15/11. Gender Plan of Action

The Conference of the Parties,

Recalling decisions XII/7 and IX/24, welcoming earlier versions of a gender plan of action for the Convention, Recognizing the importance of advancing efforts to achieve gender equality and women’s and girl’s empowerment to ensure the effective implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,

Recognizing also that the full and effective participation and leadership of women in all aspects of Convention processes, particularly in policy and action at national and local levels, is vital for achieving long-term biodiversity goals and the 2050 Vision of living in harmony with nature,

1. Adopts the Gender Plan of Action contained in the annex to the present decision;

2. Urges Parties, and invites other Governments, subnational governments, cities and other local authorities, and relevant organizations to implement the Gender Plan of Action to support and advance gender mainstreaming and gender responsive implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework;

3. Invites relevant organizations of the United Nations family and other international organizations and initiatives to support coherent gender responsive implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, through identifying synergies and drawing on relevant experience from related processes;

4. Urges Parties and invites where appropriate, relevant organizations to incorporate the Gender Plan of Action in national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and to include gender-specific indicators in the development of national indicators, collecting data disaggregated by sex, age and other demographic factors and gender indicators, where possible; * Reissued for technical reasons on 31 May 2023 (correction to para. 9). 

5. Invites Parties to implement the Gender Plan of Action in synergy with gender plans or strategies developed under other relevant multilateral environmental agreements or related multilateral processes, as appropriate;

6. Encourages Parties to submit information on efforts and steps taken to implement the Gender Plan of Action in their national reporting, including sex-disaggregated data;

7. Also encourages Parties to appoint and provide support for a national gender and biodiversity focal point for biodiversity negotiations, implementation and monitoring;

8. Requests the Executive Secretary, in collaboration with Parties, indigenous peoples and local communities, women’s and youth organizations, and other relevant stakeholders, to facilitate outreach and capacity-building and development activities with a view to exchanging experiences, good practices, and lessons learned, to support the implementation of the Gender Plan of Action;

9. Also requests the Executive Secretary, based inter alia on the information received pursuant to paragraph 6 above and with the support of relevant partners, to undertake a mid-term review of implementation of the Gender Plan of Action, identifying progress, lessons learned, and further work to be undertaken for consideration by the Subsidiary Body on Implementation at a meeting held before the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties; 10. Invites the Global Environment Facility and relevant bilateral and multilateral funding organizations to provide technical and financial support, as well as capacity-building and development, for implementation of the Gender Plan of Action;

11. Encourages Parties to increase representation of women in their delegations to meetings of the Convention on Biological Diversity, with a view to achieving gender equality, including through requests for support for participation through the Special Voluntary Trust Fund (BZ), where applicable;

12. Invites Parties, and relevant public and private entities, to increase the gender responsiveness of biodiversity capacity-building and development, technical and scientific cooperation and technology transfer, provision of financial resources, and other means of implementation, with the aim of strengthening the support for the full and effective participation of women and girls.

Annex

GENDER PLAN OF ACTION (2023-2030)

I. PURPOSE

1. The purpose of the Gender Plan of Action is to support and promote the gender responsive implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The Plan of Action will also support a gender responsive approach to applying the implementation mechanisms associated with the Framework.

II. MODALITIES

2. The implementation of the Gender Plan of Action and its proposed expected outcomes, objectives, and actions,2 are based on the following modalities:

(a) Maximizing synergies between gender equality and the conservation, sustainable use and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources, considering also the consequences of climate change and land and sea-use change as drivers of biodiversity loss. Recognizing the links between gender equality and key environmental concerns, the implementation of the Gender Plan of Action aims to mainstream gender equality and contribute to maximizing synergies between these areas, towards meeting shared objectives and supporting the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework;

(b) Ensuring coherence and coordination with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals include gender equality as both a standalone goal and critical cross-cutting component, and emphasize the indivisibility of the different goals and targets. The Gender Plan of Action is intended to complement and support the implementation of the different Sustainable Development Goals, in line with the biodiversity agenda and the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework;

(c) Applying a human rights-based approach to advancing gender equality in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources, and noting that resolution A/RES/76/300 adopted by the United Nations General Assembly recognized the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right. International human rights instruments and mechanisms, including the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the committee of experts it establishes, offer critical guidance for gender responsive environmental action that benefits both people and planet;

(d) Addressing the intersecting ways in which gender inequalities may be amplified for all women and girls. Women and men, and boys and girls around the world experience marginalization in different, multiple and intersecting ways depending on their ethnicity, social status, caste, age, and environment, among other factors. Recognizing the structural barriers and power imbalances that hamper inclusiveness of the whole of society, the implementation of the Gender Plan of Action will take an intersectional approach, prioritizing the needs and interests of all women and girls, with particular attention to those facing all forms of discrimination. The implementation of the Gender Plan of Action will also seek to ensure the engagement of men and boys, to ensure a collaborative and supportive approach towards achieving gender equality in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources;

(e) Ensuring meaningful and effective engagement and empowerment of women and girls from indigenous peoples and local communities. Indigenous women and girls, and those from local communities, are integrally involved in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and yet continue to face discrimination and remain marginalized in decision-making processes, access and ownership over resources including land. As such, it is proposed that implementation of the Gender Plan of Action include a focus on empowering and supporting the meaningful, informed and effective engagement of women and girls from indigenous peoples and local communities to address their rights, needs and interests, and to recognize and value their traditional knowledge, innovations, practices, technologies and cultures and their related rights in support of the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and in the fair and equitable sharing of benefits.

3. The Gender Plan of Action includes a focus on supporting the effective engagement of women and girls from indigenous peoples and local communities, and those facing all forms of discrimination, in all actions. The references to “women and girls” in the expected outcomes, objectives and actions should thus be understood to include all women and girls, including from indigenous peoples and local communities and those facing all forms of discrimination. When consulting women and girls from indigenous peoples and local communities, it should be done under the principle of free, prior and informed consent.

III. EXPECTED OUTCOMES AND OBJECTIVES

4. The Gender Plan of Action contains three expected outcomes, under which are grouped a series of indicative objectives and actions and associated deliverables and timelines, as provided in the table below. The expected outcomes, objectives and actions of the Plan of Action are put forward with the aim of supporting the achievement of all the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in a gender responsive manner, recognizing that effective action on biodiversity requires all members of society to be fully engaged.

5. The indicative actions are intended to guide efforts to achieve the objectives of the plan, through a variety of measures directed at developing capacity and knowledge, preparing and applying guidance and relevant recommendations, fostering engagement, and facilitating and strengthening financing, among others. These actions are proposed as areas for which particular attention is needed, recognizing that other actions may be required both to complement and further define the efforts to achieve the associated objectives at national, subnational, as well as regional and international levels. Possible deliverables and proposed timelines are put forward to guide the implementation of the different actions.

6. The process for developing a gender plan of action is based on the understanding that all relevant actors have a role to play in implementing the Convention and supporting the objectives of gender mainstreaming. Taking a gender-responsive approach to the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and of the Convention entails a participatory and inclusive process. As such, Parties, together with subnational governments, cities and other local authorities, international and United Nations system entities, indigenous peoples and local communities, women’s groups, youth, the private sector and other relevant stakeholders are invited to support the effective implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including the Gender Plan of Action.

GENDER PLAN OF ACTION: OBJECTIVES, ACTIONS, DELIVERABLES, TIMELINES AND ACTORS