Cerys Jones
How can we fight climate change, when half of us are being excluded from the battle? That was the question put to delegates on Tuesday at COP26’s Gender Day.
While climate change is an existential threat to all of us, some are already feeling its destructive force– namely, indigenous people, those in developing or small island nations, and women.
Women under threat
As US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi explained on Tuesday, climate change intensifies existing inequalities on our planet.
Instability in our ecosystems, weather patterns, and more has a particularly detrimental impact on those who rely on natural resources. Of the estimated 1.3 billion people living in conditions of poverty, 70% are women, and those in poverty are far less able to respond to natural hazards. Women dominate in food production; an industry that faces serious threats and instability as a result of climate change, so their financial situation can be compromised.
Women’s oppression can also be intensified by climate change in more shocking ways; gender-based and domestic violence can rise in the wake of natural disasters. There is even evidence to suggest a link between climate change and child marriages.
And women are shut out of the rooms where solutions are discussed. They may find themselves restricted by barriers in education and employment, which can have the knock-on effect of excluding them from conversations and decision-making on the climate crisis.
Our best players are on the bench
“When women succeed, the world succeeds.”
It’s not only women who are harmed by their own exclusion from the fight against climate change: all of us will suffer if all of us can’t contribute.
In fact, women might even be some of the best people to listen to on environmental issues. A BNEF and Sasakawa Peace Foundation study suggests, having more women in the boardroom could be linked to lower emissions growth. In the study of over 11,000 companies, emissions growth was far lower among those with one-third female directors. Could it be the case that, as Speaker Pelosi boldly stated, ‘when women succeed, the world succeeds’?
Furthermore, Indigenous women are sure to be some of the most valuable voices in the fight against climate change.
On a Gender Day panel chaired by Nicola Sturgeon, Tarcila Rivera Zea stressed the importance of listening to indigenous people: “We are not asking for help, we do not want donations… We want investment in the development of our skills, of women and girls, young people and young indigenous populations”.
She highlighted the knowledge, skills, and potential of indigenous people as actors against climate change. As Elle Ravdna Nakkakajarvi of the Sami people put it: “Actually listen to us; don’t just say that you’re going to listen. Don’t make empty promises because we are the ones feeling climate change in our bodies, and we have knowledge about the lands and waters in our areas and we can come up with solutions. We deserved to be listened to.”
The growth of gender-responsive climate policy
The significance of a gender-responsive response to climate change, has wormed its way into the global consciousness over several COP summits. Since 2010, according to the Women’s Environmental and Development Organisation, gender equality issues have been included in adopted decisions on nearly every UNFCCC thematic area.
In 2014, the first-ever Lima Work Programme on Gender (which aimed to integrate gender considerations into work at COPs), was established and has been developed since. At 2019’s COP25 in Madrid, some proposals and decisions included the engagement of women’s groups in developing climate strategies, fostering female participation in STEM, funding to help women and other disadvantaged groups engage with the UNFCCC, further research about the impact of climate change on women, and the protection of indigenous knowledge about climate resilience.
The main focal points of the gender-responsive approach have been improving women’s participation in the UNFCCC, and increasing support for gender-responsive policy at regional, national, and local levels. In the famed Paris Agreement of 2015, an annex pointed out that parties should (among considerations about other groups), include and consider the empowerment of women in their actions against climate change.
COP26: a step forward or stagnation?
“If women and young people who are most affected by climate impacts are not represented at platforms like COP26, leaders will not feel the pressure to commit to climate targets.”
Diaka Salena Koroma, ActionAid climate activist
Women and girls have certainly played a part in COP26, especially in pushing delegates and leaders to go further in the fight against climate change. Greta Thunberg, arguably the most recognisable climate activist on the planet, was at the forefront of Friday’s Youth March, in which indigenous activists also played a leading role. Gender Day at COP26 saw gender-related commitments from many countries. The Conference President’s daily media statement boasted new measures from Sweden and Germany, a Canadian commitment of 80% of its $5.3 billion climate investments over the next five years to target gender equality outcomes, and more.
Despite these positive proposals, some campaigners have been disappointed with the reality of exclusion at COP26. Some of the same old criticisms still seem to apply – in 2015, COP21’s lack of female representation was criticised, and there was a strong sense of déjà vu when over 400 female climate leaders signed an open letter to the British government calling for greater accountability and transparency around COP26 gender equality. This followed criticism that the UK’s ‘top team’ for COP26 was all-male; the addition of Anne-Marie Trevelyan didn’t stop accusations that almost all the senior public-facing roles were occupied by men. Gender is still not fully integrated into climate policy – Åsa Regnér, from UN Women, said that only 3% of climate overseas development aid specifically targets women’s rights and gender equality.
Notwithstanding, the prominence of some female activists at COP26, many are still excluded from the halls of power. An ActionAid climate activist from Sierra Leone, Diaka Salena Koroma, was not granted a visa to attend by the UK government. She told Forbes that, “if women and young people who are most affected by climate impacts are not represented at platforms like COP26, leaders will not feel the pressure to commit to climate targets.”
Put those on the front line on the front page
“While we are on the front lines of the climate crisis, we are not on the front pages of the world’s newspapers.”
Vanessa Nakate, climate activist
The inclusion of women, and particularly those on the front lines against climate change in indigenous communities and developing countries, needs to be put at the heart of our climate policy. That’s the message of many activists and female leaders at COP26. As the conference draws to a close, many will be hoping that the closing decisions at the conference will work towards this aim; but whether this is the case remains to be seen.
Featured image courtesy of Callum Shaw on Unsplash. No changes or alterations were made to this image. Image license can be found here.
cerysjones
Cerys is a first-year journalism student at the University of Sheffield with a special interest in news journalism and politics. She has been published in Big Issue North and is also an Instagram Editor at Empoword Journalism. When she's not writing, she is usually watching Manchester United - or her dog has his head on her laptop keyboard.
Thank you for such a beautiful and comprehensive piece of work. I truly hope voices of women and young people from the Global South will be fully represented at COP27.