ACT Alliance COP28 Press statement: Two sides of the same coin: Climate and Gender Justice

Two sides of the same coin: Climate and Gender Justice

Dubai, UAE- Climate justice and gender justice are two sides of the same coin – there can be no climate justice without gender justice. The climate emergency is not gender neutral. Women and girls in all their diversity are on the frontlines, often first and worst impacted by the climate crisis.

Research has shown that women and girls are 14 times more likely to die in a disaster than men, and we know that many disasters are a result of the climate emergency. As these disasters get more frequent and severe as global temperatures continue to rise, there is a risk that gender inequalities are exacerbated, unless gender-transformative action is taken, including in climate finance.

Extractive economic models, human rights and land violations, and structural gender barriers, require transformative and interconnected struggles for justice.

ACT Alliance has released a new report today Climate finance and gender: Lessons from Nordic efforts to integrate gender equality in climate-related development finance. The report’s recommendations to the Nordic countries include advocacy, tracking of finance with a gender lens, that transformative gender approaches be used and more. The report can be downloaded here.

ACT Alliance calls on COP28 to:

fulfil the human rights-related promises that are a key part of the updated Gender Action Plan adopted at COP25.

ensure that COP28 climate finance decisions are gender-responsive and that financing reaches women and girls in all their diversity.

that the Gender Action Plan influences all decision-making at COP28.

Quotes

Gloria Pua Ulloa, SEDI Asociacion Civil, Argentina “There’s no climate justice if women and girls, in all their diversity, are not included in all decision-making processes related to climate change.”

Hanna Soldal, Act Church of Sweden, Sweden: “Gender justice and climate justice are two faces of the same coin. Women and girls are 14 times more likely to die from climate induced disasters than men. There can be no climate justice without gender justice.”

Christina Cosby, Presbyterian Church of the USA “Youth, Indigenous Women, and local communities, most affected by climate change, offer valuable wisdom for innovative solutions. In climate finance at COP28, their engagement must move beyond ‘involvement’ to meaningful action for a more equitable and fruitful policy. Drawing on our faith traditions, they guide us by understanding our past, have the key to where we need to go, and the wisdom on how to get there. Climate Finance and Gender Justice are two faces of the same coin—you cannot have one without the other.”

This statement was originally published on the website of ACT Alliance International Organization.