International Women’s Day: UN climate change celebrates a new decade of action to advance gender equality
On the eve of International Women’s Day, UN Climate Change celebrates a new decade of action to advance gender equality in the face of climate change.
At COP29, Parties decided to extend the Enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender and Climate Change for another ten years. The decision acknowledges the critical role of gender mainstreaming into all relevant goals and targets outlined in the Convention. This integration is seen as contributing towards enhancing the effectiveness, fairness, and sustainability of climate policy and action.
“As we know, stronger climate action delivers huge benefits for people in their daily lives. More jobs, more economic opportunities, and lower health costs.” said Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change. “Applying a gender-responsive approach ensures that those benefits are shared equally.”
Recent UN climate change reports highlight the benefits of including a gender perspective in various areas of climate action, demonstrating how such inclusion improves efficiency and provides broader social benefits. For example:
Gender-responsive low-carbon mobility can improve access to and use of low-carbon climate-friendly options by all.
Prioritizing projects that consider the unique vulnerabilities, needs and contributions of all people can increase the effectiveness of adaptation finance.
Indigenous women’s expertise in areas such as seed-saving techniques and weather forecasting enhance their communities’ food security and improve their ability to prepare and respond to rain and drought.
By adopting a gender-lens, just transition policies can reduce occupational gender stereotypes and increase the chances that women and men equally benefit from new jobs created in the emerging green and blue economy.
In 2025, under the Paris Agreement, countries will submit new national climate action plans (NDCs 3.0), which must be more ambitious and robust than the previous ones. Parties are also developing new national adaptation plans. While developing these strategies, they have a unique opportunity to prioritize policies that promote climate and social justice. These policies can help pave the way for a just transition that offers significant benefits for society as a whole.
As a result of years of work to implement the mandate of mainstreaming gender across all areas of the Convention, UN Climate Change has developed a range of tools and knowledge products that include gender- and social-inclusion considerations. These resources, available for consultation here, can help policymakers identify entry points and best practices for integrating gender into climate policy and action, including in areas such as adaptation, loss and damage, technology, and mitigation.
2025: a key year for advancing climate action that benefits women and girls worldwide
At COP29, Parties also committed to developing a new gender action plan to be adopted at COP30, which will outline concrete measures for the effective implementation of gender-responsive climate action moving forward.
As this new gender action plan is developed in 2025, Parties can shape an ambitious roadmap to implement the new decade of action on gender and climate change in a way that benefits all women and girls worldwide. They can thus contribute to advancing gender equality, a human right and foundational piece for sustainable, peaceful, and prosperous societies. Parties and observers can contribute to this process through the call for submissions, which is open until 31 March.
