December 1, 2014
The Twentieth Conference of Parties (COP20) to the UNFCCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) begins today, Monday, December 1st, in Lima, Peru, lasting through Friday, December 12th. At the conference this year, Parties will come together to find agreement on numerous critical issues and actions – of top priority being a comprehensive draft of a new climate agreement- which should be adopted at the COP21 in Paris, France next year.
Negotiations on the new climate agreement, happening under the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP 2.7), will be based on three current documents, including: a revised non-paper on elements of the 2015 agreement; a draft decision on advancing implementation of the Durban Platform (which combines the two previous separate draft decisions on Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) information requirements and pre-2020 ambition into a single text); and a scenario note for the ADP session in Lima.
As COP20 is one of the last sessions to work towards a just and ambitious agreement, WEDO and its allies will work first and foremost to push countries to work towards a fair, equitable and legally binding agreement, with sufficient quantified GHG emission reductions, that reflects the urgency and level of commitments needed, as highlighted in the recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
WEDO will also work to ensure that gender equality and human rights, including women’s human rights, are central to the new climate agreement, and all climate policies and actions.
Gender Equality at COP20
At COP20, the main priorities for strengthening gender-responsive climate policy within the UNFCCC include:
- Ensuring gender equality is central to the new climate agreement, reflected as a guiding principle in operative text of the ADP
- Adopting a new decision on gender equality under the COP Standing Agenda Item on Gender and Climate Change (SBI 16)
- Monitoring and advancing gender considerations across decisions in the subsidiary bodies (i.e. adaptation, technology, etc.)
Alongside partners in the Global Gender and Climate Alliance (GGCA) and the Women and Gender Constituency, WEDO will provide strategic and technical support to Parties and stakeholders in the UNFCCC process and advocate for strong inclusion of gender issues within the UNFCCC and its decisions, reports and outcomes, including as part of Gender Day on Tuesday, December 9th.
Other Exciting COP20 Programs
Empower Women, Benefit All
For the third year, WEDO is working closely with Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF) on ‘Empower Women, Benefit All’ (EWA), a joint initiative to support a team of women’s rights and environmental activists. EWA focuses on a human rights perspective within the UNFCCC process and, in particular, integrating gender equality into the ADP and SBI processes.
Women’s Major Group (WMG)
The Women’s Major Group (WMG) for Sustainable Development will be active at COP20 – with more than twenty-five members taking part over the two weeks of the COP. Eleanor Blomstrom will represent WEDO in its role as a global Organizing Partner (OP) of the WMG, along with several other OPs active in the climate change negotiations: Asia Pacific Forum for Women, Law and Development (APWLD), Equidad de Genero, Global Forest Coalition (GFC), Women Environment Programme (WEP) and Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF). The major objective of the WMG in Lima is to ensure interlinkages between UNFCCC/climate change and post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda, especially in terms of priorities for the Women’s Major Group, women’s human rights and gender equality in those contexts.
Key Events
December 9, ALL DAY
Gender Day
Events, media outreach and high level panels.
December 9, 11:00-11:30
Women’s Perspectives on Climate Change
Press conference of the Women and Gender Constituency to launch ‘Gender Day’.
December 10, 3-4:30pm
Towards a Gender-Responsive Mitigation Framework for transformative change in the energy sector
Gender equality is a key component for the new climate change agreement. Gender mainstreaming in the energy sector is taking place from national policies, to institutional reforms and project development. Crucial lessons of these efforts for a just and sustainable agreement will be presented.
Click here to download the Women and Gender Constituency’s calendar of women and gender side events at COP20.
Click here to download the events and priorities of the Global Gender and Climate Alliance, and its members.
