NEW YORK (April 29, 2013)-– At last years UNFCCC COP18 meeting in Doha, Qatar, Parties adopted a Decision entitled “Promoting gender balance and improving the participation of women in UNFCCC negotiations and in the representation of Parties in bodies established pursuant to the Convention or the Kyoto Protocol”, now commonly referred to as the ‘COP18 Gender Decision’. The Decision attempts to reaffirm and strengthen a COP decision taken over a decade ago. Despite the COP7 decision, participation of women in UNFCCC bodies and as Party delegates overall has remained low. The COP18 Gender Decision adds new provisions to increase women’s participation, striving toward gender balance on delegations, and giving more attention and resources toward the goal of gender balance.
As part of ongoing collaboration with gender and climate change experts, Members States and the UNFCCC Secretariat, the Global Gender and Climate Alliance (GGCA) is excited to host a discussion with UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Christiana Figueres. Please see details below as well as further information on the COP18 Gender Decision.
TWITTER CHAT: The COP18 Gender Decision: Key Objectives and Entry Points
Why is a gender-sensitive approach part of the climate solution? What are the opportunities to contribute?
When: Tuesday, May 14th at 10:00am EDT, 15:00 GMT
Where: #shesparks & @GGCA_Gender on Twitter
Who: UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres + YOU
What: GGCA is pleased to host Ms. Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, as we consider the implementation and key entry points of the COP18 Gender Decision.
How: Join the Twitter chat and use #shesparks. Be sure to follow @GGCA_Gender and @CFigueres!
To participate, simply log into Twitter and head to GGCA to ask your question and engage in the dialogue. To ensure we don’t miss your contribution, please include the hashtag #shesparks in your tweet. Discussion highlights will be posted to http://www.gender-climate.org.
SPREAD THE WORD!
Sample Tweets
What are key objectives of #COP18 #gender Decision? Join @GGCA_gender 14 May 10am EDT w @CFigueres use #shepsarks http://ow.ly/klEhc
What are entry points of #COP18 #gender Decision? Join @GGCA_gender 14 May 10am EDT w @CFigueres use #shepsarks http://ow.ly/klEhc
How does #COP18 #gender Decision advance #climate solution? Join @GGCA_gender 14 May w @CFigueres #shepsarks http://ow.ly/klEhc
Who does #COP18 #gender Decision impact? Join @GGCA_gender 14 May 10am EDT w @CFigueres use #shepsarks http://ow.ly/klEhc
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On 14 May 2013 Ms. Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC & the Global Gender and Climate Alliance (GGCA) tackle the implementation and key entry points of the COP18 Gender Decision, 1-hour Twitter chat. Follow the conversation via Twitter using the hashtag #shesparks. For more information see http://gender-climate.org/Events/GGCA-Twitter-Chat-COP18-Gender-Decision.php
ABOUT DECISION 23/CP.18
The COP18 Gender Decision recognizes that gender balance as a step towards gender equality, and a means to “improve women’s participation and inform more effective climate change policy” (para. 2). Furthermore, the UNFCCC Secretariat’s mandate to compile and report on sex-disaggregated data is driven by the importance of “tracking of progress made towards the goal of gender balance in advancing gender-sensitive climate policy” (para. 8). Building on the UNFCCC Secretariat’s data collection and dissemination mandate, the COP19 in-session workshop will address (1) “gender balance in the UNFCCC process,” (2) “gender-sensitive climate policy” and (3) “capacity-building activities to promote the greater participation of women in the UNFCCC process” (para. 10). The COP18 Gender Decision sets the stage to strengthen gender balance and women’s participation, while linking these pieces into the ultimate goals of gender equality and gender-responsive climate policy.
Key Operational Provisions – The COP18 Gender Decision calls for:
- COP22 review of progress towards goal of gender balance (by UNFCCC Parties and other institutions established under the Convention and Kyoto Protocol) (paras. 4 & 5)
- UNFCCC Secretariat will collect and report annually on sex-disaggregated data on bodies under the Convention and Kyoto Protocol (including regional bodies & country delegations) “in order to enable the tracking of progress made towards the goal of gender balance in advancing gender-sensitive climate policy” (para. 8)
- Gender will be included as a standing COP agenda item to allow the COP to consider the UNFCCC Secretariat’s annual reporting (para. 9)
- The UNFCCC Secretariat to organize an in-session COP19 workshop on “gender balance in the UNFCCC process, gender-sensitive climate policy and capacity-building activities to promote the greater participation of women in the UNFCCC process” (para. 10)
- Submissions from Parties & Observer organizations on “the goal of gender […] in order to improve women’s participation and inform more effective climate change policy that addresses the needs of women and men equally” (paras. 2 & 11)
