NEW YORK (September 23, 2012)– In monitoring WEDO’s work on women’s leadership and participation at the UNFCCC, we are pleased to provide the most recent 2011 & 2012 overall statistics on women as percentage of national delegations and women as heads of delegations. As we have not yet had COP18, the 2012 statistics are incomplete and final stats will be released during COP18.

Current numbers show that women’s participation in this process has increased both at the levels of overall participation as well as in the highest levels of decision-making in the negotiations. WEDO has been collecting statistics on women’s participation (currently for 2008-present), and we are now working on a short report to be released at the end of October which looks at these numbers more clearly and shows a picture of what women’s representation looks like at the UNFCCC — addressing women’s representation on newly established and existing financial and technical boards and moving towards a more thoughtful analysis around the questions of representation and participation. The report will also aim to highlight the significance of initiatives such as the Women Delegates Fund (WDF), which supports the participation of women from the Global South to be part of their national delegations at the UNFCCC and provides capacity building and networking opportunities. You can read more about the WDF and its participants here: http://www.wedo.org/category/themes/womens-leadership/wdf

Alongside this report, at COP18, WEDO, in partnership with other civil society organizations, will host an event to explore equity, diversity and inclusive decision-making and how to change the face of representation at the UNFCCC, examining who is able to be represented at the UNFCCC on government delegations and how this impacts decision-making.

For more information on this work and WEDO’s plans for COP18, contact Bridget Burns, [email protected].