A/HRC/42/26 on the table and had to go further for water or firewood in cases of aggravated drought or floods. 16. Ms. Robinson referred to the formation of the Troika+ of Women Leaders on Gender and Climate Change during the 16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is a coalition of 40 members, including ministers and female heads of agencies, such as the President of the 16th Conference of the Parties, Patricia Espinosa; the President of the 15th Conference of the Parties, Connie Hedegaard; the President of the 17th Conference of the Parties, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane; and the former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana Figueres. The Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice served as its secretariat. The work of the Troika+ of Women Leaders included ensuring that a strong decision on gender balance was adopted at the 18th Conference of the Parties. It also worked with the women’s constituency at the 18th Conference of the Parties to achieve the Lima work programme on gender and the inclusion of gender in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Another of its commitments was to bring the voices of grassroots, indigenous and young women to the table. A significant impact was made at both the 21st Conference of the Parties and at subsequent Conferences, where delegates heard directly from women coping with the effects of climate change and working to make their communities resilient. 17. The policy brief entitled “Women’s participation – an enabler of climate justice”, issued by the Mary Robinson Foundation, demonstrated the positive impacts of women’s participation in the design, planning and implementation of climate policy. The benefits of supporting women’s participation in the development of gender-responsive climate action were highlighted and it was pointed out that climate change exacerbated existing social inequalities, leaving women disproportionately vulnerable to climate impacts. For example, women were more dependent for their livelihoods on the natural resources threatened by climate change; they were often constrained in their response to sudden onset disasters; during natural disasters, women and children were 14 times more likely to die than men; women farmers had limited access to natural resources, information and services; and women faced additional social, economic and political barriers that limited their participation and coping capacity. 18. Ms. Robinson noted that evidence showed that the inclusion of women in leadership positions resulted in improved outcomes. Their greater participation in the governance structure of an institution protecting a community resource, such as a forest, led to better resource conservation and regeneration. The presence of women on executive committees of community forest management groups helped to improve forest quality owing to more acceptable rules of extraction and protection. However, participation alone did not guarantee gender equality. The presence of women at the decision-making table on its own was not enough to change cultural or institutional biases. To effect such change, women’s participation needed to be meaningful. That required the agency and voice of women to affect change in all areas of decision-making, capacity-building, networking and access to resources to strengthen their knowledge and confidence. In general, a conducive environment for gender equality in which men were allies and partners was needed. 19. Ms. Robinson concluded that the G20 Charter for Engagement was good news in that regard. 2 Women’s rights were under increasing threat and the treaty bodies, in particular the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, were being starved of the funding needed to enable them to fulfil their vital role. The adoption of the resolution by the Human Rights Council that had led to the panel discussion was therefore all the more important. 20. The Permanent Representative of Fiji to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva highlighted recent developments in the area of climate change and human rights. She noted a continuing reluctance to translate what was happening in international climate policy work into national policies and to accept that the 2 4 Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society, “G20 Charter for Engagement. Taking the lead for inclusion: women leading climate action” (June 2019).