By Shannon Greene and Jessica Vandal, Researchers at EmpoderaClima

In December of 2020, we celebrated the 5th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, considered a great advancement on the global response to climate change, not only by achieving the commitment of countries from the Global South to the Global North, but also for being the first document of its kind to include gender equality in climate discussions. It has also been five years since COP21, where countries agreed to pledge their commitment to addressing climate change and its negative impacts. There are now 190 Parties to the Agreement (you can find more information about the ratification status of the Paris Agreement here), a reflection of the understanding of the climate emergency and the need for climate action.

The History 

The Paris Agreement emerged out of COP21 in December 2015, and came into force in November of the following year. It was considered a landmark success and a progressive step in addressing climate change issues. Moreover, it was a step in the recognition of climate change as a human rights issue. The preamble of the Agreement states: 

‘Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrant children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations, and the right to development, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women, and intergenerational equity’.

Many hoped that the Paris Agreement in 2015 would encompass a coherent understanding of how human rights are implicated as a result of climate change, that would advocate for the protection of human rights and gender equality protections amidst the impact of climate change. Although it did highlight these issues, it only did so in the preamble of the Agreement - and solely in relation to articles on adaptation and capacity building. Although the importance of participation is mentioned in the agreement, specific barriers to participation are not addressed, such as the structural barriers women face in participating in decision-making processes. That being said, the Paris Agreement was still a huge advancement for women. Since the Paris Agreement’s inception, the preceding COPs have seen a surge in the number of adopted decisions that take gender dimensions into account, including the Gender Action Plan - you can read the EmpoderaClima article about GAP here.

Gender equality within the Paris Agreement

As mentioned, the Paris Agreement has been the pioneer in adding gender equality rights in its content, but at the same time, it has failed in mainstreaming gender and women discussions in all its relevant articles. While gender equality has been displayed in the preamble, important articles maintain a gender-blind approach. One of the main outcomes of the Paris Agreement was the need for each party to elaborate a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), where their ambitions for climate action would be established and be the base for monitoring their advances. Despite the importance of the NDC for the parties’ national strategies and acknowledging the key role women play in mitigation-related activities as well as the importance to address structural inequalities that make women more vulnerable to the effects of climate change, the Paris Agreement does not highlight a gender response and the mainstream of women’s empowerment and gender equality in mitigation plans. Similarly, Articles 9 and 10 that respectively approach Finance and Technology - increasingly important to promote adaptation and mitigation activities - do not have any mention to gender.

In terms of adaptation, the document is clear in stating the need for a gender-responsive adaptation plan. An important statement that guarantees the understanding of how vulnerability is gendered and therefore, having more effective adaptation actions that also promote women’s empowerment and inclusion. Gender is mentioned only one more time in the Paris Agreement, in Article 11, which highlights the capacity-building process with the goal of enhancing the capacity of developing countries. Due to structural inequalities, men and women possess different educational levels, which are directly connected to their adaptive capacity. Addressing a gender-response in the process of building capacity means acknowledging the different gender roles and how they may impact negatively in women’s participation in educational activities.

Moving forward: Gender Equality and Climate Justice post-2020

We stand at a crossroad. In 2021, we must continue to highlight the importance of gender-responsive proposals in climate commitments. While the Paris Agreement has not been completely successful in demanding gender-responsive plans, many governments are recognizing not only the urgency of addressing gender inequalities within climate discussions, but also the potential benefits of increasing female leadership and engagement. While 2020 did not have a COP due to the pandemic, 2021 is the year for climate ambition, on the road to COP26 in Glasgow, and as a youth-led initiative, we will continue to mobilize efforts for effective climate and gender justice! Will you join us?