References

areas, and local, national, and international evidence-based initiatives should be implemented everywhere to address those impacts. Additionally, in order to ensure that women and girls are allocated sufficient resources and experience minimal loss in natural disasters, the ability of member states to collect, analyze, and coordinate statistical data concerning climate change, gender, and migration status should be strengthened while guaranteeing that the privacy of women and girls is protected.

The Commission recognizes that the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 calls for the integration of gender, age, disability and cultural perspective into all policies and practices while taking into account national circumstances, and consistent with domestic laws as well as international obligations and commitments, and women and youth leadership should be promoted. Also recalled General Assembly resolution 71/312 of 6 July 2017 endorsing the declaration entitled “Our ocean, our future: call for action” , and recognizes the importance of gender equality and the crucial role of women and youth in the conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. And called for creating space for youth, especially young women and girls, to participate in shaping the decisions on climate change, environmental degradation and disasters that will affect their future and, to this end, enhancing curricula at all levels of education.

The Commission recognizes that women’s full, equal, effective and meaningful participation and leadership at all levels of decision-making are critical for making disaster risk reduction and recovery efforts more effective. And called for Respect and fulfill existing commitments and obligations under the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, related to disaster risk reduction in a holistic and integrated manner, taking into account their gender action plans and calling for the creation of such plans where there are none and highlighting the importance of integrating a gender perspective in, and ensuring the participation of indigenous women when elaborating, national and local strategies for disaster risk reduction. Also encourage to ensure women’s and girls’ equal access to justice and essential services, including by providing access to comprehensive social, health and legal services for victims and survivors and by providing accessible, confidential, supportive and effective mechanisms for all women's dispute resolution mechanisms, including in the context of disaster risk reduction and by strengthening the effectiveness, transparency and accountability of judicial and relevant institutions at all levels.

Youth and young people:

Disaster risk reduction and management:

Participation in decision-making:

Biodiversity, environment conservation and reduction of degradation, agriculture and food and security:

Greenhouse emissions and fossil fuels:

The Commission recognizes that existing gender roles limit women’s ability to participate in decision-making processes related to climate change and that these limitations will continue to be exacerbated. It emphasizes that empowerment of women and girls can lead to their bigger participation, and create more gender-equal leadership in climate movements. It also outlines the need for meaningful engagement of all women and girls, including those living in conflict and post-conflict zones, humanitarian emergencies, indigenous, and young and adolescent girls. Women’s leadership is seen as critical to implementing effective climate action that can contribute to sustainable development, sustainable consumption, greater food security and more resilient and sustainable food systems, among others. It also reaffirms the role of indigenous women including their ancestral knowledge and practices and its importance for environmental protection and disaster resilience.

The Commission also recommends that in order to ensure equal participation several gender-specific barriers need to be tackled through creating spaces safe from genderbased violence and discrimination, providing adequate resources, funds and technology, skill and knowledge capacity-building, establishing mentorship programs, ensuring sufficient water and sanitation management and access to equitable economic and social resources (education, employment, among others).

The Commission reaffirms that climate change expresses profound alarm that greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise globally. It recognizes that countries are already experiencing increasing impacts, including biodiversity loss, extreme weather events, land degradation, desertification and deforestation, sand and dust storms, persistent drought, sea level rise, coastal erosion, ocean acidification and the retreat of mountain glaciers, causing severe disruptions to societies, economies, employment, agricultural, industrial and commercial systems, global trade, supply chains and travel, with devastating impact on sustainable development, including on poverty eradication, livelihoods, threatening food security and nutrition and water accessibility. It further acknowledges the important role of women and girls as agents of change, along with indigenous peoples and local communities, in safeguarding the environment.

The combustion of fossil fuels, and the consequential emission of greenhouse gasses,

are the main drivers of climate change. In order to limit global warming and the accompanying exacerbation of health and gender inequalities, it is crucial that member states commit to urgently divesting from fossil fuels. Unfortunately, however, the final Agreed Conclusions of the CSW66 make no reference to fossil fuels, nor does it contain concrete agreements on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, it being the outcome of a meeting with its main goal pertaining to gender equity. The Agreed Conclusions do, however, reaffirm the long-term temperature goals of the Paris Agreement of 2015. It reiterates the goal of member states to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. It also recognizes that limiting global warming to 1.5 °C requires rapid, deep and sustained reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions, including reducing global carbon dioxide emissions by 45% by 2030 relative to the 2010 level and to net zero around midcentury, as well as deep reductions in other greenhouse gases.

Despite efforts from civil society to maintain a language focused on the 1.5 °C, the agreed conclusions still include the 2 °C as a maximum threshold of temperature increase, even though this degree of global warming is not safe and poses a serious threat to human health. Possible actions for NMOs could be to advocate and call on their countries’ governments to keep pursuing a maximum temperature increase of 1.5 °C, to divest from fossil fuels, and to timely make the necessary cuts in emissions in order to achieve these goals, as estimated by the latest IPCC reports.

The Commission encourages countries to take a gender-responsive approach when planning their transition to a sustainable economy. It emphasizes that women should not be left behind in this transition, and urges that education and training programs are set up such that pregnant adolescents and single mothers are able to secure wellpaying jobs. The Commission also supports the transition from the informal to the formal economy across all sectors and emphasizes that women’s right to work has to be protected and promoted. It states that member-states must recognize, reduce and redistribute women’s and girls’ disproportionate share of unpaid care and domestic work. Policies such as paternity leave and available childcare facilities were suggested as policies that could support this shift.

The conclusions are based on the principles of human rights and their full and equal realization and enjoyment.

Effect on health and economy:

Human rights and marginalized populations:

It also recognizes the struggles of indigenous, rural, refugee and migrant women and the necessity of inclusion of their voices in decision making and policy designs and implementation. Older women and widows are also acknowledged as a group of higher vulnerability to climate change and faced discrimination, especially when it comes to land tenure and ownership. However, there is an Insufficient focus on the support of women living in poverty currently - only by mentions of increasing poverty.

The Commission acknowledges that there is a lack of disaggregated data and gender statistics on climate change, environmental degradation and disaster risk reduction. It goes on to state that this lack of data makes it difficult for governments to come up with well-informed policies that can properly address the disproportionate impact that women and girls face from these issues. The Commission encourages governments to strengthen their national data collection centers and fund gender-sensitive environmental health research.

1. About UN Women [Internet]. UN Women – Headquarters. [cited 2022 May 6]. Available from: https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/about-un-women 2. Commission on the Status of Women [Internet]. UN Women – Headquarters. [cited 2022 May 6]. Available from: https://www.unwomen.org/en/csw 3. Sixty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 66) [Internet]. [cited 2022 May 6]. Available from: https://www.who.int/newsroom/events/detail/2022/03/14/default-calendar/sixty-sixth-session-of-the-commissionon-the-status-of-women-(csw-66) 4. https://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform/

Legal framework and data collection: