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News from GenderCC 
SYMPOSIUM ON GENDER AND CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH, BONN, GERMANY During the last UNFCCC climate change talks in Bonn, Germany (May 31st – June 11th 2010), GenderCC organized a symposium together with Bread for the World, BRIDGE, Gender & Disaster Network and EED. Around forty researchers, practitioners and experts participated and shared their knowledge and questions. Brief introductions were given by Gotelind Alber, GenderCC and Tasneem Essop, WWF-South Africa, aiming to show the state of the art concerning expertise; discussing why more research within the field of gender and climate change is needed and what strategies are crucial in order to develop and make changes. Thereafter, participants discussed in three breakout groups adaptation, mitigation, and disaster and conflict research needs from a gender perspective.
The symposium resulted in a list of recommendations on these topics as well as in strategies for further research on gender and climate change. Participants agreed that more research in the context of ‘gender and climate change’ is urgently needed, including large-scale studies to provide a gender (data-) baseline, and small scale studies to provide more in-depth knowledge. Specifically, more research is needed on the household-level and on all areas of care-work, as women carry most of the responsibility in these areas. In this context, it is of utmost importance that research is not only concentrating on aspects of vulnerability, but also focuses on men and women’s contribution to emissions, and to solutions (e.g. looking at consumption, energy needs, mobility etc.).
The results of the symposium were presented in a side event to the participants of the Climate Change Talks (see below). For more information about the Symposium please have a look at the presentations by Gotelind Alber, Georgina Aboud and Alyson Brody, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz. The summary report, and the list of recommendations will be found on the GenderCC website in August.
GENDER AND CLIMATE CHANGE FORUM IN NAIROBI, KENYA Africa is uniquely vulnerable to the ravages of climate change. While it is at the very low end of countries who are contributing to climate change, it is at the very high end of those countries which will be most dramatically affected by global warming and other impacts of climate change. Thus, improving adaptive capacity is important in order to reduce vulnerability to climate change. The Kenya Climate Change Bill is a step in the right direction towards improving the countries adaptive response capacity. In order to address climate change issues particularly with respect to equity and pro-poor development, mainstreaming of gender in climate change governance is essential for effective mitigation and adaptation responses to climate change.
In this context, GenderCC, together with the Institute of Environment and Water (IEW) and the Heinrich-Boell-Foundation, organised the “Gender and Climate Change Forum” on 17th of June in Nairobi, Kenya. The workshop aimed at catalyzing stakeholder consultation and generating joint recommendations for action on gender and climate change by key stakeholders with regard to the National Climate Change Response Strategy (NCCRS) and the above mentioned Climate Change Bill. A key output is a set of recommendations to be incorporated into the Kenya Climate Change Bill, the forging of partnerships between different stakeholders, as well as other sectors such as the media and the private sector.
Participants identified seven steps on the way forward, including the need for a review of the Kenyan strategy to incorporate gender concerns, women empowerment at the local level, and the formation of a task force on gender and climate issues.
More information about the Forum as well as its outcomes can be found on the GenderCC website.
DEUTSCHE WELLE MEDIA CONFERENCE ON CLIMATE CHANGE, BONN, GERMANY More than 1,500 people from 95 countries participated in this year’s Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum in Bonn on the topic of: “The Heat is on. Climate Change and the Media.” The representatives from science, politics, business and the media attended more than 50 workshops to examine what the media can do to increase awareness for one of the most pressing issues of the 21st century.
GenderCC organized a session with the title “Under the Heat, but not on the Radar”, attended by about 50 participants. Marion Rolle, GenderCC, provided an overview of the gender and climate change nexus. Nina Somera, NGO-Forum on ADB and member of GenderCC introduced the current situation in the Philippines, and addressed the critical issue of social reproductive justice. Finally, Titi Tahura Gabi from PNGFM, a local radio station in Papua New Guinea talked about her personal experience and perception of climate change in Papua New Guinea, raising the question of how media could contribute to raise awareness about gender and climate change.
For more information about the conference please click here
Gender and the UNFCCC
WOMEN AND GENDER CONSTITUENCY AT THE CLIMATE CHANGE TALKS IN JUNE The UNFCCC Climate Change Talks (Meetings of the Subsidairy Bodies and the Ad Hoc Workings Groups) took place from 31 May to 11 June (Bonn, Germany). Again, they were attended by a number of gender and women’s organisations and individual participants working on gender and climate change.
Among the gender activities during the conference, there was a Women and Gender Caucus every morning where strategies an positions were discussed. Moreover, five interventions were made by the various gender and women’s rights organisations forming the women and gender constituency. These interventions concerned Article 6 of the convention, financing, SBSTA Research Dialogue, REDD and an intervention in the opening session of the AWG-KP.
All interventions can be found on our website.
In the final Women and Gender Caucus meeting, it was agreed that the gender and women’s organisations will cooperate further during the upcoming sessions, especially as only a few members from the gender and women’s rights organisations will attend the next two meetings.
WOMEN AND GENDER SIDE EVENTS AT THE CLIMATE CHANGE TALKS GenderCC held a side event on “Gender and climate change research: gaps, questions, and potentials”, co-hosted by LIFE, WECF, BRIDGE and GDN. The very well-attended side event aimed for introducing and discussing the current state of research within gender and climate change in specific areas, as well as for raising issues and questions and discussing suggestions for improvement. Presentations included the results of a Symposium on the same topic which GenderCC organised beforehand. Panellists and participants discussed future steps and ways for improvement within the field of gender and climate change research.
As a follow-up to the symposium and side event, on behalf of the Women and Gender Constituency and GenderCC contacted the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), to offer support in any possible way, e.g. to share research findings and references, and to comment on draft reports. Responding to the letter, the IPCC Secretariat welcomed the opportunity for further cooperation, and listed a number of possibilities.
More information and the presentations of the side event to be found on our website.
WEDO organised a side event on “Improving national implementation: highlighting gender equality and women’s participation”. The side event convened partners from the Environmental Ministry of Mozambique, the Environmental Protection Agency of Ghana, and the Central American Initiative to highlight the importance of gender considerations in implementing national climate change plans.
UNDP presented a case study on the gender and climate change nexus from Ghana in a side event on the “Africa Adaptation Programme. Interdisciplinary approaches to Integrating Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction into Adaptation”.
OUTCOME OF THE LATEST CLIMATE CHANGE TALKS As the meeting of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies and the Ad Hoc Working Groups reached its end, it became obvious that there has not been much progress made towards an agreement this year. Though the talks started in a more trustful atmosphere than in Copenhagen, with many delegations affirming their will to negotiate seriously, the most important questions were not tackled. Moreover, negotiations are still led too much by national interests rather than by global needs, and by emotions rather than rational approaches based on science, as stated in the GenderCC press release. In the closing plenary of the AWG-LCA, the current text was criticised and rejected by many delegates who urged the chair of the LCA to put forward a new text.
However, the latest draft of the negotiating text of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA), still includes some references on women and gender, and delegates from Iceland, Norway and the US spoke out for retaining these.
The new text for facilitating the negotiations is available at the UNFCCC website.
GENDER SENSITIVE COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION According to the UNFCCC, “improving awareness and understanding of climate change, and creating solutions to facilitate access to information on a changing climate are central to winning public support for climate related policies.” In this context, specifically Article 6 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change addresses the issue of climate change related education, training and public awareness.
Due to GenderCC's contributions to the European Regional Workshop on Article 6 of the Convention women and gender issues were discussed and strongly integrated into the recently published report. Above other issues, participants of the Workshop stated that messages to communicate climate change, “should reach women and men and make them aware of their different roles, attitudes, preferences and skills and contribute to overcoming gender roles and their limitations”.
More information here.
NEW EXECUTIVE SECRETARIAT: CHRISTIANA FIGUERES Christiana Figueres, Costa Rica, has been appointed as the new executive secretary of the UNFCCC to succeed Yvo De Boer, and assumed her post on July 8th. To select a woman for the post was something GenderCC, together with other gender and women’s rights organizations, lobbied for.
The gender constituency within the UNFCCC has already contacted Figueres regarding future collaboration on gender issues regarding climate change work. A first meeting between the gender constituency and Figueres will probably be held during one of the climate talks before Cancun in December. In a letter to the gender constituency, Figueres writes; “I could not agree more with you that women are not only clear victims of climate change, but most importantly, enablers and agents of change and solutions. Let me take the opportunity to congratulate you and your organization for the great work that you have been doing raising awareness on gender issues over the last few years.”
In his last briefing meeting with NGOs, Yvo de Boer, outgoing UNFCCC Executive Secretary also emphasized the Women and Gender groups’ effective work and encouraged them to go for more and stronger gender references in the negotiation text.
For more information on the election of Christiana Figueres visit the UNFCCC website.
GENDER IN NATIONAL REPORTS A gender analysis of the national reports on implementation of the Convention to the Conference of the Parties (COP) has been made by GenderCC. These documents are the core elements of the national communications for both Annex I and non-Annex I Parties and include information on emissions and removals of greenhouse gases (GHGs), as well as details of the actions a Party has taken to implement the Convention. Since June 2009, 44 countries have submitted national reports in English.
Unfortunately, only few countries mention gender aspects, differences between men and women and women’s rights issues. There are not much climate change and gender implications to be found in the reports. However, some countries are discussing the direct linkage between the two, with Iceland as one of the clearest examples. In the Icelandic report, it is stated that projects of gender and environment, and gender and climate change are prioritized working areas.
The overall gender discussion is, however, absent in the national reports. Women as a vulnerable group in climate change work is mentioned and women’s rights and work towards achieving the MDGs is brought up in some reports. However, the correlated discussion on gender/women’s rights and climate/environment is weak.
Find the detailed results here
Activities of the Gender and Climate Change Community
WOMEN’S NETWORK IN BANGLADESH MONITORS NATIONAL ADAPTATION FUNDS Bangladesh’s civil society organizations network Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL), which links almost 200 national and community based organizations decided in its last general body meeting in February 2010 to form a Women's Group. The group is coordinated by the Centre for Global Change (CGC), which is also GenderCC’s Focal Point in Asia.
The women’s group will focus this year on agriculture, trade and climate change, and will organize capacity building activities for women-led organizations on these issues. Furthermore, CSRL will organize a number of rural agriculture’s fairs in different regions, where agriculture adaptation by women will be show cased.
Another central area of this year’s activities is the review of Bangladesh’s climate change action and strategy plan and the recently reviewed NAPA document in terms of a gender perspective. Moreover, the network is also in the process of setting up a monitoring mechanism concerning gender gaps of Bangladesh’s allocated adaptation fund. In terms of setting an example of transparency and accountability by the government, the network is trying to cooperate with government through lobbying for proper gender sensitive adaptation.
For more information, please contact Sharmind Neelormi, GenderCC Focal Point in Asia.
BUILDING BETTER CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGIES USING A “GENDER LENS” Viet Nam is one of the nations in the world most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and women tend to disproportionately suffer the negative impacts. This is already happening throughout the country, and yet the specific concerns of women have largely been absent from the climate change debate.
To address gender gaps in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction measures in Viet Nam, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) organized a three-day training of trainers on gender and climate change over the past three days. Forty people, including representatives from UN agencies, donors, line ministries, the National Assembly, the Viet Nam Women’s Union and national and international NGOs, participated in the training and came up with ideas on how to mainstream gender into climate change mitigation and adaptation programmes.
For more information please have a look at the UN’s webpage.
OXFAM GENDER JUSTICE SUMMIT IN TORONTO, CANADA Taking place in Toronto the weekend before the G8/G20 meetings, Oxfam’s 2010 Gender Justice Summit brought together Oxfam members - volunteers, donors, academics, advocates and activists from around the world -to explore the themes of gender based violence, maternal health, poverty, security, climate change, and food security.
Stating that “Climate Change is more than an environmental issue. It is about poverty and human rights. More than this, it is about the rights of women. It is also deepening the food crisis as more crop failures mean women food producers work harder and feed families less.” In addition participants discussed why Climate Change is a women’s rights issue as well as other questions.
For more information please have a look at Oxfam’s website.
News on Gender and Climate Change- National Climate Change Initiatives to focus on Women (June 24, 2010): Although climate change does not pick and choose its victims, some groups are more affected than others. In developing countries, women are often the main water transporters and agricultural producers, one of many examples illustrating the way in which women are more likely to feel the consequences of climate change than men.
- Streamlining Lagos Laws to address Climate Vagaries (June, 18, 2010):
During an event organised by Lagos State Ministry of the Environment in collaboration with Policy Advocacy Project Partnership on Climate Change in Lagos State, Ms Titi Akosa spoke on “Effective Climate Change Policy in Lagos State: Addressing the Gender Dynamics". The gathering declared that the state and the Federal Government must as a matter of urgency encourage gender specificity in the design of responses to climate change-induced crisis and challenges.
- Gender inequalities behind poverty need to be addressed (June 15, 2010): Women are agents of transformation and can assist countries in meeting the emerging challenges of such issues as the global economic recession, climate change and food insecurity.
- Gender in Nigerian environmental law (May 2010): In May, the Ministry of the Environment of Lagos State, Nigeria convened its 2nd Summit On Climate Change, and Nigerian women are now actively trying to influence Nigerian climate policy on their behalf.
Who is Who at GenderCC - Titi SoentoroFor decades Titi Soentoro has dedicated herself to promoting human rights, in particular women’s rights and environmental protection. She has been integrating feminist perspectives into environmental issues, human rights and debt movements, and on the other hand ecological and debt perspectives into women’s movements. In addition to her experience running advocacies and campaigns, she developed feminist education, monitoring and research programmes on international financial institutions for women’s groups in Indonesia and Burmese women’s groups in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Titi Sorentoro has led several networks and organisations in Indonesia since 1996. Currently, she works for the NGO-Forum on the ADB (Asian Development Bank); where she puts an emphasis on gender aspects. To find out more about the NGO’s work and current publications, have a look at www.forum-adb.org.
In addition to being a member of GenderCC’s steering committee, she is also part of Jubilee South/Asia-Pacific Movement on Debt and Development. Titi loves to bake cakes and pies, do vipassana (insight) meditation, tai chi, yoga and qi gong.
Publications- ENERGIA News 13.1 - Gender, Energy and Climate Change (May 2010): This issue looks at a broad spectrum of issues relating to gender, energy and climate change: the role, activities and outcomes of women's groups in the climate negotiations; gendered impacts of climate change in India; how to make carbon funding equally accessible to men and women; and more.
- Sustainable Energy News No. 68: The issue focuses on “Gender, Climate & Energy”, featuring above others two articles on “Gender Justice at COP 15” and “Gender, Cities and Climate Change”.
Calendar of Events - 2 – 6 August 2010 Bonn, Germany. Next UNFCCC Climate Change Talks. The thirteenth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties of the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP 13) and the eleventh sessions of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA 11).
- 21. and 22. October 2010, Seoul, South Korea. A Global Women Capital Forum: Green Growth, Quality of Life and Innovator will be organized by the Korean Women’s Development Institute (KWDI). More information will be provided in the next issue of GenderCC's newslwtter.
- 25 – 26 November 2010, Linköping, Sweden. Conference on Gender, Sustainability & Climate Change. The Gender, Sustainability and Climate Change symposium “Equality, Growth and Sustainability – Do they mix?” will discuss current positions and seek to develop knowledge about the gendered processes and motivations regarding societal climate change adaptation and mitigation, with a special focus on first world settings. The session aims at scholars as well as a practitioners and policy makers.
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