The following discussion paper was drafted by Majandra Rodriguez Acha as a summary of a dialogue hosted by WEDO at the UN climate change negotiations in Bonn, Germany on May 25, 2016.

This event explored how the Paris Agreement can be implemented in a just and equitable manner; based on a feminist analysis of a “just transition”. Panelists also provided a review of gender-responsive mandates and decisions under the UNFCCC, and concrete policy recommendations for enhancing gender-just implementation at national and regional levels, particularly with regards to finance provision.

Excerpt from the discussion paper:

A gender just transition must further take into account the role of women’s unpaid care work, particularly in developing countries, as well as women’s informal work, both of which in essence subsidize our current economic systems and are financially unrecognized or undervalued. The precariousness of women’s work is compounded by current trends such as seasonal and forced migration, the feminization of agricultural labor, the lack of formal recognition for women as farmers, the lack of health protections in the informal sector, the transportation of women in Qatar and the Arab peninsula, among others. Women entrepreneurs are also disproportionately represented in small enterprises, which have less access to credit and loans, and in the micro and small informal sector. As feminists in the labor movement denounce, while working conditions in general are poor in many industries, they are often worse for women.

The panel featured:

Bridget Burns, Advocacy and Communications Director, WEDO
Anabella Rosemberg, Policy Officer, International Trade Union Confederation
Liane Schalatek, Associate Director, Heinrich Böll Foundation North America
Majandra Rodriguez Acha, Young Feminist Fellow for Climate Justice, WEDO (Moderator)