At the recently concluded 66th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66) held by the United Nations, leaders from around the world agreed that women and girls have a vital role to play as “agents of change for sustainable development”. The two-week long session, which is also the second largest UN intergovernmental meeting held annually in New York, highlighted the fact that women have to take charge of safeguarding the environment and addressing the adverse effects of climate change.
“The agreements reached by the Commission come at a point when the world urgently needs new and coherent solutions to the interlocking crises that impact us all,” Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, said at the event. “We now have a pathway with practical, specific measures for global resilience and recovery, and a shared understanding that solutions depend on bringing women and girls to the centre. Let’s capitalize on the work done here, put these agreements into immediate practice and move these decisions forward through all the major forums ahead, including COP27.”
The member states that met at the CSW66 acknowledged the fact that women and girls are disproportionately affected by climate change, environmental degradation, disasters, and global or local conflicts. These impacts can include loss of homes, loss of livelihoods, water scarcity, destruction of facilities and amenities, among others. The commission stressed that the elimination of persistent historical and structural inequalities, discriminatory laws and policies, negative social norms and gender stereotypes is urgently required. It is also noted that the economic and social fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the impacts of climate change, and has pushed people further behind into extreme poverty. With a rise in the demand for unpaid care and domestic work, women have been increasingly under additional pressure during this period.
The commission also recommended all member states to address climate change and work on initiatives to reduce risks of environmental disasters, the following inclusive steps must be taken:
• “Promoting women’s and girls’ full and equal participation and leadership to make natural resource management and climate, environment and disaster risk action more effective. Women and girls are taking climate and environment action at all levels, but their voice, agency and participation needs to be further supported, resourced, valued and recognized.”
• “Expanding gender-responsive finance at scale for climate and environment action and to reach women’s organizations, enterprises and cooperatives. Following the commitments undertaken under the Paris Agreement and the Glasgow Climate Pact on mitigation, adaptation and the provision and mobilization of finance, technology transfer and capacity-building, developed countries need to mobilize and meet their obligation to developing countries and small island developing States. In addition, climate finance must be increasingly gender-responsive to strengthen the capacities of women, youth and local and marginalized communities and their organizations.”
• “Building women’s resilience in the context of agricultural and food systems, forest and fisheries management and the sustainable energy transition. Soils, forests, fisheries and oceans are principal sources of income, livelihood, social protection and employment, particularly for women and girls living in poverty. Equal access and rights to important resources and productive assets such as land, water, technology, technical advice and information can result in greater food security, renewable energy, and more just, resilient and sustainable systems for all.”
• “Enhancing gender statistics and sex-disaggregated data in the gender-environment nexus; and fostering gender-responsive just transitions. Disaggregated data and gender statistics on climate change, environmental degradation and disaster risk reduction, especially with regard to gender differences in vulnerability and adaptive approaches, will enhance the capacity of policymakers to develop and adopt effective, evidence-based policies and programmes at all levels and boost women’s and girls’ specific contributions to environmental conservation and climate change mitigation and adaptation.”
*Image courtesy: UN Women