The Conference of the Parties,
Recalling decisions 36/CP.7, 1/CP.16, 23/CP.18, 18/CP.20, 1/CP.21, 21/CP.22, 3/CP.23, 3/CP.25 and 20/CP.26, the Paris Agreement and the Katowice climate package,
Acknowledging the important role of the enhanced Lima work programme on gender and its gender action plan in advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in the UNFCCC process,
Recognizing that the full, meaningful and equal participation and leadership of women in all aspects of the UNFCCC process and in national- and local-level climate policymaking and action is vital to achieving long-term climate goals, while noting the importance of mainstreaming a gender perspective in respective workstreams of the UNFCCC process,
Noting with appreciation the contributions received in support of the work undertaken since implementation of the enhanced Lima work programme on gender and its gender action plan commenced,
1. Notes with appreciation the efforts of the secretariat to follow an inclusive approach to responding to the challenges arising from the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic through frequent communication with Parties and national gender and climate change focal points and the organization of online workshops fulfilling mandated activities;
2. Recognizes with concern the unprecedented crisis caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the uneven nature of the global response to the pandemic and the pandemic’s multifaceted effects on all spheres of society, including the deepening of pre-existing inequalities, including gender inequality, and resulting vulnerabilities, which negatively impacted the implementation of the gender action plan, which has negatively impacted the implementation of effective gender-responsive climate action, and urges Parties to accelerate their efforts to advance implementation of the enhanced Lima work programme on gender and its gender action plan;
3. Notes the compilation and synthesis report by the secretariat on good practices for integrating gender into the work of the UNFCCC constituted bodies and notes with appreciation the work of the constituted bodies in advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and contributing to the implementation of the gender action plan, including at the national level;
4. Notes the synthesis report by the secretariat on dimensions and examples of the gender-differentiated impacts of climate change, the role of women as agents of change and opportunities for women and encourages Parties and relevant organizations to strengthen the use of sex-disaggregated data and gender analysis in implementing climate policies, plans, strategies and action;
5. Notes with appreciation the informal report by the secretariat on the in-session workshop on the role of national gender and climate change focal points and, taking into account the evolving and Party-driven nature of the work and role of such focal points, also notes with appreciation the identification of enablers to facilitate the national gender and climate change focal points in carrying out their role, according to national circumstances;
6. Further notes with appreciation the synthesis report by the secretariat on the implementation of the activities contained in the gender action plan, areas for improvement and further work to be undertaken;
7. Notes the technical paper prepared by the International Labour Organization exploring linkages between gender-responsive climate action and just transition for promoting inclusive opportunities for all in a low-emission economy and invites the International Labour Organization to consider organizing a workshop or dialogue focused on the same topic;
8. Welcomes the contributions related to gender of Working Group II and Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change;
9. Underscores the need to promote efforts towards gender balance and improve inclusivity in the UNFCCC process by:
(a) Inviting future Presidencies of the Conference of the Parties to nominate women as high-level climate champions;
(b) Inviting Parties to promote greater gender balance in national delegations in negotiation meetings under the UNFCCC, including in meetings on gender and climate change;
(c) Inviting the secretariat, relevant presiding officers and event organizers to promote gender-balanced events;
10. Notes with appreciation the regional focus of the activities undertaken, including workshops and other initiatives that facilitate experience-sharing and knowledge exchange, in the two years since implementation of the gender action plan began;
11. Encourages Parties, the secretariat and relevant organizations to continue conducting activities under the gender action plan in a regionally focused manner, as appropriate, including by holding events during regional climate weeks and engaging other relevant stakeholders;
12. Also encourages Parties and relevant public and private entities to strengthen the gender responsiveness of climate finance with a view to further building the capacity of women and for implementation work under the gender action plan, and in order to facilitate simplified access to climate finance for grass-roots women’s organizations as well as for indigenous peoples, especially women, and local communities;
13. Emphasizes the urgency of scaled-up support for developing country Parties to implement the gender action plan, consistent with relevant provisions of the Convention and the Paris Agreement, including in relation to the UNFCCC gender action plan;
14. Encourages Parties, the secretariat and relevant organizations, in implementing the gender action plan, to fully engage men and boys as agents and beneficiaries of change and as strategic partners and allies in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change;
15. Also encourages Parties to integrate the work of nominated national gender and climate change focal points into relevant national policymaking and decision-making structures and to consider the suggestions in the informal report referred to in paragraph 5 above with a view to strengthening their role;
16. Requests the secretariat to support the attendance of national gender and climate change focal points at relevant mandated UNFCCC meetings, upon request and subject to available resources;
17. Invites Parties, United Nations entities, constituted bodies, implementing entities and other relevant stakeholders to enhance implementation of the gender action plan, including the amendments contained in the annex;
18. Encourages United Nations entities to cooperate with Parties on mainstreaming gender- and age-disaggregated data in their existing policies, enabling mechanisms and programmes, across all levels of governance, and to support Parties in directly applying the best available science in the collection and analysis of data sets, including on the impacts of extreme weather and slow onset events;
19. Recalls the open call for submissions under activity D.5 of the gender action plan and calls for Parties and relevant organizations to continue to share experience in engaging women’s groups and national women and gender institutions in the process of developing, implementing and updating climate policies, plans, strategies and action, as appropriate, at all levels of governance;
20. Adopts the amendments to the gender action plan contained in the annex;
21. Takes note of the estimated budgetary implications of the activities to be undertakenby the secretariat referred to in paragraph 16 above and paragraphs 1, 6 and 7 of the annex;
22. Requests that the actions of the secretariat called for in this decision be undertaken subject to the availability of financial resources.
Annex
Amendments to the activities under the gender action plan
A. Capacity-building, knowledge management and communication
1. Under activity A.2 in table 1, add “leading: secretariat” and “contributing: United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, national gender and climate focal points” to the “responsibilities” column. The timeline is “prior to COP 28 (November–December 2023)”. The new deliverable/output is “dialogue with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, national gender and climate change focal points and other relevant stakeholders on how their work contributes to the achievement of the objectives of the gender action plan”. Level of implementation is “international”.
B. Gender balance, participation and women’s leadership
2. Under activity B.1 in table 2, add “including young women, indigenous women and women from local communities” after “women delegates” in the description of the activity.
C. Coherence
3. Under activity C.1 in table 3, include “and existing” after “new” in the “deliverables/outputs” column.
4. Add a new activity in table 3: “C.4 Encourage Parties and relevant UNFCCC constituted bodies, in line with their respective mandates, to support action and implementation of the enhanced Lima work programme on gender and its gender action plan”. Add “Parties and constituted bodies” to the “responsibilities” column. The timeline is “ongoing to COP 29 (2024)”. The deliverable/output is “inputs to the Standing Committee on Finance for preparing the draft guidance to the operating entities of the Financial Mechanism”. Level of implementation is “international”.
D. Gender-responsive implementation and means of implementation
5. Under activity D.1 in table 4, change the timeline for the expert group meeting deliverable/output from 2022 to 2023 and add “to be delivered in a hybrid or virtual format, without creating any precedent” as a deliverable/output.
E. Monitoring and reporting
6. Add a new activity in table 5: “E.3 Support the review of the Lima work programme on gender and its gender action plan”. Add “Parties and relevant organizations” to the “responsibilities” column. Add “by 31 July 2024” as the timeline. Add “submissions to the UNFCCC on identifying progress in implementing the gender action plan, categorized by deliverable/output for each gender action plan activity, and further work to be undertaken” as a deliverable/output. The level of implementation is “national”. Also under this activity, add “secretariat” to the “responsibilities” column. Add “SB 61 (2024)” as the timeline. Add “synthesis report on the submissions” as a deliverable/output. Level of implementation is “international”.
7. Add another new activity in table 5: “E.4 Raise awareness of the support available to developing country Parties for reporting on the implementation of the gender action plan”. Add “leading: secretariat” and “contributing: relevant organizations” to the “responsibilities” column. Add “ongoing to COP 29 (2024)” as the timeline. Add “communication of such information on the gender web pages on the UNFCCC website” as the deliverable/output. The level of implementation is “international”.
