Climate Change
One of the most urgent issues of our time, climate change has widespread implications — from the exacerbation of poverty, to the breakdown of infrastructure, to the loss of environmental, political, economic and social security. Experts agree that climate change threatens to set back development efforts by decades, placing least developed countries and already-vulnerable populations in an even more precarious position. Yet a critical aspect of climate change has remained largely on the outskirts — gender.
Women, as the majority of the world’s poor, are among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. They are also critical to climate change solutions. WEDO approaches gender and climate from many angles to ensure that women are present at all levels and dimensions of climate change policy-making, strategizing and action.
WEDO’s work on gender and climate change includes work with the Global Gender and Climate Change Alliance (GGCA). The GGCA is a unique network of 13 UN agencies and 25 civil society organizations, working together to ensure that climate change decision-making, policies and initiatives, at all levels, are gender responsive. Click here to find out more about the GGCA.
Our work in the area of climate change focuses on:
• Advocacy at the UNFCCC for gender language in the global climate change agreement
• Advocacy on climate change finance: making sure women have access to money for adaptation and mitigation
• Training on gender and climate change linkages
Find out more about our Climate Change initiatives by clicking on the categories on the right, access key documents in the Library, or see the latest news posts below!
The Latest Climate Change News
Heading Back to the Table: Climate Talks Resume in Bonn
[ May 14, 2012 to May 25, 2012. ]
The first session of the 2012 UNFCCC negotiations commence today in Bonn, Germany. In Bonn, Parties will build upon the outcomes achieved in Durban in November/December 2011- outcomes which were viewed divergently by stakeholders involved in this process, from Parties to civil society, as either a good step forward or a failure to deliver the change which was -and is still- urgently needed.
In WEDO’s analysis of the COP17 outcomes, we noted that there was some success in Durban, particularly in respect to references on women and gender, which were secured across several areas– in countries’ guidelines for National Adaptation Plans (NAPs); in …
Gender equality and climate change in the EU
New York, May 3rd, 2012
The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) has published a report on gender equality and climate change which covers all the European Union Member States and provides comparable data on the European Union level. See http://www.eige.europa.eu/content/document/gender-equality-and-climate-change-main-findings
The findings demonstrate that women’s involvement in climate change decision-making at national, European and international levels is still low. Therefore, EIGE introduces the first EU indicators in the area K: Women and the Environment of the Beijing Platform for Action to support the policy makers in enhancing equality and improving the climate change policies.…
Report from CSW56 Learning Circle on Gender and Climate Change
New York- April 18, 2012
On March 5th, during CSW56, WEDO was very pleased to participate in a “Learning Circle on Gender and Climate Change”, co-sponsored by the GGCA and the NGO CSW Forum 2012. Attached below, please find a final report from the event including summaries from each of the key areas of discussion: Mitigation, Adaptation, Advocacy, Finance, Disaster Risk reduction, and Grassroots community strategies.
http://www.gender-climate.org/Content/Docs/Publications/learning_circle_report.pdf…
CSW56 Learning Circle: Gender and Climate Change
[ March 5, 2012; 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm. ]
WEDO is very excited to take part in the following CSW Learning Circle on Gender and Climate Change, co-sponsored by the GGCA and the NGO CSW Forum 2012.
Details
March 5, 12:30-2pm at the Church Center, 2nd floor
777 UN Plaza (44th Street & 1st Ave.)
Click here to download flyer.
Special Guest respondents include Mrs. Mary Robinson, President, Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate
Justice, Hon. Lulu Xingwana, Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, South Africa and
Dr. Feng Min, UNISDR.
WELCOME – Soon-Young Yoon, Chair, NGO CSW NY
OVERVIEW of Learning Circles – Nathalie Eddy, Coordinator, GGCA…
The Outcomes of Durban COP17: Turning Words into Action
Friday, December 16th 2011
Since the COP17 climate talks ended at around 5am last Sunday in Durban, South Africa, many people have been asking the same question: was it a success? Analysts from government, media and NGOs seem to be taking one of two stances: “it was a good step forward” (for example, the official UNFCCC Press Release: “Durban conference delivers breakthrough in international community’s response to climate change”) or “it failed to deliver what is needed” (as in the WWF Press Release: “Governments fail on ambition, courage at UN climate change talks”)
At WEDO, an organization that has pushed for gender issues to be integrated throughout the climate debates for a number of years, we have been asking ourselves how to measure both the successes and failures of COP17.
