A/HRC/41/26
48.
For example, in mitigation, sustainable mass transit systems designed with the
specific needs of women in mind can increase the use of mass transit and women’s access
to employment, education and other services that facilitate the realization of their rights.87
Likewise, renewable energy projects that improve women’s access to energy also reduce
emissions, have important health benefits, alleviate women’s traditional care burdens, and
open up economic, educational and social opportunities, including for women’s civic
engagement.88 In adaptation, actively seeking to promote women’s enjoyment of their rights
is critical for increasing the food security and resilience of communities that depend on
small-scale agricultural production for food and livelihoods.89
V. Illustrative practices
49.
The following analysis highlights some illustrative practices, identified through
stakeholder inputs and through independent research by OHCHR, for the promotion of
gender-responsive, rights-based climate action.
50.
At the intergovernmental level, in 2018 the Government of Costa Rica launched the
For All Coalition. The Coalition is a partnership between States which receives support
from the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UNWomen) and OHCHR. The Coalition seeks to integrate human rights and gender equality in
multilateral environmental agreements. It has organized events at the twenty-fourth session
of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change and at the fourth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, supported a
resolution on gender equality and women’s rights at the fourth session of the United
Nations Environment Assembly, and prepared a strategy for engagement at the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The twenty-fourth session of the
Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
also saw the launch of a Ministerial Declaration on Gender Equality and Climate Change
by Peru with support from Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Finland, France, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands and Sweden. 90 Efforts such as these can play a critical role in shaping
international processes, and related laws and policies at the domestic level.
51.
Climate finance also plays an important role in shaping gender-responsive climate
action. Most international financial institutions that provide climate finance have gender
policies in place. Dedicated climate funds such as the Green Climate Fund or the
Adaptation Fund require project-specific gender action plans as a prerequisite for project
approval.91 The Global Environment Facility has outlined gender mainstreaming steps that
its projects should take, which include: conducting a gender analysis and a social
assessment during project design; consulting with women as project stakeholders; including
gender in the statement on the project’s intended objective; developing project components
with gender targets; collecting sex-disaggregated data; and creating a budget item for
gender-related activities.92 A joint publication by the Green Climate Fund and UN-Women
entitled Mainstreaming Gender in Green Climate Fund Projects provides specific
recommendations for gender mainstreaming in project development, monitoring and
evaluation.
52.
Individual governments have also committed to financing climate adaptation and
mitigation efforts through foreign assistance. Ireland identified gender equality and climate
action as interlinked priorities for international development cooperation. Irish
programming in this area addresses gendered access to pro-poor renewable energy sources,
gender and climate-resilient agriculture, adaptive social protection and greening the health
87
88
89
90
91
92
See https://us.boell.org/sites/default/files/cff10_2018_eng-digital.pdf.
See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Development/Session19/A_HRC_WG.2_19_CRP.4.pdf.
Liane Schalatek, “Gender and climate finance”.
“Accelerating climate action with gender equality”, available at
https://www.klimaat.be/files/7715/4461/3639/Gender_Equality_Declaration.pdf.
Liane Schalatek, “Gender and climate finance”.
Gender and Climate Change: A Closer Look at Existing Evidence.
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