The COP28 Presidency has announced measures to support the representation and participation of women at the UN Climate Change Conference COP28 in UAE. The measures include financial assistance to encourage stronger attendance of women delegates, technical training sessions, and support for an international conference.
“Historically, the perspectives and leadership of women have been underrepresented in many spheres of public life and climate diplomacy is no exception,” said Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP28, who is also President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the second woman to lead the organization in its 75-year history.
“The COP28 Presidency is mobilizing for an inclusive COP. These steps to support women’s leadership and participation get us closer to our goal and, I believe, will also have a positive impact on future rounds of the climate talks and climate activism in general.”
The COP28 Presidency will also provide financial support to a Night School for Women Delegates, run by the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO). The financial support will cover logistical, travel, and other associated costs for women delegates attending COP meetings. Founded in 2009 and run by the WEDO, the initiative focuses on climate capacity-building for women from least-developed countries and small island developing states.
The COP28 Presidency will also offer financial support for the Global Conference on Gender and Environment Data, run collaboratively by COP28, UN Women, WEDO, UNFCCC, IUCN, and UN Climate Change High-Level Champions.
The two-day event will take place on 28-29 November 2023 in Dubai. Speakers and participants will include UN agencies, government officials and policymakers, leaders, and commitment makers of the Feminist Action for Climate Justice Action Coalition and the Gender Environment Data Alliance (GEDA), private foundations, civil society organizations, indigenous leaders, local communities, and academia.
The goal of the conference is to provide a platform to exchange best practices, leverage innovation, and find solutions to common challenges to produce and use data on the gender-environment nexus.
This assistance will help gather a broad array of speakers, including representatives from academia, civil society, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities who may otherwise not be able to travel to the UAE.
COP28 UAE will also host the Arab Women Leaders’ Summit in collaboration with WiSER (Women in Sustainability, Environment, and Renewable Energy), a global platform that champions women as leaders of sustainable change. WiSER was established in 2015 by Masdar, the UAE’s flagship renewable energy company, and empowers women to gain leadership skills through the lens of sustainability.
Held on December 4, COP28’s Finance/Trade/Gender Equality/Accountability Day, the summit will explore the critical relationship between gender equality and climate action. It will bring together stakeholders from diverse backgrounds, including researchers, activists, policymakers, and representatives from civil society organizations, to discuss the intersectionality of gender and climate change.
The new measures come on top of existing efforts and commitments, such as an official letter to all state Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In the letter, Parties have been asked to bring gender-balanced delegations to the Dubai talks. The COP28 Presidency is also funding a Women and Gender Pavilion at the event. Run by the Women and Gender Constituency, the pavilion will highlight women’s leadership and efforts in driving global climate action.
