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GenderCC Newsletter

October 2017

Dear readers,

 

The devastating impacts of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in North America and in the Caribbean and the terrifying floods in South Asia yet again show the destructive power of climate change and how social injustices are perpetuated and aggravated by its impacts. As the global climate community comes together in November for the 23rd Climate Change Conference (COP23), this year’s extreme weather events are yet another call for urgent, ambitious action. GenderCC is eagerly awaiting COP23 as we are expecting the first ever Gender Action Plan to the UNFCCC to be adopted. Make sure to stay up to date with the negotiations on the Gender Action Plan and GenderCC’s activities during COP23 on our website or through facebook and twitter!

 

This edition of our newsletter furthermore reports on the progresses made in GenderCC’s current projects and features a number of news from the gender and climate change community and recent publications. We are especially excited about the guest contributions by GenderCC members that are enriching this edition!

 

Please consider supporting our work for gender equality and climate justice with a donation!

 

We hope you enjoy this issue!

 

Kind regards,

the GenderCC Secretariat team

Content

News from GenderCC

    • Updates from the Gender into Urban Climate Change Initiative (GUCCI) project
    • The contribution of gender justice to successful climate politics
    • Not without us! News from the project

    Gender @ UNFCCC

    • The first Gender Action Plan to the UNFCCC expected to be adopted at COP23
    • GenderCC’s activities during COP23
    • Doctoral thesis on the integration of gender into the Rio Conventions

     

    Activities of the Gender and Climate Change Community

    • 3rd Gender-Just Climate Solutions Award. Winners will be announced at COP23

    News on Gender and Climate Change

      • Feminists leading the resistance against coal in Germany
      • Torrential Rains in Mumbai this Mansoon
      • The WEN Forum – feminism and the environment in conversation
      • Green Climate Fund launches climate gender manual

       

      Who is Who at GenderCC


      Publications

      Calendar of Events

      Imprint

       
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      News from GenderCC


      We are happy to report, that GenderCC has further expanded its memberships. In August, we were confirmed as an accredited observer organisation to the Green Climate Fund (GCF). And, as a non-profit organisation registered under German law, we have just recently become member in the Klima-Allianz, a network of more than 100 German civil society organisations fighting climate change and pushing the German government to take a leading role in emissions reduction.

      Updates from the Gender into Urban Climate Change Initiative (GUCCI) project

      The partner organisations are currently implementing the three steps of the methodology developed in the GUCCI project: the Gender Assessment and Monitoring of Mitigation and Adaption, short GAMMA. All partners have finished the first step (GAMMA - I): a round of interviews with city officials to assess the institutional and policy framework of the pilot cities in terms of climate change and gender equality. Currently the partners are analysing their cities’ policies and comparing them with a broad portfolio of possible policies with prioritised measures from a gender perspective (GAMMA - II). Based on this comparison, gaps will be identified, and recommendations for further policies and an advocacy strategy will be prepared. Moreover, all partners have conducted stakeholder workshops in their cities to present the project goals and to collect views and priorities for further interventions and projects. Stay up to date with the GUCCI project here.


      Recent findings from the project and the methodology described above will be presented and discussed at a side event on 15 November, 2017 in Bonn. Learn more and register for the event here or send your registration directly to l.ederberg[at]gendercc.net.

      The contribution of gender justice to successful climate politics

      The first work package of this research project which GenderCC is currently conducting in cooperation with the Wuppertal Institute and the Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE) has recently been completed. It resulted in an interim report that provides an overview on evidence-based publications addressing gender and climate in industrialised countries, resistances in implementing the gender knowledge and strategies to overcome these barriers.

      Moreover it provides the results of a comprehensive analysis of relevant international agreements and mechanisms and their strategies to address gender issues, as well as their implications for gender-responsive national climate policy and a matrix for a gender assessment of national mitigation and adaptation programmes.

      The full report is available here (in German only). An English summary of the main findings is being prepared and will be published here.

      Not without us! News from the project

      From 6-12 May the project team met in Bonn for a capacity-building workshop and to attend the SB46 climate talks. The team combines a group of activists from different gender and climate change organisations all around the world: Solidaritas Perempuan (Indonesia), GenderCC Southern Africa, the Critical Geography Collective (Ecuador) as well as LIFE and GenderCC (Germany). The capacity building workshop allowed the participants to get strategic insights on the UNFCCC process and the work of the Women and Gender Constituency. This way the team felt empowered to start right away with delivering the opening interventions in the APA and SBI plenaries on behalf of the Women and Gender Constituency. Dinda Nuur Yura (Indonesia), Ndivile Mokoena (South Africa) and Melissa Moreano (Ecuador) summarized their experiences from the climate talks in three articles. Their stories provide you with an impression of the negotiations from an activist’s point of view and an insight on their focal topics: agriculture, REDD+ and conflict of interests within the UNFCCC. The team will again attend COP23 and you can stay up to date with their activities here.

      Gender @ UNFCCC

      The first Gender Action Plan to the UNFCCC expected to be adopted at COP23

      Last year, parties to the UNFCCC decided to continue and enhance the Lima Work Programme on Gender and requested the development of a Gender Action Plan (GAP). It is supposed to support the implementation of the gender-related decisions and mandates so far adopted in the UNFCCC process. The GAP will be negotiated and is expected to be adopted at COP23. In order to prepare the negotiations on the GAP in Bonn, an in-session workshop took place during SB46 in Bonn and two informal meetings were held by interested countries and with the participation of organisations from the Women and Gender Constituency. The GAP will mark a milestone in the efforts to integrate gender into international climate policy and GenderCC calls on Parties to develop and adopt an ambitious and effective GAP. The GAP must be comprehensive in supporting the implementation of existing gender decisions and mandates. Crucial elements in this regard are capacity building for decision-makers and implementers of climate policies at all political levels and the strategic involvement of gender experts to ensure the gender-just development, implementation and monitoring of climate policies. Furthermore, it should establish a coordination mechanism that allows for joint action and building synergies between UN agencies, national and local governments as well as gender and women non-governmental organisations and grassroots women. Whatever the outcome in Bonn, the GAP will only be effective if sufficient funding is provided. GenderCC therefore calls on developed countries to commit to the provision of the necessary financial resources! Read more on the GAP and follow recent developments from the negotiations at COP23 here.

      GenderCC’s activities during COP23

      Several of GenderCC’s members and the staff of the International Secretariat will attend COP23 to follow the negotiations and to make our demands for climate justice and gender-just climate policies heard in and around the conference venue. GenderCC is hosting a number of workshops and events in and outside the official COP23 venue. All of GenderCC’s events as well as an overview of gender-related events is available here. If you’re in Bonn, make sure to pass by our booth in the Bonn Zone!

       

      Stay up to date with the negotiations in Bonn and GenderCC’s activities on our website, or through Facebook and Twitter.

      Doctoral thesis on the integration of gender into the Rio Conventions

      Guest contribution by Nicky Broeckhoven, GenderCC Steering Committee member

       

      Gender inequality and environmental degradation are closely intertwined. As they share common roots and are both symptoms of deeper systemic problems, these injustices need to be tackled simultaneously. My doctoral thesis, titled “Integrating gender into the Rio Conventions: an international legal perspective“ examined the role that international environmental law and policy plays or could play in terms of linking these injustices. In particular, my thesis aimed to analyse whether and how the Rio Conventions on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Desertification have contributed to this linking process. A detailed and cross-cutting screening, analysis and evaluation of the three Conventions revealed that they have each played an important role in creating mandates to deal with the gender-environment nexus over the years. Yet, the degree to which gender issues have been integrated into the frameworks of each of the Conventions varies significantly. This thesis therefore discusses some key legal, policy and advocacy recommendations that could further facilitate a successful integration of gender considerations into the Rio Conventions.

       

      For more info, feel free to contact me at: nicky.broeckhoven[at]ugent.be

      Activities of the Gender and Climate Change Community

      3rd Gender-Just Climate Solutions Award. Winners will be announced at COP23

      The Gender-Just Climate Solution Awards aim to showcase real solutions for a more just, equal and healthy planet and is initiated by the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC) under the UNFCCC. The three winning award recipients will receive € 2000, travel support to attend COP23 and mentorship opportunities – while runners-up will be showcased in a publication and at the awards ceremony.

       

      We are looking forward to showcasing these solutions from around the world!

      The award winners will be announced at an event on Monday, 13 November 16.45-18.15, Bonn Zone, Room 7.

      News on Gender and Climate Change

      Feminists leading the resistance against coal in Germany

      Guest contribution by Kate Cahoon, 350.org and GenderCC member

       

      When activists from Germany and Europe met in the Rhineland for this year’s climate camp, the motto of Ende Gelände – a mass action of civil disobedience against coal – was “creating a climate of justice”. Gender justice was a key component, which meant that in the days leading up to the action there were workshops on intersectionality and action trainings specifically for women, as well as media interviews exploring the links between climate justice and gender justice (https://vimeo.com/229109411), such as the crucial role of care work in climate activism. For the first time, there was a colourful and loud queer feminist ‘finger’ participating as part of the Ende Gelände action; their aim was to challenge structural oppression and foster a culture of feminist solidarity, while drawing attention to the urgent need to address climate change at its cause by blocking coal infrastructure.

      Torrential Rains in Mumbai this Mansoon

      Guest contribution by Rekha Sali and Sheela Kakde from All India Women’s Conference, GenderCC member organisation and project partner


      An unprecedented 316 mm of rain with strong gushing winds and high tide in the Arabian Sea in twelve hours paralysed the life in the Metropolitan city of Mumbai. Entire Maharashtra was lashed with heavy rainfall. It was initially thought as a “cloudburst”, but it fell short of the definition of cloudburst. The rains brought Mumbai to its knees, bringing back the nightmare of its worst ever deluged twelve years earlier. The pouring rain crippled rail services, stranded thousands of motorists and in undated low lying areas. What started as a drizzle in the early hours developed into unusual ferocity causing panic all over the city. Read more

      The WEN Forum – feminism and the environment in conversation

      Guest contribution by Heidi Ringshaw and Kate Metcalf from Women’s Environmental Network (WEN), GenderCC member organisation


      Earlier this year Women’s Environmental Network (WEN) launched the WEN Forum - feminism and the environment in conversation, a series of events looking at environmental issues from a gender perspective. Topics have included: What’s Feminism Got to do with the Environment?, How Can Periods Save the Planet?, What’s Gender got to do with Climate Change? And How Can Your Diet Change the World? All events and panels have brought lively and sometimes controversial discussions. It’s worth checking out our guest blogs to find out more about these events.

      Green Climate Fund launches climate gender manual

      The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has launched its first gender guide to climate finance. The manual "Mainstreaming Gender in Green Climate Fund Projects" was developed together with UN Women and guides partners on how to integrate gender equality in climate change interventions and all aspects of climate finance. We hope this guide will contribute to strengthening the development and implementation of gender-responsive climate action and projects.
      The guide is available for download here.
      Learn more about gender-responsive climate finance on the GCF website.

      Who is Who at GenderCC

      At the GenderCC Secretariat

      Linda Ederberg, Project Coordinator
      GenderCC’s International Secretariat is happy to welcome a new staff member! Linda Ederberg has joined our team as project coordinator for the Gender into Urban Climate Change Initiatives (GUCCI) project in August. Linda has a Master degree in political science with a focus on international environmental agreements and has worked as policy advisor and coordinator of international projects at a women's rights organisation in Berlin for the past four years. Before that (from 2006 to 2012) she managed climate and ozone protection projects for the German International Cooperation (GIZ). Prior to that, from 2005 - 2006 she worked for the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) in Stockholm, Sweden.

      Iris Morrell, Intern
      Iris Morrell, our new intern from San Francisco, is very passionate about women's issues and climate change. A visiting undergraduate at Bard College Berlin, she studies Geography and is particularly interested in how environmental and feminist policy vary in different places. Her previous positions include volunteering with 350.org in San Francisco, and interning with Interfaith Power and Light at their US national headquarters.

      Meet the team of the GenderCC International Secretariat

      Publications

       

      European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) (2017): Gender in Environment and Climate Change
      This new EIGE report presents the various gender equality dimensions of EU and international environmental and climate change policies, decision-making and implementation and introduces strategies for mainstreaming gender into environmental and climate policies. It also provides helpful examples for the consideration of gender in every step of the policy cycle. It draws from the 2012 study “Review of the implementation in the EU of Area K of the Beijing Platform for Action: women and the environment — gender equality and climate change” to which GenderCC members have contributed.

      More


      Marjorie Griffin Cohen (2017): Climate Change and Gender in Rich Countries. Work, Public Policy and Action
      Covering a wide range of issues dealing with work and working life, the book demonstrates the gendered distinctions in both experiences of climate change and the ways that public policy deals with it. It draws on case studies from the UK, Sweden, Australia, Canada, Spain and the US to address key issues such as: how gendered distinctions affect the most vulnerable; paid and unpaid work; and activism on climate change.

      More


      Rights and Resources Initiative (2017): Power and Potential. A Comparative Analysis of National Laws and Regulations Concerning Women's Rights to Community Forests
      This analysis of 30 low- and middle-income countries shows that although gender norms and women’s forest tenure security vary widely across community-based tenure systems, national laws and regulations on the rights of indigenous and rural women to inheritance, community membership, community-level governance, and community-level dispute resolution are consistently unjust, falling far below the requirements of international law and related standards.

      More


      Aksi! for gender, social and ecological justice (2017): Women’s experiences in Indonesia. Indicators of good practices climate projects
      With support of the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA) Aksi! has documented experiences of eight Indonesian women with climate and investment projects in Indonesia and has developed a set of indicators of good practices as a lesson learnt. Their experiences with climate and investment projects show that while there are many co-benefits for women, climate projects may also cause loss of livelihood and forced displacement.

      More


      GenderCC Southern Africa (2017): Facing Challenges and Generating Opportunities. Case studies and interventions on Women, Climate Change and Agriculture

      This collection of case studies was prepared in the course of the project "Mobilizing Women's Voices around Food and Climate Justice in South Africa” carried out by GenderCC Southern Africa with support from Oxfam South Africa and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality (UN Women) South Africa Multi Country Office. The publication looks into both mitigation and adaptation activities and at women as agents of change. The cases cover nutrition and health care, female entrepreneurship in agriculture, the importance of participation possibilities as well as training of farmer for a sustainable agriculture.

      More

      Calendar of Events

      26 October 2017, Berlin, Germany: Let's not stand in the rain: Climate justice? Not without us!

      We are happy to announce GenderCC - Women for Climate Justice's flashmob action in the lead-up to COP23 at the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin. We will raise awareness that gender justice is crucial for the upcoming climate change negotations! At COP23, we expect the parties to reach a decision that will mark a milestone in the efforts to integrate gender into international climate policy: the first Gender Action Plan under the UNFCCC.

      The theme and slogan will be: "Lasst uns nicht im Regen stehen - Klimaschutz kann nur mit uns gehen!" Please all bring umbrellas, which will be our joint symbol. Some will have letters: Klimaschutz nur mit uns! We will lead the umbrella flashmob with a choreography and music.

      Preparation among activists will begin at 11:00, and the action will start at sharp 5 to 12. Please share and bring your friends along, and bring your umbrellas!

      More


      6-17 November 2017, Bonn, Germany: 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP23) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

      COP23 will be presided over by the Government of Fiji and take place in Bonn, Germany. More

      You can follow our preparations for COP23 and activities on the ground here.
      A large number of civil society activities are planned before and during COP23.
      All events can be found here.


      12 November 2017, Bonn, Germany: GenderCC’s Annual General Meeting

      GenderCC’s Annual General Meeting brings together members from all over the world to discuss current activities, future plans and the networks strategies.

       

      Not a member yet? Become a member now!