Can we turn the tide? Confronting gender inequality in climate policy

ABSTRACT

Emerging global crises such as climate change, massive migrations, pandemics, and environmental degradation are posing serious risks to humanity, threatening ecosystems and rural livelihoods across the globe. The poor, and especially the most marginalised among the poor, are disproportionately affected. Climate change in particular is expected to exacerbate pre-existing social inequalities, including gender inequalities. Therefore, innovative and equitable climate adaptation and mitigation strategies will be needed. This article reviews the progress so far in integrating a gender perspective into climate change policy discussions and agreements at global and national levels.

Las crisis emergentes a nivel mundial, por ejemplo, el cambio climático, las migraciones masivas, las pandemias y la degradación del medio ambiente, están planteando graves riesgos para la humanidad, amenazando los ecosistemas y los medios de vida rurales. Los pobres, y entre ellos sobre todo los más marginados, son afectados de manera desproporcionada. Se prevé que el cambio climático, en particular, exacerbe las desigualdades sociales preexistentes, incluidas las desigualdades de género. Ello significa que serán necesarias estrategias innovadoras y equitativas de adaptación al clima y de mitigación de los daños provocados por sus cambios. El presente artículo examina los avances realizados hasta la fecha en la integración de una perspectiva de género a los debates y los acuerdos sobre políticas relativas al cambio climático, tanto a nivel mundial como nacional.

Les crises mondiales émergentes comme le changement climatique, les migrations en masse, les pandémies et la dégradation environnementale représentent des risques sérieux pour l’humanité ; elles menacent les écosystèmes et les moyens d’existence partout dans le monde. Les personnes pauvres, et en particulier les pauvres les plus marginalisés, sont touchées de manière disproportionnée. On s’attend en particulier à ce que le changement climatique exacerbe les inégalités sociales préexistantes, y compris les inégalités entre les sexes. Ainsi, des stratégies innovantes et équitables d’adaptation et d’atténuation en matière de changement climatique seront requises. Cet article examine les progrès effectués jusqu’ici dans l’intégration d’une perspective de genre dans les discussions et les accords sur les politiques face au changement climatique à l’échelle mondiale et nationale.

KEYWORDS:

• gender
• equality
• climate change
• vulnerability
• transformation
• policy
• adaptation
• mitigation

Acknowledgement

This work was implemented as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which is carried out with support from the CGIAR Trust Fund and through bilateral funding agreements. For details please visit https://ccafs.cgiar.org/donors. The views expressed in this document cannot be taken to reflect the official opinions of these organizations.

Notes on contributors

Sophia Huyer is Gender and Social Inclusion Leader, CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security; Women in Global Science and Technology (WISAT); International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). Postal address: 204 Ventress Road, Brighton, ON K0K 1H0, Canada. Email: [email protected]

Mariola Acosta is a PhD candidate at the Strategic Communication Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre; International Centre for Tropical Agriculture. Email: [email protected]

Tatiana Gumucio was a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Columbia University. She is now based at Pennsylvania State University. Email: [email protected]

Jasmin Irisha Jim Ilham is a graduate student in the MA Climate and Society programme at Columbia University. Email: [email protected]

Notes

1 According to the UNFCCC, global warming is likely to reach 1.5°C if not beyond (2.0°C) between 2030 and 2052. This is expected to increase the risk of heatwaves, heavy rainfall events, crop productivity decline, reduction in water availability, undernutrition, habitat losses, and others (IPCC 2018), and the effects get significantly worse at 2°C. The world has already witnessed about 1°C of temperature rise and is on track to 1.5°C by 2030. Some projections put the world on track to four degrees of warming (www.wri.org/blog/2018/10/according-new-ipcc-report-world-track-exceed-its-carbon-budget-12-years, last checked 30 November 2020).

2 Gender issues were not significantly integrated into UNFCCC decisions until the 2000s, and a ‘Gender Action Plan’ was not established until 2017 (UNFCCC 2017).

3 The Kenya NAMA has been submitted and is in process of finalisation.

4 NAPAs are the precursors of, and have been superseded by, NAPs.

5 This reflects similar findings of an analysis in January 2018 of nine NAPs by Daze and Denkens (2018).

6 Tatiana Gumucio and Jasmin Irisha Jim Ilham.

7 Bangladesh, Cambodia, Haiti, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Tanzania, and Zambia.

8 PPPs are defined as a ‘a long-term contract between a private party and a government entity, for providing a public asset or service, in which the private party bears significant risk and management responsibility, and remuneration is linked to performance’ (World Bank 2018). See https://pppknowledgelab.org/.

9 See Huyer et al. (2020) for an analysis of gender in/equality in relation to climate change.