IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

Make it real — gender equality in efforts to tackle climate change

08 September 2012 | Article

It is increasingly acknowledged that giving women a central role in efforts to tackle climate change are critical to their success, but there is a long way to go in making this a reality.

Some countries are forging ahead and here at the Congress, we are hearing directly from women from Nepal, Liberia, Central America and Ghana about their experiences with ‘gender-responsive’ climate change programmes.

IUCN supports many countries in making sure that gender equality is part of their climate change actions. Jordan was the first country in the Arab League to mainstream gender in its national climate change policy. It is focusing on four priority areas in relation to adaptation and mitigation — water, energy, agriculture and waste.
 
Lorena Aguilar, IUCN’s Global Senior Gender Adviser says many countries have decided to promote gender equality as fundamental for achieving sustainable development but much more needs to be done.
“We need to mobilize, to put resources behind the political commitments that governments have made in relation to gender equality in the past 20 years,” she says.

Pioneer countries like Jordan, Egypt, Tanzania, Haiti, Arab States, Liberia, Costa Rica, Panama, and others have seen that equality is vital to achieve anything they want to do regarding climate change. “They are really looking forward, and trying to ensure that gender equality in climate change is not a dream, but a reality,” Aguilar added.