Day 1 of COP25

COP25 has started! Today, December 2nd, EmpoderaClima arrived for the first official day of the climate negotiations in Madrid, Spain. The event is taking place in IFEMA, Feria de Madrid, which is a huge conference center. COP25 has 9 different Halls, where there are country/delegation pavilions and offices, side event rooms, exhibits, computer center, food courts, and constituency offices. The UNFCCC annual conference is also divided in two different zones: blue zone and green zone. The blue zone is where the negotiations take place, and is managed by the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat - where you need a UN badge to go in. The green zone, on the other hand, is where civil society host events, with no need for UNFCCC registration to enter this area.

EmpoderaClima is at COP25 for week 1, and there are two amazing women leading these efforts on behalf of the organization - you’ll be hearing a lot from us in the next few days: Renata Koch Alvarenga (Brazil), Founder and Director of EmpoderaClima, and Shannon Greene (Ireland), Researcher at EmpoderaClima. We are so excited for our first COP representing the new gender and climate education platform of Care About Climate. You can learn more about us on the “Team” tab. Check out our pictures below!

Women and Gender Constituency (WGC) Strategy Session

On Sunday, before COP25 officially started, EmpoderaClima was present at the WGC Strategy Session, led by the Women's Earth and Environmental Organization (WEDO). At the session, leaders of women NGOs discussed their priorities and demands as a united feminist front, especially regarding the Gender Action Plan (GAP) and the Lima Work Programme (LWP), which are both to be reviewed at COP25 because of their deadlines for renewal. The WGC drafted its Key Demands for this year's conference, one of the main points being delivering on a 5-year Lima Work Programme on Gender with a robust Action Plan - comprehensive, targeted, and resourced. The full list of demands from the Constituency is available here. The WGC is also developing briefing papers regarding climate policy areas, including: oceans, the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), Article 6 (financial mechanisms), migration, the Gender Action Plan, among others.

If you'd like to learn more about the Women and Gender Constituency and the participation of women at the UNFCCC, EmpoderaClima recently posted an original article about it, which you can read here.

Women Delegates Meeting 

An amazing bunch of women from around the world - predominantly the Pacific - with various different experiences and perspectives took part in the Women Delegates meeting. The women were attending on behalf of their countries in an effort to have more diverse participation within Party delegations. A great focus was put on the Gender Focal Points, and the need for each country to appoint a Gender Focal Point to ensure an expert on gender for each delegation.

Informal Consultation with SBI on LWPG & GAP 

An informal consultation took place to discuss the future of the Lima Work Programme on Gender (LWPG) and the Gender Action Plan (GAP). Parties gave their food for thought and expectations for the renewal of both programmes, and the potential of lengthening the timeframe of the GAP to allow for a more strategic approach to gender issues. In attendance, parties were predominantly made up of women, with a total of three male delegates from Chile and Colombia. Parties also advocated for the gender responsive implementation within the NDC’s and the crucial role of the gender and climate change focal points. The need for capacity building workshops were highlighted, and a party delegate from Senegal mentioned that those workshops allowed for the presence of many of the women today at the meeting. The word ‘intersectional’ sticks out, because it is such an important undercurrent of the future LWPG and GAP.

PanAfrican Climate Justice Alliance

On the civil society side, EmpoderaClima also chatted with the PanAfrican Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA),which was hosting an exhibit on the first day of COP25. PACJA is an intercontinental coalition of civil society organizations of all over Africa, working toward climate justice and sustainable development in the continent. The coalition focuses its work on advocating for international frameworks that takes into account the realities of vulnerable communities, including women. Many of their initiatives look to showcase the work being done by African women in their communities, such as the African Climate Change and Environmental Reporting Awards. Their exhibit featured cool gender justice posters, such as the one displayed below.

The previous two days has really shown what a strong feminist network there is within the global climate arena, and how everyone, with such varying experiences and viewpoints, uses each other as resources and guides, to help us all become better feminists and climate activists. These workshops, meetings, and exhibits multiply the amount of fierce leaders, who will bring that back to their home countries and create more powerful delegates for the UNFCCC events. 

COP25 started off in a good place, but the negotiations are just starting its developing phase, so EmpoderaClima will be on the lookout for more wonderful initiatives happening at COP on gender, youth and climate justice!

If you want to learn more about the feminist fight for climate justice, you can follow these amazing activists on twitter : 

The Women and Gender Constituency- @WGC_Climate

WEDO- @WEDO_Worldwide 

WECF International- @WECF_INT

Women’s Major Group- @Women_Rio20