Bridget - environment€¦ ·...
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“Look at the World Through Women’s Eyes” Briefing Paper on Environmental Conservation, Protection and Rehabilitation Prepared by WEDO ISSUES “What will we accomplish at the week's end when the Platform for Action is adopted by the world's women and its 187 governments? We are affirming human rights for all women and girls, acknowledging the full range of diversity that exists and detailing actions to prevent violence. Women who would transform the lives of themselves and their families with just a 5% slice of the military pie—that would be a banquet for the world's 1.3 billion poor. We are challenging all corporations to play by the rules and all governments to ensure that the rules are fair. We are moving a political, social and economic agenda for equality and democracy. Democracy within homes, markets and the state. From Beijing, the world will never be the same.” – WEDO Founder, Bella Abzug, at the Opening plenary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 Since the Beijing Platform for Action was adopted 25 years ago, the world has indeed changed. While we have witnessed progress for women’s rights and gender equality around the world, we have also witnessed the context within which we fight for these rights change at a rapid pace. Capital has been increasingly concentrated in the hands of the few at the expense of democracy, human rights and the planet. Environmental conservation and protection are consistently reaching critical tipping points, challenging the resilience of our ecosystems and exacerbating social inequality around the world. In 2019, scientists released a harrowing report 1 on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. The report details that further warming of just 0.5 degrees—from 1.5 to 2 degrees—would be devastating. Instead of an icefree North Pole every 100 years, we could see this phenomenon every 10 years. Our coral reefs would not just be in trouble, they would all but disappear. Storms, wildfires and other disasters would contribute to conflict and mass migration that societies are not designed to address in a way that ensures human rights and dignity. Yet even with the realization of current climate commitments, the UN emissions report shows that the world is currently “on course for more than a 3 degree spike.” 2 Interconnected with and deepening the existential threat of climate change is the rapid degradation of ecosystems worldwide. The IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services finds that “around 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened 1 IPCC. (2019). Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5. https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ 2 UN. (2019, November 29). UN Emissions Report. UN News. https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/11/1052171
Transcript of Bridget - environment€¦ ·...
“Look at the World Through Women’s Eyes”
Briefing Paper on Environmental Conservation, Protection and Rehabilitation Prepared by WEDO
ISSUES “What will we accomplish at the week's end when the Platform for Action is adopted by the world's women and its 187 governments? We are affirming human rights for all women and girls, acknowledging the full range of diversity that exists and detailing actions to prevent violence. Women who would transform the lives of themselves and their families with just a 5% slice of the military pie—that would be a banquet for the world's 1.3 billion poor. We are challenging all corporations to play by the rules and all governments to ensure that the rules are fair. We are
moving a political, social and economic agenda for equality and democracy. Democracy within homes, markets and the state. From Beijing, the world will never be the same.” – WEDO Founder, Bella Abzug, at the Opening plenary
of the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995
Since the Beijing Platform for Action was adopted 25 years ago, the world has indeed changed. While we have witnessed progress for women’s rights and gender equality around the world, we have also witnessed the context within which we fight for these rights change at a rapid pace. Capital has been increasingly concentrated in the hands of the few at the expense of democracy, human rights and the planet. Environmental conservation and protection are consistently reaching critical tipping points, challenging the resilience of our ecosystems and exacerbating social inequality around the world. In 2019, scientists released a harrowing report1 on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-‐industrial levels. The report details that further warming of just 0.5 degrees—from 1.5 to 2 degrees—would be devastating. Instead of an ice-‐free North Pole every 100 years, we could see this phenomenon every 10 years. Our coral reefs would not just be in trouble, they would all but disappear. Storms, wildfires and other disasters would contribute to conflict and mass migration that societies are not designed to address in a way that ensures human rights and dignity. Yet even with the realization of current climate commitments, the UN emissions report shows that the world is currently “on course for more than a 3 degree spike.”2 Interconnected with and deepening the existential threat of climate change is the rapid degradation of ecosystems worldwide. The IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services finds that “around 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened
1 IPCC. (2019). Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5. https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ 2 UN. (2019, November 29). UN Emissions Report. UN News. https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/11/1052171
with extinction, many within decades, more than ever before in human history.”3 Soil depletion is also occurring at an unprecedented rate,4 threatening food security and the provision of critical ecosystem services that sustain life.5 All of these crises are gendered. Environmental degradation serves to exacerbate existing inequalities, impacting access to resources, public health, education and civic engagement. Gender differentiated responsibilities vary region to region, but in many communities around the world, women act as primary caretakers and natural resource managers, procuring water and firewood, managing waste and providing health care—often using plant-‐based medicines. Women’s activities are directly impacted by biodiversity loss, and the related impacts on women’s lives in terms of health, safety and education are reinforcing unequal rights and access to decision-‐making.6 Although women make up 43 percent of the agricultural workforce7 and drive 70 to 80 percent of consumer purchases,8 women’s equal access to rights, such as land tenure, resources and decision-‐making positions, is far from realized. However, those on the frontlines of crises are also at the frontline of solutions. From the traditional knowledge of indigenous women to grassroots community practices of seed-‐saving and agroecology, local and gender-‐just solutions are key to creating resilient societies and fighting environmental crises. Feminist activists around the world are mobilizing, innovating and showcasing how solutions that embed gender equality as a fundamental premise can and must be central to climate action. Unfortunately, women-‐led local solutions to the climate crisis are drastically underfunded within the current climate finance architecture.91011 In addition, women environmental and human rights defenders face ongoing, multifaceted and often state-‐sanctioned threats to their and their families’ lives and livelihoods, which are exacerbated by the dynamics of gender-‐
3 UN. (2019, May 6). UN Report: Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’; Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-‐decline-‐unprecedented-‐report/ 4 Grantham Centre. (2015, December 2). Soil loss: an unfolding global disaster. http://grantham.sheffield.ac.uk/soil-‐loss-‐an-‐unfolding-‐global-‐disaster/ 5 FAO. (2020). Land and Soils. http://www.fao.org/sustainable-‐development-‐goals/overview/fao-‐and-‐the-‐post-‐2015-‐development-‐agenda/land-‐and-‐soils/en/ 6 Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. (n.d.). Gender and Biodiversity. https://www.cbd.int/undb/media/factsheets/undb-‐factsheet-‐gender-‐en.pdf 7 FAO. (n.d.). The Female Face of Farming. http://www.fao.org/gender/resources/infographics/the-‐female-‐face-‐of-‐farming/en/ 8 Brennan, B. (2018, January 11). Top 10 things everyone should know about women consumers. Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/company/stories/top-‐10-‐things-‐everyone-‐know-‐women-‐consumers/ 9 Soanes, M., Rai, N., Steele, P., Shakya, C., & Macgregor, J. (2017). Delivering real change: getting international climate finance to the local level. IIED Working Paper. IIED, London. https://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/10178IIED.pdf 10 Dobson, C., & Lawrence, S. (2018). Our Voices, Our Environment: the state of funding for women’s environmental action. Global Greengrants Fund. https://www.greengrants.org/wp-‐content/uploads/2018/03/GGF_Gender-‐Mapping-‐Report_HighRes-‐Singles.pdf 11 Staszewka, K., Dolker, T., & Miller, K. (2019, July). Only 1% of gender equality funding is going to women’s organisations – why? The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-‐development/2019/jul/02/gender-‐equality-‐support-‐1bn-‐boost-‐how-‐to-‐spend-‐it
based violence.12 In 2018 alone, 164 land and environmental defenders were murdered13—a twofold increase over the last 15 years.14 These interlocking climate and biodiversity crises are some of the most critical issues of our times, and the advancement of women’s human rights and gender equality is essential to create transformational change to address these global challenges and advance resilient, inclusive and sustainable societies.
BREAKING SILOS
1. Inclusive development, shared prosperity and decent work For decades, global market-‐driven economies have prioritized resource extraction and production over traditional economies and care work, leading to unprecedented national and global inequality and widespread environmental degradation.15 Neoliberal economic growth has often exacerbated women’s economic precarity and reinforced gendered labor segregation around the world.1617 Realizing climate justice and shared prosperity requires a just transition away from extractive fossil fuel economies towards regenerative and sustainable practices and livelihoods that promote equal access to benefits and center women and local decision-‐making. This transition must include moving away from dominant power structures and sexually disaggregated labor markets that rely on women’s undervalued and often unpaid care and informal work to subsidize current economic systems.18 We must also center and address intersectional dynamics, particularly around gender, race and class, that interact with environmental issues to exacerbate inequality and vulnerability. A gender just transition further requires restructuring the labor market of the future to ensure women and girls are positioned to “enter spaces outside of the home, such as those driving
12 Castañeda Camey, I., Sabater, L., Owren, C., & Boyer, A.E. (2020). Gender-‐based violence and environment linkages: The violence of inequality. Wen, J. (ed.). Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2020-‐002-‐En.pdf 13 Global Witness. (2019, July). Enemies of the State? How governments and businesses silence land and environmental defenders. https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-‐activists/enemies-‐state/ 14 Watts, J. (2019, August). Environmental activist murders double in 15 years. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/05/environmental-‐activist-‐murders-‐double 15 Sen, G. (2019, January). Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment: Feminist Mobilization for the SDGs. Global Policy, 10, 28-‐38. 16 Oxfam. (2017, March). An Economy that Works for Women: Achieving women’s economic empowerment in an increasingly unequal world.. https://www-‐cdn.oxfam.org/s3fs-‐public/file_attachments/bp-‐an-‐economy-‐that-‐works-‐for-‐women-‐020317-‐en.pdf 17 Kabeer, N., & Natali, L. (2013, February). Gender Equality and Economic Growth: Is there a Win-‐Win? IDS Working Paper 417. Institute of Development Studies. http://www.ids.ac.uk/publication/gender-‐equality-‐and-‐economic-‐growth-‐is-‐there-‐a-‐win-‐win 18 UNDP. (2019). Human Development Report 2019. http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr2019.pdf
innovation in the green economy or leading the institutions that currently place women at critical disadvantages.”19 In 2017, women made up less than 20 percent of the clean energy sector.20 To achieve inclusive and sustainable development, girls must receive quality education that encompasses “green skills” and prepares them to participate fully in a climate-‐resilient economy: “Education as usual will ensure women continue to occupy space at the margins of a green economy just as they have in our present fossil-‐fuel-‐driven economy.”21
2. Poverty eradication, social protection and social services Climate-‐related disasters and migration exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and affect communities in deeply gendered ways. Women and girls face heightened social, economic and health impacts, both from slow-‐onset events such as droughts and soil degradation as well as from extreme weather events and emergencies like floods and hurricanes.222324 During disasters, the litany of human rights abuses that are more likely to be experienced by women include the following: “human trafficking as well as sexual violence in temporary shelters; disruptions in their access to important health services including family planning or maternal and postnatal care; interruptions in their participation in income-‐generating activities due to their role in post-‐disaster clean-‐up and recovery; and reductions in their intra-‐household bargaining power; among many other documented impacts on their well-‐being.”25 In addition, rescue and recovery efforts often disadvantage and exclude women by focusing on heads of households, who in many societies are men, providing men with almost exclusive access to critical resources such as food.26 All of these impacts contribute to gender-‐based poverty, loss of livelihoods and overall financial precarity, often in intersecting ways.2728
19 Kwauk, C., & Braga, A. (2017). Three platforms for girls’ education in climate strategies. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-‐content/uploads/2017/09/platforms-‐for-‐girls-‐education-‐in-‐climate-‐strategies.pdf 20 Ibid. 21 Kwauk, C. (2020, April 6). Opinion: Girls’ education as a solution to climate change is about more than fertility. Devex. https://www.devex.com/news/opinion-‐girls-‐education-‐as-‐a-‐solution-‐to-‐climate-‐change-‐is-‐about-‐more-‐than-‐fertility-‐96867 22 Kwauk, C., Cooke, J., Hara, E., & Pegram, J. (2019, December 10). Girls’ education in climate strategies: Opportunities for improved policy and enhanced action in Nationally Determined Contributions. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/research/girls-‐education-‐in-‐climate-‐strategies/ 23 Kwauk, C. (2019, March 28). Why Captain Planet should have been a woman. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-‐plus-‐development/2019/03/28/why-‐captain-‐planet-‐should-‐have-‐been-‐a-‐woman/ 24 Bord, R., & O'Connor, R. (1997). The Gender Gap in Environmental Attitudes: The Case of Perceived Vulnerability to Risk. Social Science Quarterly, 78(4), 830-‐840. www.jstor.org/stable/42863734 25 Kwauk, C., Cooke, J., Hara, E., & Pegram, J. (2019, December 10). Girls’ education in climate strategies: Opportunities for improved policy and enhanced action in Nationally Determined Contributions. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/research/girls-‐education-‐in-‐climate-‐strategies/ 26 Neumayer, E., & Plumper, T. (2007, September). The Gendered Nature of Natural Disasters: The Impact of Catastrophic Events on the Gender Gap in Life Expectancy, 1981-‐2002. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 97(3), 551-‐566. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/4620289 27 Ibid. 28 Terry, G. (2009). No climate justice without gender justice: An overview of the issues. Gender and Development, 17(1), 5-‐18. www.jstor.org/stable/27809203
Furthermore, data indicates that indigenous communities make up almost 19 percent of the extreme poor around the world, making them almost three times more likely to live in extreme poverty than non-‐indigenous populations.29 Indigenous women face further barriers, frequently earning less than indigenous men and depending disproportionately on the informal economy.3031 At the same time, indigenous peoples protect 80 percent of global forest biodiversity and at least 24 percent of above-‐ground carbon reserves.32 Although indigenous peoples hold legal right to approximately a tenth of the world’s land33 and often serve as frontline environmental and human rights defenders, they face increasing risks of violence, including sexual violence, and unlawful dispossession of their lands. Extractive industries, in particular, “benefit from the lack of rights of indigenous peoples and women who heavily depend on these natural resources for securing their livelihoods and the well-‐being of their families and communities.”3435 Security of land tenure is critical for the social, economic and political empowerment of women, their families and their communities.36 Strengthening legal regimes and ensuring land rights are fully recognized and respected not only improves agricultural productivity but is critical to gender justice, poverty reduction and more equitable social and economic systems.
3. Freedom from violence, stigma and stereotypes An increasing body of evidence documents the linkages between environmental challenges and gender-‐based violence, from the suppression of the voices of women’s environmental
29 ILO. Implementing the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention No. 169: Towards an inclusive, sustainable and just future. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/-‐-‐-‐dgreports/-‐-‐-‐dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_735676.pdf 30 IASG. (2014, June). Indigenous Peoples’ Access to Decent Work and Social Protection. https://www.un.org/en/ga/69/meetings/indigenous/pdf/IASG%20Thematic%20paper_%20Employment%20and%20Social%20Protection%20-‐%20rev1.pdf 31 ILO. Implementing the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention No. 169: Towards an inclusive, sustainable and just future. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/-‐-‐-‐dgreports/-‐-‐-‐dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_735676.pdf 32 IUCN. (2019, August 9). IUCN Director General’s Statement on International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 2019. https://www.iucn.org/news/secretariat/201908/iucn-‐director-‐generals-‐statement-‐international-‐day-‐worlds-‐indigenous-‐peoples-‐2019 33 Veit, P., & Reytar, K. (2017, March 20). By the Numbers: Indigenous and Community Land Rights. World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/blog/2017/03/numbers-‐indigenous-‐and-‐community-‐land-‐rights 34 UNEP and IUCN. (2019, March). Gender and environment statistics: Unlocking information for action and measuring the SDGs. UN Environment, Nairobi, Kenya. https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/27615/Gender_Environment_Statistics.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=yhttps://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/27615/Gender_Environment_Statistics.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 35 Jenkins, K. (2014). Women, mining and development: An emerging research agenda. The Extractive Industries and Society, 1(2), 329-‐339. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/18099/1/Womenper%20cent20miningper%20cent20andper%20cent20developmentper%20cent20FINALper%20cent20REVISEDper%20cent20endnoteper%20cent20refsper%20cent20removedper%20cent2022per%20cent20Aug.pdf 36 UNEP and IUCN. (2019, March). Gender and environment statistics: Unlocking information for action and measuring the SDGs. UN Environment, Nairobi, Kenya. https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/27615/Gender_Environment_Statistics.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=yhttps://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/27615/Gender_Environment_Statistics.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
defenders to the connection between sites of resource extraction and exploitation and human trafficking.3738 Gender-‐based violence takes many forms but is often associated with efforts to seize land and property, illegal resource development and extractive industries and agribusiness.39 Research in the Fort Berthold Indian reservation, home to the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, documented a substantial increase in sex trafficking and sexual violence against Native women as oil and gas development brought predominantly male workers to live in what are colloquially called “man camps.”40 There are numerous examples of gender-‐based violence being directed against environmental and human rights defenders and activists, particularly women and indigenous activists, to “suppress them, undermine their status within the community and discourage others from coming forward.”41 On average, more than three people were murdered each week in 2018 for defending the environment,42 and in 2014, at least 40 percent of those killed were indigenous.43 Indigenous women face particularly heightened risks of discrimination and violence.44 Environmental crises also exacerbate vulnerabilities and reinforce stereotypes around the sexual division of labor, reinforcing women’s economic marginalization in unpaid and informal work by lowering productivity and increasing poverty while triggering socioeconomic stressors that often find expression in the further entrenchment of patriarchal norms, stigmas and discrimination.45
4. Participation, accountability and gender-‐responsive institutions Women’s greater role in decision-‐making not only advances gender equity but is linked to improved environmental outcomes, including where participation was enabled via quota.46
37 Castañeda Camey, I., Sabater, L., Owren, C., & Boyer, A.E. (2020). Gender-‐based violence and environment linkages: The violence of inequality. Wen, J. (ed.). Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2020-‐002-‐En.pdf 38 FAO. (2011). The State of Food and Agriculture 2010-‐2011: Women in Agriculture – Closing the Gender Gap for Development. http://www.fao.org/3/i2050e/i2050e00.htm 39 Castañeda Camey, I., Sabater, L., Owren, C., & Boyer, A.E. (2020). Gender-‐based violence and environment linkages: The violence of inequality. Wen, J. (ed.). Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2020-‐002-‐En.pdf 40 Finn, K., Gajda, E., Perrin, T., & Fredericks, C. (2017). Responsible resource development and prevention of sex trafficking: safeguarding native women and children on the Fort Berthold Reservation. Harvard Journal of Law and Gender, 40, 1-‐51. 41 Harvey, F. (2020, January 29). Climate breakdown 'is increasing violence against women'. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/29/climate-‐breakdown-‐is-‐increasing-‐violence-‐against-‐women 42 Global Witness. (2019, July). Enemies of the State? How governments and businesses silence land and environmental defenders. https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-‐activists/enemies-‐state/ 43 Knox, J. (2017, February). Environmental Human Rights Defenders: A global crisis. Universal Rights Group. https://www.universal-‐rights.org/urg-‐policy-‐reports/environmental-‐human-‐rights-‐defenders-‐ehrds-‐risking-‐today-‐tomorrow/ 44 IUCN. (2020, January 28). Threats to the environment are interlinked with gender-‐based violence across multiple contexts. https://www.iucn.org/news/gender/202001/threats-‐environment-‐are-‐interlinked-‐gender-‐based-‐violence-‐across-‐multiple-‐contexts 45 UNDP. (2019). Human Development Report 2019. http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr2019.pdf 46 IUCN and Conservation International. (2015). Women in Environmental Decision Making: Case Studies in Ecuador, Liberia, and the Philippines. https://genderandenvironment.org/wp-‐content/uploads/2015/02/CI-‐REPORT.pdf
Studies have demonstrated that women leaders are more likely to pursue sustainable futures for their communities, ratify international environmental treaties and protect land areas at the parliamentary level.4748 Overall, evidence indicates that “the most important and consistent factor driving policy change is feminist activism.”49 However, in international fora, such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), progress in women’s participation remains slow and inconsistent, with the biggest gaps in leadership positions and processes with more decision-‐making power. For example, in 2019, women comprised 43 percent of the Party delegates at the UNFCCC intersessional negotiations but only 29 percent of the Heads of Delegation; yet those numbers were even lower at the Conference of the Parties: 37 percent of the delegates and only 21 percent of the Heads of Delegation were women.50 Correspondingly, in 2015, women comprised only 24 percent of interest group delegates to the UN Forum on Forests, 12 percent of national environmental sector ministry leaders, and 4 percent of national member committee chairs on the World Energy Council.51 Gender-‐responsive institutions must not only reflect women in their composition but have in place participatory processes that challenge hierarchical decision-‐making and ensure community needs, including the views of women, indigenous peoples, LGBTQ+ and historically marginalized and vulnerable groups. These processes are necessary to ensure affected communities are fully integrated into planning and implementation. Transparency throughout decision-‐making processes is also key for accountability regarding the use of resources, enabling not only input into decisions but effective monitoring and evaluation of activities and accountability to international human rights frameworks and other commitments to gender equality and the rights of women. In addition, women remain underrepresented in both media coverage of climate change and the workforce of environmental advocacy organizations. A survey of environmental nonprofits found that, as of 2014, men occupied 63 percent of board positions but only 45 percent of
47 Norgaard, K., & York, R. (2005). Gender Equality and State Environmentalism. Gender and Society, 19(4), 506-‐22. 48 Lv, Z., & Deng, C. (2019). Does women's political empowerment matter for improving the environment? A heterogeneous dynamic panel analysis. Sustainable Development, 27(4), 603-‐12. 49 Laurel Weldon, S., & Htun, M. (2013). Feminist mobilisation and progressive policy change: why governments take action to combat violence against women. Gender & Development, 21(2), 231-‐247. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13552074.2013.802158 50 WEDO. Gender Climate Tracker. www.genderclimatetracker.org 51 Prebble, M., Gilligan, M., & Clabots, B. (2015, October). Women’s Participation in Global Environmental Decision Making: An EGI Supplemental Report. IUCN Global Gender Office. https://portals.iucn.org/union/sites/union/files/doc/egi_datasetdm.pdf
staff.52 In 2018, a Media Matters study found that only 19 percent of the people interviewed, featured or quoted in climate change broadcast television news coverage were women.53 Furthermore, local feminist activism is some of the most underfunded work vital to sustainable development.54 Research released by AWID in 2010 identified that the median budget for women’s organizations around the world was $20,000, in comparison to large organizations such as Save the Children International, with a budget of approximately $1.442 billion.55 Increasing funding for women’s rights and gender-‐responsive climate activism is essential if we are to advance just, participatory and inclusive decision-‐making and institutions.
5. Peace and inclusive societies Fully addressing the climate and biodiversity crises and advancing gender equality is impossible without unlocking and repurposing military and arms funding that is currently exacerbating both crises. In 2014, global military spending was almost thirteen times greater than development aid funding from OECD-‐DAC member countries,56 and from 2015-‐2016 only 4 percent of peace and conflict aid included gender equality as a primary objective.57 Militarization itself increases poverty, inequality and gender-‐based violence by pulling resources from gender equitable social and economic development while advancing violent conflict and environmental devastation.58 Militarism has been linked with the normalization of violent conflict and perpetuation of gender norms and stereotypes that enable greater violence against women.59 Research indicates that “women and girls are usually most affected by the power imbalance and gender discrimination present in patriarchal societies—which tend to worsen during conflict.”60
52 Taylor, D. (2014, July). The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations. Green 2.0. https://orgs.law.harvard.edu/els/files/2014/02/FullReport_Green2.0_FINALReducedSize.pdf 53 MacDonald, T., & Hymas, L. (2019, March 11). How broadcast TV networks covered climate change in 2018. Media Matters for America. https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-‐trump/how-‐broadcast-‐tv-‐networks-‐covered-‐climate-‐change-‐2018 54 Alpízar Durán, L. (2015, May 14). 20 years of Shamefully Scarce Funding for Feminists and Women’s Rights Movements. AWID. https://www.awid.org/news-‐and-‐analysis/20-‐years-‐shamefully-‐scarce-‐funding-‐feminists-‐and-‐womens-‐rights-‐movements 55 Ibid. 56 UN Women. (2015). Preventing Conflict, Transforming Justice, Security the Peace: A Global Study on the Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325. https://www.peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/UNW-‐GLOBAL-‐STUDY-‐1325-‐2015%20(1).pdf 57 OECD. (2018, July). Aid to gender equality and women’s empowerment: an overview. https://www.oecd.org/dac/gender-‐development/Aid-‐to-‐gender-‐overview-‐2018.pdf 58 Duke Law International Human Rights Clinic and Women Peacemakers Program. (2017, March). Tightening the Purse Strings: What Countering Terrorism Financing Costs Gender Equality and Security. https://law.duke.edu/sites/default/files/humanrights/tighteningpursestrings.pdf 59 WILPF. (n.d.). Does Militarism Lead to Violence? Fact Sheet Building on the Global Study on UNSCR 1325. http://www.peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/Fact%20Sheet%20Militarism.pdf 60 Saferworld, WILPF, & Oxfam. (2017, December). Building inclusive peace: Gender at the heart of conflict analysis. https://wilpf.org/wp-‐content/uploads/2018/01/BuildingInclusivePeace-‐GenderHeartConflictAnalysis.pdf
Weapons production and military activities also generate negative environmental effects, crowding out other land uses and contributing to fossil fuel extraction, carbon emissions and environmental destruction that particularly affects the most vulnerable.61 In turn, climate change exacerbates resource competition, which is one of the leading drivers of conflict around the world.62 Current global military funding could provide a significant source of the required funds for climate justice: in 2018, the cost of global military spending was $1.8 trillion.63 Redirecting the entirety of fossil fuel subsidies provided in 2015—373 billion dollars64—to holistic, gender-‐responsive, transformative solutions rooted in respect for human rights and ecosystems would prove revolutionary in addressing climate change. For example, providing women access to the reproductive healthcare they need would require $5.3 billion,65 less than one-‐half of 1 percent of total military expenditures. Likewise, educating girls at the primary and secondary levels would require only 2 percent of that pool—$39 billion a year.66 Allocating funds away from militarism and toward resilience in the face of climate change is a necessary step to mobilize appropriate funding for SDG13, as well as to move toward the peaceful world that is the foundation for climate justice.
ACTIONS For decades, if not centuries, women’s rights and feminist activists and researchers have worked to showcase, envision and reframe understanding and metrics in our global world order. These alternatives serve to lift up the vital knowledge of frontline communities from around the world, center feminist analyses of the money and power embedding us in an extractive and unsustainable economy, and move us towards regenerative economies that center health, well-‐being and care. In working to define and action these alternatives for advancing feminist action for climate justice, we see several key actions playing a transformative role in creating a just and sustainable future:
61 Crawford, N. (2019, November 13.) Pentagon Fuel Use, Climate Change, and the Costs of War. Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/Pentagon%20Fuel%20Use%2C%20Climate%20Change%20and%20the%20Costs%20of%20War%20Revised%20November%202019%20Crawford.pdf 62 WILPF. (2019, November 8). No Peace Without Economic Justice: Feminists Are Demanding a Treaty on Corporations. https://www.wilpf.org/100-‐years-‐of-‐advocating-‐for-‐economic-‐justice/ 63 SIPRI. (2019, April 29). World military expenditure grows to $1.8 trillion in 2018. https://www.sipri.org/media/press-‐release/2019/world-‐military-‐expenditure-‐grows-‐18-‐trillion-‐2018 64 UNFCCC. (2018). UNFCCC Standing Committee on Finance: 2018 Biennial Assessment and Overview of Climate Finance Flows Technical Report. https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/2018%20BA%20Technical%20Report%20Final%20Feb%202019.pdf 65 Hawken, P. (2017). Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. Penguin. 66 Ibid.
1. Renewing a feminist economic agenda for a just and healthy planet by shifting capital
from extractive, polluting industries towards investments in gender and environmental justice and expanding the fiscal space for gender and environmental justice at every level.
2. Ensuring a gender-‐just transition by pursuing inclusive, gender-‐responsive climate actions and policies at the national level, enhancing sector-‐specific sex and gender disaggregated data, investing in quality girls’ education to move beyond a gender segregated labor force, and creating knowledge hubs of best practice climate actions and policies.
3. Protecting frontline environmental defenders and advancing grassroots and indigenous women’s leadership by advancing policies for the protection of women’s human rights and environmental defenders, prioritizing funding and resources to support local and grassroots environmental activism, and increasing the participation of grassroots and indigenous women in leadership positions and decision-‐making.
4. Regenerating sustainable, democratic and inclusive ecological food systems by promoting indigenous and local knowledge, agroecology, seed sharing, and secure land tenure for women and indigenous peoples to advance ecological diversity, food security and community resilience.
5. Transforming systems of human and environmental destruction by accounting for the true cost of militarization and economies of war, advancing inclusive and democratic governance and values, holding countries accountable for human rights violations—including environmental human rights violations—and shifting power from military and extractive economic development towards the true realization of human rights and wellbeing.
POLICY AND LEGAL DEFENSE A vast global policy framework has evolved over the last thirty years that lays the foundation for and aims to address these critically intersecting issues. Key authorities, policies, and agreements include:
● Human Rights Treaties: United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948); International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966); and The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)67
67 Aguilar, L., Granat, M., & Owren, C. (2015). Roots for the future: The landscape and way forward on gender and climate change. Washington, DC: IUCN, & GGCA. https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2015-‐039.pdf
● The 1979 Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, obliging parties to take “all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in rural areas in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, that they participate in and benefit from rural development”68
● Sustainable Development outcomes: United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio (1992) and Agenda 21 that includes a standalone chapter on women; World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna (1993) and its Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action; the International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo (1994); and the World Summit for Social Development, Copenhagen (1995) and its Copenhagen Declaration the Programme of Action69
● The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) including women and the environment as one of the 12 critical areas for action and encouraging governments to collect data on the impact of environmental degradation on women and develop gender-‐sensitive databases70
● The Convention on Biological Diversity (1993) and subsequent Gender Plan of Action (2008) incorporating actions to enhance the monitoring framework and indicator system for gender mainstreaming in the Secretariat and at the national level71
● The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (1996) recognizing women’s important role and participation in combating desertification and mitigating the effects of drought, accompanied by its latest Gender Action Plan (September 2017)72
● The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (1994), now informed by more than 50 decisions on gender equality made over recent years, including the Lima Work Programme on Gender (LWPG) (2014) and most recent enhanced LWPG (2016) promoting gender balance and gender-‐responsive climate policy;7374 the first UNFCCC Gender Action Plan (GAP) (2017);75 and the new five-‐year GAP adopted at COP25 (2019) taking into account human rights, ensuring a just transition, and the challenges indigenous peoples face while fighting for climate justice and protecting their communities76
68 Ibid. 69 Ibid. 70 Women4Biodiversity. (n.d.). International Gender-‐Environment Policy Framework. https://www.women4biodiversity.org/international-‐gender-‐environment-‐policy-‐framework/ 71 Ibid. 72 Ibid. 73 IUCN. (n.d.). Gender and climate change. https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-‐briefs/gender-‐and-‐climate-‐change 74 UN Women. (n.d.). Climate change and the environment. https://www.unwomen.org/en/how-‐we-‐work/intergovernmental-‐support/climate-‐change-‐and-‐the-‐environment 75 Women4Biodiversity. (n.d.). International Gender-‐Environment Policy Framework. https://www.women4biodiversity.org/international-‐gender-‐environment-‐policy-‐framework/ 76 WEDO. (2019, December 13). Advances for Gender Equality at COP25. https://wedo.org/advances-‐for-‐gender-‐equality-‐at-‐cop25/
● The UNFCCC Paris Agreement (2015) establishing that actions on climate change must “respect, promote, and consider...gender equality, empowerment of women...” and that adaptation actions and capacity-‐building must be gender-‐responsive77
● The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and its 17 SDGs recognizing that the natural world must be urgently protected to meet the world’s needs by 2050; gender is a standalone SDG goal (#5) in addition to a cross-‐cutting issue across the other 16 goals78
● The Sendai Framework for Action for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-‐2030) calling for stronger women’s leadership and participation in disaster risk reduction and providing a new opportunity to strengthen the capacities of gender machineries, women’s organizations and women at regional, national and community levels to shape how disaster risk reduction and climate change are implemented going forward79
● Green New Deal legislation (H. Res. 109)80 providing an opportunity to center gender justice and accountability, address root causes and advance inclusive, community-‐led solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises.81
FEMINIST AND WOMEN’S MOVEMENT ACTION PLAN It is becoming clear to governments that environmental and climate policy cannot exist within a silo and must instead be woven into economic policy, trade policy, health policy, energy policy and all other sectors. The Green New Deal, as a vehicle, is putting forth a vision of what this kind of transformative agenda could look like. Many feminist and women’s movements, both in the U.S. and across the world, are doing the critical work of collectively visioning this agenda and how cross-‐movement advocacy can utilize climate policy to address inequities across sectors. The climate crisis demands feminist alternatives, and Beijing + 25 is the place to coalesce around that vision of a livable, feminist future.
77 UN. (2015, December 12). Paris Agreement. https://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/convention/application/pdf/english_paris_agreement.pdf 78 Women4Biodiversity. (n.d.). International Gender-‐Environment Policy Framework. https://www.women4biodiversity.org/international-‐gender-‐environment-‐policy-‐framework/ 79 Ibid. 80 H. Res. 109, 116th Cong. (2019). https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/hres109/BILLS-‐116hres109ih.pdf 81 Feminist Agenda for a Green New Deal. (n.d.). Principles. http://feministgreennewdeal.com/principles/
