Climate policies around the world are increasingly gender-responsive but there is more to do, says UN
A new report from the UN Climate Change secretariat shows that 85% of countries involved in the UN climate process have included gender considerations in their recent climate reporting.
These reports, which are submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), include national climate plans (Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Long-Term Low Emission Strategies.
“Combining bold climate action with progress in gender equality is one of the most effective strategies to break away from business-as-usual scenarios and drive transformative change,” said Simon Stiell, the executive secretary of UN Climate Change.
UN Climate Change said that since the adoption of the first UNFCCC Lima Work Programme on Gender (LWPG) in 2014 and the enhanced LWPG in 2019, gender integration in all reports and communications has been increasing in quantity and quality.
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National climate plans
The analysis finds that 81.5% of NDCs now include references to gender and calls this a “significant improvement” on 2015, when countries first communicated their intended NDCs and only a few included gender.
In NDCs, gender is often referenced in the context of stakeholder engagement with local communities and organisations such as the private sector, civil society, academia, women’s associations and youth groups.
Of the countries that referred to gender in their NDCs, 62% described efforts to strengthen institutional mechanisms for mainstreaming gender considerations across climate action, such as through policy or legislation, scaling up coordination mechanisms between sectoral bodies, and appointing gender focal points in line ministries. Further, 11.5% described initiatives to improve gender balance and diversity among stakeholders involved in monitoring and evaluating adaptation actions, including initiatives targeting the agriculture, forestry and water resources sectors.
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Challenges remain
However, UN Climate Change says that further efforts are required to strengthen gender integration in climate action and adaptation plans.
For instance, only 4.9% of those that referred to gender in their NDCs included specific examples of gender-responsive budgeting for climate action.
The analysis also highlighted challenges including lack of regulation or incentives for integrating gender into climate action, low participation of women in NDC planning and implementation, and needs for training to build institutional capacity to address gender inequalities. Feedback also showed a need for disaggregated data to support gender-responsive planning.
The report notes that current gender references primarily focus on women, especially in the context of vulnerability, with very few references considering men who may be in vulnerable situations. It also noted the lack of a “comprehensive view of gender” that considers how different factors like race, class or ability intersect with gender in exacerbating vulnerability.
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Critical opportunity
While developing countries have been consistently integrating gender into their regular reporting under the UNFCCC, the report finds that developed countries often provide limited or no references to gender, particularly in Long-Term Low Emission Strategies and National Communications (reports that countries submit to the UN on actions to address climate change).
The first global stocktake, agreed at COP28, encouraged parties to implement climate policy and action that is gender-responsive.
UN Climate Change said the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions that countries are currently preparing and submitting in 2025 are a “critical opportunity to strengthen interconnected action to achieve gender equality and effective climate outcomes”.
“Parties have a significant opportunity to shape a more just and ambitious future as they develop the next work programme and action plan,” commented Nabeel Munir, chair of the UN Climate Change Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI).
At COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan next month an enhanced version of the Lima Work Programme on Gender is expected to be agreed.
About Sarah Wray
Sarah has over 15 years’ experience as a journalist with a specialism in the public sector and topics such as digitalisation and climate action. Sarah was formerly the editor of Cities Today and Smart Cities World, as well as a specialist video-based publication in the aerospace sector. She has also written for publications including Smart Cities Dive, Mobile Europe, Mobile World Live and Computer Weekly.
