COP27
COP27 Thematic Gender Day Urges Institutions and Individuals to Act For Implementation

Women remain underrepresented in climate governance and decision-making structures, and the COP27 Gender Thematic Day brought together women climate leaders at national, regional and the global community level, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt on November 14, 2022, to discuss action points to address the persisting challenges in this regard.

Women continue to bear a disproportionate burden of the adverse impacts of climate change. It was highlighted that women must be fully integrated into the processes of formulating and implementing policies to ensure fair gender inclusion. As a result, The Gender Thematic Day today at COP27 aimed at bringing the issue to the forefront and provide a platform to look into sound policies, best practices and effective solutions. The sessions of the day shared success stories from around the world with a view of promoting gender sensitive and highly responsive policies, strategies and actions.

During the opening session for Gender Day, the African Women’s Climate Adaptive Priorities (AWCAP) initiative was announced and launched by the President of the National Council of Women of Egypt, Dr. Maya Morsy. This initiative stems from a key insight that in the wake of disasters, women and children are ~80% of those needing assistance, while poor women in rural areas are 14 times more likely to die during a natural disaster.

President of the National Council for Women in Egypt Dr. Maya Morsi emphasized “Women are not just victims of climate change, they are powerful agents of change, and their leadership is critical. A bottom-up approach is significant to understand women in communities, their environmental concerns, realities and experiences.”

  • Women and Climate Change Finance at COP27 considered the role of women in society and business and how addressing inequalities could lead to different outcomes when it comes to climate finance, and thus the need for ensuring sufficient, appropriate and accessible climate finance which is sensitive and responsive to the needs and priorities of women.
  • Voices of Women Leaders in Climate Debates, Policies, Implementation and Beyond focused on how women are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis and if given the opportunity they can new impetus and approaches in addressing the climate crisis.
  • African Women Climate Change Realities: Adaptation, Mitigation and Response focused on the crucial role women play in climate change mitigation and adaptation and the need for African governments, civil society, policymakers, to invest in capacity and skill building of women and girls.
  • COVID-19 and climate change: women at the centre of planning and response highlighted that women were among the most affected segments of the COVID-19 outbreak, and the compounded risks and impact that the overlap between the pandemic and climate change disproportionately affected women’s lives and livelihoods.
  • At the Women Livelihood Within Just Economic Transition, explored the need for gender to be considered as part of ensuring a just and managed transition to a new and more sustainable economic models. With training and skill building central to preserving the socioeconomic gains and open new pathways for women economic empowerment and gender equality.
  • Voices of Women Leaders in Climate Debates, Policies, Implementation and Beyond looked at how Women in leadership positions remain not equitable, but if part of the solution could help to address the hardships brought on by the climate crisis and help deliver viable and tangible solutions.

Inspired by the theme of the day, an 18-year-old spoke at the Closing Ceremony and highlighted the importance of knowledge as a potent tool to aid implementation. Dr Maya Mosri, President of the National Council for Women in Egypt, introduced Nevine Ghazi to the audience as a young advocate who reached out during the day wanting to contribute to AWCAP by providing accessible and effective climate education to children particularly in the global South. The ceremony was also attended by Minister of Environment in Egypt, Dr. Yasmine Fouad; UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous; Dr Usha Rao-Monari UN Under Secretary-General and UNDP Associate Administrator.

Learn more, here.