;
- Identify strategic actions to bring the need to address GBV within the climate change and biodiversity agendas.
Feminist Action for Climate Justice Reception
08 December, 18:00 – 19:30, Spanish Pavilion: IUCN and USAID submitted a co-commitment under Generation Equality (managed by UN Women) to address gender-based violence and climate linkages. IUCN is a co-lead of one of eight action coalitions (Feminist Action for Climate Justice). This reception will be targeted at supporting FACJ members and leaders to share their commitment activities.
Global Gender Stocktake
09 December, 11:30 – 13:00, Presidency Roundtable: The COP28 Presidency, in partnership with UN Women and collaborating organizations, is leading this event to highlight the progress made and experience gained on integrating gender perspectives into climate action, along with solutions that should be incorporated into future Global Gender Stocktake (GST) processes to persuade the realization and guarantee of comprehensive climate action that includes gender equality. The event will present opportunities and secure solid commitments toward advancing gender-responsive climate actions and achieving a gender-just transition.
