The Lack of Representation of Women of Color, Including Indigenous Women in Local, National, and International Decision-Making Bodies Increases Their Vulnerability to the Climate Crisis

The Lack of Representation of Women of Color, Including Indigenous Women in Local, National, and International Decision-Making Bodies Increases Their Vulnerability to the Climate Crisis

Lizeth Flores and Javeria Kella

The gendered nature of the climate crisis disproportionately hurts women and girls, particularly rural, coastal, and Indigenous women. Indigenous people constitute approximately 6.2% of the world’s population, and about 80% of the biodiversity lies under their protection. 87 The concept of conservation has been embedded in many Indigenous traditions. Indigenous communities have vital ancestral knowledge and expertise on adapting, mitigating and reducing climate and disaster risks. Indigenous women face additional and differential challenges of climate change compounded with discrimination against Indigenous Peoples and women. However, Indigenous women have limited access, space, and representation in local, national, and international governance structures and decision-making bodies. This makes them more vulnerable to threats from the climate crisis.

The impact of the climate crisis, corporate investments, and industrial expansions are most severely felt by those who live closest to their natural habitats, with dynamic ramifications specifically on women. Within these communities, given that women are often responsible for providing water, food, energy, and livestock care for their families, 88 they bear the brunt of the consequences. With threats to their livelihoods and traditionally sustainable ways of life, they are forced to walk further away to collect food, water, or firewood, which increases their risk of being victims of gender-based violence. 89 Given the prominent role they play in managing the food sovereignty of their families and communities, a study conducted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature discovered that environmental degradation reduces women’s control over finances and work, which can lead to an increase in domestic violence, sexual assault, and forced prostitution. 90

In other cases, extreme vulnerability and exposure to climate change leave them with migration as an adaptation strategy. Without access to information concerning legal ways to migrate, they are at the risk of trafficking. Currently, women and children make the majority of the displaced population91 , and with increased exposure to natural disasters, the number is likely to increase with further risk of gender-based violence. 92 In other situations, women are expected to manage the household and care for children and the elderly. This makes them less able to evacuate in case of a weather emergency, increasing their level of vulnerability.

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87 https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/indigenouspeoples#1 88 https://www.fmreview.org/issue64/pentlow 89 https://www.iucn.org/news/gender/202001/environmental-degradation-driving-gender-based-violence-iucn-study 90 https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/2/19/marriage-of-survival-will-climate-change-mean-more-child-brides 91 https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr923.pdf

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https://cdn.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/climate-justice-for-indigenous-women-urgency-and-way-forward-we b.pdf 93 https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr923.pdf

Globally, women comprise a large proportion of the world’s population suffering from hunger, even though they are responsible for half of the world’s food production. In most Global South countries, women produce between 40-80% of food, and are central stewards of seeds and agricultural biodiversity. 94 The climate crisis has disrupted food systems, leading to growing food insecurity. The availability and quality of Indigenous plant and animal species also require adaptation. As the climate crisis advances, it becomes increasingly important to address dietary needs, particularly those pregnant, breastfeeding, or with special nutritional needs. 95 While Indigenous food sovereignty movements are leading the way in protecting Indigenous rights to traditional foods, more needs to be done.

The impact of the climate crisis is profoundly felt by young girls. As a result of climate change, extreme weather events have continued to increase. When human-induced natural disasters devastated communities in southern Malawi, one of the detrimental effects of the climate crisis was the increase of child marriages. To survive, families married off their underage daughters. This translated to one less mouth to feed or one less child to protect from the risks of sexual exploitation. 96 The climate crisis continues to further reduce options for vulnerable and marginalized communities who often live at the margins of society.

As a direct response, women and girls of color, including those from Indigenous backgrounds, have continuously raised their voices and organized to sustain their lands and livelihoods. Undoubtedly, women’s participation in decision-making is imperative. A study conducted in 2005 concluded that countries with higher female parliamentary representation were more prone to ratify international environmental treaties. 97 While evidence shows that the advancement of women within decision-making spaces leads to more environmentally sound outcomes, there remain various instances where female perspectives have been excluded at this level. 98 In climate change adaptation and resilience actions, women continue to face normative, structural, capacity, and decision-making barriers. 99 These barriers are prevalent within organizations ranging from regional NGOs, to national government agencies and UN entities. Such is the case for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

UNFCCC is the branch of the United Nations that has the specific aim to address climate change and support sustainable development. The convention was adopted in 1992, and is the parent treaty for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, as well as the 2015 Paris Agreement. 100 The Kyoto Protocol is geared toward reducing the greenhouse emissions of industrialized states, 101 and the Paris

94 https://www.fao.org/3/x0171e/x0171e02.htm 95 https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr923.pdf 96 https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/2/19/marriage-of-survival-will-climate-change-mean-more-child-brides 97 https://pages.uoregon.edu/norgaard/pdf/Gender-Equality-Norgaard-York-2005.pdf 98 https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/03/standing-all-women-and-girls-heart-climate-justice 99 http://www.adpc.net/igo/category/ID1700/doc/2021-q74Xpc-ADPC-Gender_Mainstreaming_Policy_Brief-ADPC.pdf 100 https://unfccc.int/about-us/about-the-secretariat 101 https://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol

Agreement builds on this by engaging all nations in limiting global warming.

102 UNFCCC hosts the annual Conference of the Parties (COP), which, according to the UNFCCC website, is the “ supreme decision-making body of the Convention. ”103

Equal representation of women within constituted bodies and delegations has been an issue since the first COP meeting in 1995. COP 18, held in Qatar in 2012, agreed that achieving gender balance within these bodies would be a goal of the convention. 104 In order to track progress toward this aim, the UNFCCC secretariat publishes an annual report on the gender composition of leaders participating in the convention. 105 The most recent report, which was published in 2021, shows that women continue to be underrepresented in the UN climate process. 106 The analysis shows that while the gender perspective is being increasingly incorporated into UNFCCC’s work, there is a lack of sustained progress toward gender balance amongst the convention’s decision-making and technical panels, and country-specific delegations. Overall, the report showed that in 2021, women made up approximately one-third of constituted body positions, and 49% of government delegates. While the last metric shows a promising move toward gender balance, it was noted that women only took up 26% of the speaking time in plenaries. 107

To address this and other considerations around gender, the Lima Work Program on Gender (LWPG) was established. LWPG is designed to advance the integration of gender equality initiatives within the work of UNFCCC. 108 An enhanced gender action plan was added for implementation in 2022, with five priority areas, including women’s leadership and active participation within the Convention’s work. 109 When it comes to integrating the perspectives of representatives from diverse identities—including those from different racial and ethnic backgrounds—UNFCCC has established working groups such as the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP) to engage them in UNFCCC’s efforts. 110

A 2020 analysis by the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) outlined that while UNFCCC has a number of initiatives related to gender equality (e.g., LWPG), as well as programs

102 https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement 103 https://unfccc.int/process/bodies/supreme-bodies/conference-of-the-parties-cop 104 https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/cp2021_04E.pdf

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https://unfccc.int/news/women-still-underrepresented-in-decision-making-on-climate-issues-under-the-un#:~:text=A mong%20the%2011%2C306%20national%20 delegates,27%25%20of%20 whom%20were%20women 106 https://unfccc.int/news/overrepresentation-of-men-in-un-climate-process-persists 107 https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/cp2021 _ 04E.pdf

108 https://unfccc.int/topics/gender/workstreams/the-enhanced-lima-work-programme-on-gender

109

https://unfccc.int/topics/gender/workstreams/the-enhanced-lima-work-programme-on-gender#eq-3https://unfccc.int /topics/gender/workstreams/the-enhanced-lima-work-programme-on-gender#eq-3 110 https://lcipp.unfccc.int/lcipp-background/overview

focused on the inclusion of Indigenous communities (e.g., LCIPP), there are missed opportunities for them to collaborate with each other and build off of the other’s gains.

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Based off of the findings above, we make the following recommendations:

Recommendations

1. Increase collaborative efforts between LWPG and LCIPP to support participation of Indigenous women and amplify their voices. 2. Establish a state mechanism to obtain Free, Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) of Indigenous women prior to adopting and implementing rule, laws, regulations, strategies, plans, projects, programs, and working procedures. 3. Support Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, especially women, to develop procedures and protocols for obtaining Free Prior Informed Consent. 4. Recognition and strengthening of the customary self-government systems and laws of Indigenous Peoples with mandatory and meaningful representation of Indigenous women at all levels of climate policy and decision-making process. 5. Support and expansion of knowledge transfer modalities led by Indigenous women to exchange knowledge across different regions and generations. 6. Establishment of effective reparations and grievance mechanisms.

This kind of intersectional work is critical to meaningful inclusion of Indigenous women within the activities of UNFCCC, and beyond.

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https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/SubmissionsStaging/Documents/202004280812---UNFCCC%20-%20LCIPP%20-%20F WG%20-%202YWP%20-%20Activity%207%20-%20Comments%20-%20NWAC%20-%202020.pdf