Day 2 of COP25

A powerful intervention was given on the opening plenary of COP25 by Antonia Zambra from Chile. Antonia shared a powerful message of the Women and Gender Constituency at this year's COP: “Feminists want system change”. You can find the full intervention here.

Photo credit: Women and Gender Constituency

We are done with day two of COP25! EmpoderaClima had a very productive day filled with inspiring conversations about climate and gender justice. In this daily recap, you will find some insider information into the UNFCCC negotiations, civil society activities in the Green Zone, official side events about women's empowerment and ecofeminism. Yes, COP is a very overwhelming conference, but it is also one of the most fascinating international events out there - a great place to gather different groups that work with sustainability (youth, indigenous peoples, business leaders, world leaders, diplomats… the list goes on!) and network!

Climate Action Studio interview

Today we had a great win for EmpoderaClima. Our Director Renata Koch Alvarenga was one of the selected interviewees for the UNFCCC Climate Action Studio, a platform for showcasing climate work by different stakeholders during UN climate conferences. She talked about youth empowerment, the importance of gender in the climate negotiations, and about the platform! The video is already available on the Climate Action Studio Youtube Channel. Check it out:

Women and Gender Constituency Caucus Meeting

Also taking place this morning was the Women and Gender Constituency Caucus meeting. The participants discussed the need for finance to adequately implement gender-responsive policies and technology transfer, promotion of sexual and reproductive health, and moving away from fossil fuels to a feminist and fossil-free future. From this, there was an acknowledgement that market-based mechanisms are not the answer, however, also accepting that current climate action has failed. The importance of human-rights based action should be at the core of any measures taken on climate change. 

Also highlighted at the caucus was the importance of not just acknowledgement of climate induced migration, but the need for active response in addressing this issue. Migration and displacement are critical topics in terms of gender justice. Women in the Pacific are rarely landowners, which can lead to issues of displacement. Moreover, in situations of instability, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) is more prevalent. 3 women from the Women and Gender Constituency and the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Organization conducted a presentation on the importance of a gender analysis in climate migration and displacement issues. The climate crisis is no longer a future problem, and we are beyond adaptation, climate induced migration is a loss and damage concern. A video explaining climate migration by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation is available here. 

Side Event: Youth Leadership on Gender, Ecofeminism and Climate Change 

WWF Side Event

Another event taking place this morning was the side event on ecofeminism and climate change, organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), in its own pavilion, called the Panda Hub! A youth-led event by the Madagascar youth civil society, this event was more of a really enriching conversation between feminists. Many people took the opportunity to share their own stories and interact with one another. Exactly what a feminist space should be like!

SBI (Subsidiary Body for Implementation) Informal Consultations on Women & Gender

The official negotiations on gender are starting to heat up! At 10:49 am, the draft text on SBI51Agenda item 17 - Gender and Climate Change, and at 11 am, EmpoderaClima participated as an Observer in the SBI Informal Consultations on Women & Gender, in which various country delegations discussed the draft text posted a few minutes before the meeting. The draft text is posted on the UNFCCC website, and can be found here.

Although these consultations are meant for the Parties (countries) of the UNFCCC present at COP, the meeting ended up being open to different civil society members and NGOs interested in this important subject. The draft text proposes an enhanced Lima work programme on gender and its gender action plan

Note: If you're lost on what the Gender Action Plan and the Lima Work Programme are, EmpoderaClima briefly explained it on our November article of the month. Read it here.

Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) Capacity-Building Session

Today, the UNFCCC Secretariat organized a roundtable with youth engaged in ACE - Action for Climate Empowerment, the education clause of the global climate negotiations. ACE is represented by Article 6 of the UN Climate Convention of 1992, and Article 12 in the Paris Agreement of 2015. Adriana Valenzuela, the UNFCCC Focal Point for climate education and youth, and Niclas Svenningsen, UNFCCC Manager of Global Climate Action, were the two Secretariat members leading the discussions.

The discussion tackled ACE and its presence in the following IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reports:  “Global Warming of 1.5*C” and “The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate”. The Global Warming report, for example, states that“Educational, learning and awareness-building institutions can help strengthen the societal response to climate change”, an important achievement for ACE.

ACE usually involves young people in all its activities, and these are just a few of the most recent ones - including some at COP25: ACE Dialogues, ACE Workshops, Education Day at COY15, Global Youth Video Competition, Young & Future Generations Day, Youth Briefings, and the ACE Youth Forum.

ACE Capacity-Building Session

Fun fact: EmpoderaClima is quite involved in ACE activities; our Director attended the ACE Symposium and High-Level Event this October in Austria as the YOUNGO (UNFCCC Official Youth Constituency) representative. The picture below is actually featured at COP25 in the main wall of the UN Climate Change Pavilion - how cool is that?

ACE Symposium and High-Level Event in Pamhagen, Austria - October 2019

In the afternoon, we spent some time in the civil society area of COP25, the Green Zone. We were pleasantly surprised with the amount of activities organized around climate justice - especially in Spanish. We ran into an exhibit by VOGUE Brasil and IICA, about rural women in the Americas, which included stunning pictures of women working in agriculture from all over the Latin American region.

EmpoderaClima also spent some time at a gender and climate panel at the Green Zone, fully delivered in Spanish! It included amazing women professors from different countries in Latin America, who specialize in climate justice. The conversation was about vulnerability and adaptation to climate change, with a specific focus on women. It also correlated UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 - Gender Equality - and Sustainable Development Goal 13 - Climate Action, by stating the need for promoting just leaderships in climate frameworks, and also more participation in decision-making spaces.

The second day of COP25 was really productive, and after an extremely inspiring day of events, exhibits and talks, the message we got is that we have to unite for climate action. As the 2030 Agenda/SDG Area of the Green Zone showcased, we can't change the world on our own.

SDG Area - Green Zone