From Commitment to Implementation: Feminist Leadership at COP30

COP30 in Belém marks a pivotal moment for climate justice. Hosted in the heart of the Amazon, this COP takes place amid both unprecedented ecological urgency and mounting backlash against gender equality, human rights, and multilateralism itself. For feminist advocates, it is not just another negotiation; it is a test of whether governments will deliver on the commitments they have already made to create a just, inclusive, and sustainable future.

At COP30, governments are expected to adopt a renewed Gender Action Plan (GAP), a critical mechanism to ensure gender equality and women’s rights are embedded across all areas of climate action. But the GAP is just one part of a broader feminist agenda that WEDO and our partners are advancing. Together, these priorities chart a path from commitment to implementation, from policy to practice that improves people’s lives and strengthens planetary resilience.

Feminists are driving implementation at COP30

Feminist leadership is shaping outcomes across the COP30 agenda: from the Gender Action Plan, to a gender-responsive Global Goal on Adaptation, to just transition frameworks that center care, rights, and equality, and to the urgent call for transforming climate finance through the Baku-to-Belém Roadmap. Across every negotiation stream, feminists are making implementation work for those most affected, and ensuring that climate action builds systems of care rather than extraction.

The work leading to Belém has already shown what’s possible. From the Bonn Climate Conference to the Addis Ababa workshop, Parties from all regions, alongside civil society and feminist movements, have demonstrated strong political will to align gender equality with the effectiveness of the UNFCCC system. Now, that political will must translate into outcomes: coherent, well-resourced mechanisms that move beyond commitments to measurable, rights-based action.

Read the transcription of the interview.

WEDO’s Women Delegates Fund (WDF) strengthens women’s participation and leadership in the UNFCCC by providing travel support, technical training, and peer networks for delegates from developing countries.

From 2009 through 2024, the WDF has supported 485 trips for 213 women from 73 countries to attend 41 UNFCCC sessions, with more than 500 women trained in technical language and negotiation skills through its signature Night Schools. Since 2017, WEDO has also hosted and co-hosted regional workshops for Pacific Women Leaders, building lasting capacity and advancing gender balance in climate decision-making.

Night School at COP30

On November 6 and 8, WEDO will host its Night School in Belém. This two-night offering of the WDF program will train climate negotiators on the legal frameworks of the UNFCCC, the intricacies of delegation coordination, and key upcoming agenda items for COP30. Night two of the training will involve a full evening of simulated negotiation, where delegates will work within regional blocks to respond to a draft text on the Global Goal on Adaptation. With delegates from 24 different countries registered so far, WEDO expects to welcome over 60 delegates to Night School to take part in the introductory and advanced tracks of this longstanding capacity-building initiative. With dedicated time for networking and peer exchange, we hope to strengthen not only practical negotiation skills and knowledge, but relationships between women climate leaders.