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.
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
WEDO’s work on gender and climate change also 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.
Find out more about our Climate Change initiatives by clicking on the categories on the right, exploring our policy work in the UNFCCC section of the site and by accessing key documents in the Library and below!
Key Climate Change Documents
The following are links to key publications on gender and climate change:
Manila Declaration (2008)
Nairobi Action Plan for African Parliamentarians (2009)
Nordic Summit Declaration (2009)
Monrovia Call for Action (2009)
Gender, Climate Change and Human Security Report (2008)
Statement of the CEDAW Committee on Gender and Climate Change (2009)
Case Study: Gender and Climate Change in Nepal (2008)
Climate Change Connections: A resource kit on gender, population and climate change (2009)
GGCA Gender and Climate Change Training Manual (2009)
US Resolution (H.R. 98) on Women and Climate Change (2009)
GGCA Resources page
US Climate Change Campaign
Below are key documents on US Climate Change Advocacy:
Climate Change Facts- WEDO
“U.S. Climate Change Policy: Why Women Matter”- Women Demand U.S. Action on Climate Change (WDACC) Campaign (2008)
Green Jobs Now! – From Katrina to Copenhagen: WDACC Campaign
US House Concurrent Resolution 98 on Women and Climate Change (2009)
Letter to President Obama- Advocates for Environmental Human Rights
Climate Change and Women Factsheet- Oxfam America (2008)
The Latest Climate Change News
Join us on Friday 3/22 for a GGCA Twitter Chat on Gender & Climate Finance!
[ March 22, 2013; 8:30 am to 10:30 am. ]
A gender-sensitive approach to climate finance: Why does it matter? Who does it benefit? How do we get there?
When: Friday, March 22nd at 9:30am EDT, 13:30 GMT
Where: Hashtag #shesparks & @GGCA_Gender on Twitter
Who: Leading Gender and Climate Change experts + YOU
Join us to discuss lessons learned and challenges faced in implementing a gender-sensitive approach to climate finance. In particular, we will identify key opportunities for progress in 2013.…
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Operationalizing a Gender-sensitive Approach in the Green Climate Fund
NEW YORK (March 12, 2013)– The board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) meets this week, March 13-15, 2013, to discuss key issues pertinent for the operationalization of the GCF. One of the main agenda items for this session is the business model framework, which includes discussions on the structure and organization of the fund, the private sector facility related matters, access modalities and the results management framework. Also important will be the discussion of …
President Obama: The Time is Now to Tackle the Climate Challenge
NEW YORK (January 7, 2013)–In a letter released today, WEDO joined nearly 70 national and regional organizations to thank President Obama for repeatedly raising the threat of climate change and to highlight specific actions he can take after his second inauguration to promote a truly healthy planet for our families and our future. As reiterated in WEDO’s piece on Hurricane Sandy, climate change is happening now, it is our new normal. Failure to take leadership on this issue is …
NEW: Report on Women’s Participation in the UNFCCC
New York, New York (December 14, 2012)– Especially in light of COP18 agreeing a new decision on promoting women’s participation in the UNFCCC, WEDO is proud to release its latest report highlighting statistics on women’s participation in the climate change process. This new reports looks in depth at women’s participation in the UNFCCC over the last 5 years, graphically portraying data on the overall percentage of women on national delegations, as Heads of Delegations and on …
Doha Climate Talks: Not Lost, but Damaged
by Kit Vaughan, CARE International Director of Climate Change and Environment. Post was originally written for the Huffington Post Green Blog, and can be found here. You can follow more updates from CARE’s Climate Team on Twitter.
Doha, Qatar (December 9, 2012)– Despite the seeming lack of progress at the latest UN climate negotiations in Doha, with many saying the two-week session again failed to deliver any substantive action towards a safer, more …
