Gender and Climate Change Activities COP 14 - Poznan 2008

Daily: Women's Caucus

At the COPs, every day women (and some men) interested in the gender dimension of climate change and policies meet to discuss key issues to address during the current negotiations, lobbying points, strategies and questions of collaborations with other constituencies and groups.

All participants in the Caucus are welcome to state their opinions, to take part in the actions, to make recommondations, to share their opinions, and to chair the meeting.

Daily: Information Booth

GenderCC's booth in the exhibition area aimed for information sharing and networking on gender justice and climate policy. Positions, photos and publications were presented, interviews to the media were given, and many discussions with participants took place .

The booth was situated next to the one from WECF - Women in Europe for a Common Future, which addressed responses from the Pan-European region and gave examples and positions about the effects of climate change, the need for adaptation and for an equitable post-Kyoto regime from an integrated gender and human rights perspective.

photos

Monday, 01 Dec

15:30 – 17:30 EU Pavillon Room 1
Gender justice in climate change policy

GenderCC's first event at COP14 on the need and possibilities to include womens perspectives into climate related policies took place in the EU Pavillon. More than 100 participants engaged in a lively discussion about gender and climate change.

Inputs were given by Gotelind Alber from GenderCC introducing „Gender Aspects in Climate Change, Mitigation and Adaptation“, followed by Meike Spitzner (Wuppertal Institute), who presented „Criteria of Gender Sensitive Planning in Transportation“, Sharmind Neelormi from Bangladesh who addressed the issue of "Gender and Adaptation", and Claire Greensfelder (WECF), who stated briefly why to „Keep Nuclear Power out of CDM“.

photos

Friday, 05 Dec

9:30 – 17:00 Hotel Mercure Poznan, Room Solana
Gender Justice in Times of a Changing Climate International Conference

The conference, hosted by LIFE and GenderCC, was a great success: about 100 participants held inspiring discussion in an open atmosphere. It was discussed, how climate change causes injustices and how to address them. The main questions were: what are the special needs of each region and their recommendations for the international level? What are the challenges to integrate gender into climate change policy? Which strategies are promising?

photos

Monday, 08 Dec

10:30 – 11:00 Room: UNFCCC Press Conference Room
Gender justice in times of a changing climate
Press Briefing

GenderCC presented proposals for the integration of gender into the UNFCCC process,
which were developed from local experiences during the conference “Gender Justice in
Times of a Changing Climate”. The Gender-Celebration (see photo) preceeding our Press Briefing caught the attention of many people present.

Please check back for documentation and see our Press Release.
The press briefing was webcasted and can be seen here.

photos

Tuesday, 09 Dec

13:00-15:00 Side Event, Room: Swan
Our Vision for Gender Justice in the Copenhagen Outcomes

Gender and climate change experts from Africa, Asia Latin America and Pacific presented experiences and achievements, gaps and strategies for making the future climate regime fair to women and men. GenderCC formulated desired outcomes for Copenhagen and
- reasserts, that real solutions to the climate crisis can only be achieved when there is gender justice;
- demands the UNFCCC process to commit to the integration of the gender dimension into all policies, mechanisms, programmes and institutional frameworks;
- urges UNFCCC Parties to adopt a resolution on gender justice which fulfills the binding obligations on gender and human rights that the UN have already endorsed;
- call for a one-day plenary session specifically dedicated to gender in order to discuss the gender dimension in the ongoing negotiations before Copenhagen;
- call upon the UNFCCC to acknowledge the many solutions women already have and the actions they take on the ground to mitigate and adapt to climate change;
- suggest a high level expert advisory group on gender whose findings and recommendations should be considered official inputs in the process.

The side event was webcasted to the UNFCCC website.
GenderCC's main demands

photos

9:00 - 9:30, Next to the Entrance
Action: Emissions Down - Women' Rights Up

can you believe?
we produce half your food
we provide half your water
we look after your children
and your aged
and your sick
we care for the forests
and the wetlands
and harvest even the deserts
for life

we are half the population
we are women

and can you believe?
we don't believe in carbon markets
we don't believe in redd
we don't believe in cdm

to save our children
or our climate

we will not trade in life

women for life
women for climate justice
women for human rights

photos

Friday, Dec. 12

Intervention in the Closing Plenary

Svitlana Slesarenok from Black Sea Women's Club, who was in Poznan with WECF - Women in Europe for a Common Future, presented the intervention on  behalf of the Women's Caucus in the closing plenary of the 14. Conference of the Parties. It is 'tradition' that our statement is given by a representative from the region where the conference takes place. The statement is webcasted (go to 2(b) statements by civil society organisations)