Advancing gender-responsive climate action at COP 29
(The UNFCCC’s 29th Conference of Parties)
IUCN will be at UNFCCC COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan to drive and support gender-responsive climate action, under the programme on Advancing Gender in the Environment (AGENT).
Background
Advancing gender-responsive climate action
IUCN, under the programme on Advancing Gender in the Environment (AGENT), is working on three strategic priorities at UNFCCC COP 29:
- 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). SInce then, IUCN continues to respond to requests for support by government members to convene, facilitate and build capacities. At COP 29, IUCN will support these GFPs, as needed, including in the road to the third UNFCCC GAP.
- Additionally, in the past two years, IUCN has supported emerging Indigenous women and youth to attend global climate policy spaces, including participation at COP. The objective is to further develop the capacities of emerging women leaders by providing direct access to climate policy engagements with key stakeholders. At COP28, collaborating with Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund and AGENT, IUCN supported the travel and engagement of 15 Indigenous, youth, and grassroots civil society women leaders. At COP29, IUCN will continue supporting young women leaders’ attendance and engagements.
- A year after the COP28 Global Conference on Gender and Environment Data and its Call to Action, IUCN and co-organizers COP28 UAE Presidency, UN Climate Change High Level Champions, UNFCCC, UN Women and WEDO, are hosting a capacity-building session at COP 29. This session is organized with members of the Gender and Environment Data Alliance (GEDA), co-convened by IUCN and WEDO and with UNFCCC and UN Women among the founding members. Building on the Conference’s Call to Action and the outcome of the first global stock take, this interactive workshop will deepen understanding on gender and environment data and tools for enhancing gender-responsive reporting in the first Biennial Transparency Reports (BTRs) and updating of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Participants will share data, tools, learnings and identify needs and opportunities for action to support Parties ahead of submissions.
- Leveraging the Gender Equality and Climate Policy Scorecard pilot methodology, IUCN, in collaboration with partners UN Women and the Kaschak Institute for Social Justice for Women and Girls at Binghamton University, have developed a brief to guide Parties in raising their gender ambition in the update of their NDCs. The brief provides insights on the Scorecard assessment criteria through guiding questions and promising examples from current NDCs.
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 and created the Gender-Based Violence and Environment Linkages Center (GBV-ENV Center) and the Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable Environments (RISE) grants challenge to address them. In 2023, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, Norad joined efforts to scale up action to address gender-based violence and environment linkages. At COP 29, IUCN will continue advocating for more investments at this intersection and for conservation and climate portfolios to take action to prevent, mitigate and address gender-based violence.
- IUCN is co-organizing a side at the Benelux Pavilion which will bring together the gender-based violence and the climate action coalitions under UN Women’s Generation Equality to build synergies across the two. Governments and practitioners will share strategies to support women and girls and prevent gender-based violence within the full scope of global climate ambitions, including successful and scalable approaches such as the RISE grants challenge.
- IUCN will elevate attention to the GBV-ENV Center and the RISE grants challenge among governments, civil society and donors, including through the moderation of a side event at the UK pavilion that will launch a publication commissioned by the UK and Australian governments of the relationship between gender-based violence and climate action.
Related resources: gender-based violence and climate linkages
Events
Gender Based Violence: Overcoming the unseen barrier to effective climate action
15 November, 14:30 – 15:30, UK Pavilion, Area E, Blue Zone: Launch event of report on the relationship between gender-based violence and climate action. The event includes addresses by The Rt. Hon. Anneliese Dodds MP, UK Minister for Development and the Australian Government, and will be chaired by IUCN. Locally-led organizations will also join this session to share their work at this intersection. Watch the livestream on COP29 UK Pavilion YouTube channel.
Scaling Up Solutions to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence in the Context of the Climate Crises
18 November, 15:30– 17:00, Benelux Pavilion, Area E, Blue Zone: Under Generation Equality, IUCN, UN Women, IDLO and Engajamundo are co-organizing this event that brings together the gender-based violence and the climate action coalitions. The event will contribute key insights from governments and practitioners and share strategies to support women and girls and prevent gender-based violence within the full scope of global climate ambitions. Participants will explore policy and strategy developments, shed light on successful and scalable approaches undertaken to prevent and respond to gender-based violence across climate programming and promote the work of governments and stakeholders aiming to integrate GBV considerations into the next UNFCCC Gender Action Plan. Watch the livestream here.
The Power of Gender Data for Prioritization and Transparency: Workshop with a Focus on NDCs and BTRs
19 November, 13:30 –15:00, Special Event Room 4 – Shirvan, Area B, Blue Zone: IUCN and GEDA partners WEDO, UN Women and UNFCCC, alongside the COP28 UAE Presidency, are leading this interactive peer-learning workshop to discuss gender and environment data and tools to enhance gender-responsive planning and reporting in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Biennial Transparency Reports (BTRs). Learn more here.
Illuminating Equity: Technical in-session Dialogue on Gender in Transparency
21 November, 15:00 – 16:30, Meeting Room 11, Area C, Blue Zone: In the absence of requirements and guidelines to report on gender, this technical dialogue aims to highlight the importance and benefits of including gender considerations within the transparency framework to ensure lessons learned and needs can be captured in the global stock take, built on in future iterations of NDCs and other climate policies and plans. In complementarity to the high-level segment on gender day, the technical dialogue will delve into detail on the recent findings of gender integration in reporting under the UNFCCC, the enhancing of data availability for reporting, and the available support for mainstreaming gender in transparency. IUCN will speak on data for transparency and the Gender and Environment Data Alliance. Watch the livestream here.
