Engendering the climate-change negotiations: experiences, challenges, and steps forward

Abstract

The United Nations is formally committed to gender mainstreaming in all policies and programmes, and that should include policy-making processes relating to climate change. Yet gender aspects are rarely addressed in climate-change policy, either at the national or at the international levels. Reasons include gaps in gender-sensitive data and knowledge about the links between gender justice1 and climate change; and the lack of participation of women and gender experts in climate-related negotiations. This article shares insights and experiences from the international climate-change policy process, recounting the history of women's participation, demonstrating progress achieved, and hoping to inspire women and gender experts to get involved – at the local, national, regional, and international levels.

Keywords:

• gender
• climate change
• UNFCCC
• Kyoto Protocol
• Post-Kyoto Regime

Notes

1. We are using the term ‘gender justice’ because it is more encompassing than ‘gender equity’ or ‘gender equality’. Gender justice puts a focus on ‘what is just?’ and ‘what kind of justice do we want?’ Is it about distributional justice? In the context of climate policy, that would mean that all people have the same emission rights per capita. Or is it about recognising knowledge and competencies, e.g. of indigenous women in relation to using forest resources? Is it about putting an economic value to such knowledge, or about creating a different economy? The term ‘gender justice’ articulates a feminist approach that goes beyond seeking an equitable share in the existing power system, which has been causing the current problems. We believe this system needs to be changed. Working towards that goal, we combine strategies of campaigning from the outside with advocacy strategies operating on the inside. The present article is focusing on the latter.

2. The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UN CSD) is the body mandated to monitor the implementation of the main outcomes of the Rio Earth Summit (1992) and the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002). Women have been very active and a driving force in the civil-society movement around the Rio Summit and in many years of the UN CSD meetings, achieving access to negotiations for non-government representatives, making statements, and lobbying effectively to influence decisions. One result is that Agenda 21, the main outcome document of the Rio Summit, contains nine chapters on so-called ‘Major Groups’, the first one being ‘Women’ (the others are Children & Youth; Trade Unions; Business; Farmers; Indigenous People; Science & Research; NGOs; Local Government). These chapters spell out how non-government groups need to be closely involved in decision-making and implementation of sustainable development.

3. ENERGIA: International Network on Gender and Sustainable Energy. GWA: The Gender and Water Alliance. WOCAN: Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management.

4. Villagrasa (2002) provides more detailed figures on the gender distribution within the NGO and business delegations. (No updated analysis of such data has been published since.) While men dominated among the biggest environmental NGOs, there were strong women leaders in the global network of climate-campaigning organisations, the Climate Action Network. Villagrasa asserts that the good international networking among these NGOs is due to women's leadership (ibid., 42–3).

5. G. Alber, Director of the Climate Alliance of European Cities with Indigenous Rainforest Peoples; personal communication.

6. The Kyoto Protocol is not signed by states for an indefinite period, as it was always seen as a first step and trial period for some of the mechanisms that it includes. The first period of commitment to the regulations in the Protocol ends in 2012. Because nations take considerable time to discuss and ratify international laws, the regulations that shall be included in the Protocol beyond 2012 need to be negotiated by the end of 2009. Hence, the COP planned to take place in Copenhagen in December 2009, will be the crucial event to agree the international climate-protection regime for the foreseeable future. In addition, it is those years between now and, say, 2020, when our emissions will determine how severe the future climatic changes will be – within the upper limits of what humankind can cope with, or beyond.