Gender Mandates in Climate Policy

Before you start

In the last few years, the UNFCCC – the only one out of three Rio Conventions that lacked mandates on women’s rights and gender equality from the outset – has made major strides in integrating gender across all thematic areas in the negotiations. In 2014, the Lima Work Programme on Gender launched, and in 2015, the Paris Agreement integrated gender equality as a preambular principle for all climate action, as well as in relation to adaptation and capacity building. In 2017, the first Gender Action Plan was adopted, followed in 2019 by the adoption of the enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender and its Gender Action Plan. Additional decisions have aimed to enhance gender equality via both policy and practice, encouraging gender balance indecision-making as well as responsiveness to gender issues in the development, implementation and monitoring of climate change policies and actions.

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Gender reference

22. Welcomes the policy on gender equality adopted by the Council of the Global Environment Facility and encourages the Global Environment Facility to ensure that all its implementing agencies apply this policy;

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The Conference of the Parties,

12. Welcomes the continued support by the Global Environment Facility for climatefriendly innovation, and technology development and transfer and related capacity-building, including in partnership with private sector actors and others and requests the Global Environment Facility to continue to provide such support, in particular for technology needs assessments, and technology action plans and their implementation;

13. Also requests the Global Environment Facility to consider ways to enhance its ongoing work to fund activities relevant to averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage, consistent with its current mandates;

14. Encourages the Global Environment Facility to continue its efforts to further streamline, consolidate and increase the efficiency of its operations, including by simplifying the information requirements for designing and implementing its projects and programmes;

15. Welcomes the ongoing efforts of the Global Environment Facility to improve its fiduciary standards, to which its implementing agencies are accountable;

16. Also welcomes the ongoing efforts of the Global Environment Facility to continue assessing and addressing the risks induced by the current level of funding concentration among some of its implementing agencies;

17. Encourages the Global Environment Facility to continue to show appropriate flexibility with respect to geographical restrictions in implementing agencies to reduce agency concentration and enable wider geographical reach of its projects, in a country-driven manner;

18. Also encourages the Global Environment Facility to open a targeted round of implementing agency expansion within the Global Environment Facility partnership with a focus on underserved regions, with regard to implementing agency coverage, in line with existing policies and procedures;

19. Further encourages the Global Environment Facility to enhance the coherence and complementarity with other climate finance delivery channels with a view to enhancing the impact and effectiveness of its work and decreasing transaction costs, inter alia through streamlining and simplifying, where feasible and to the extent possible, its procedures and guidelines and takes note of these ongoing efforts;

20. Notes the adoption of the private sector engagement strategy 3 of the Global Environment Facility at the 59th meeting of the Council of the Global Environment Facility and encourages the Global Environment Facility to reinforce its efforts to mobilize and engage with private sector actors during its eighth replenishment;

21. Requests the Global Environment Facility, from existing allocations in the Blended Finance Global Programme, to further explore risk-taking and to foster innovation in the context of its programming in order to use its concessional financing more effectively and mobilize additional private funds;

22. Welcomes the policy on gender equality adopted by the Council of the Global Environment Facility and encourages the Global Environment Facility to ensure that all its implementing agencies apply this policy;

23. Also encourages the Global Environment Facility to further explore ways to provide support for assessing the needs and priorities of developing countries5 in a country-driven manner, including technology and capacity-building needs, and for translating climate finance needs into action;

24. Invites Parties to submit to the secretariat their views and recommendations on elements of guidance for the Global Environment Facility via the submission portal6 no later than 12 weeks prior to the twenty-ninth session of the Conference of the Parties (November 2024);

25. Requests the Standing Committee on Finance to take into consideration the submissions referred to in paragraph 24 above in preparing its draft guidance for the Global Environment Facility and to include in its annual report to the Conference of the Parties information on the steps it has taken to implement the guidance provided in this decision; 26. Takes note of decision -/CMA.57 and decides to transmit to the Global Environment Facility the guidance from the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement contained in paragraphs 2–12 of that decision.

Gender reference

14. Encourages the Board to continue to implement the Green Climate Fund updated gender policy and gender action plan;

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The Conference of the Parties,

Recalling decision 3/CP.17, annex,

[...]

4. Encourages further pledges and contributions to the second replenishment of the Green Climate Fund;

5. Also encourages pledges to the Green Climate Fund to be confirmed in the form of fully executed contribution agreements or arrangements as soon as possible;

6. Recognizes the Green Climate Fund’s role in promoting the participation of private sector actors in developing countries, in particular local actors, including small and mediumsized enterprises and local financial intermediaries, and in supporting activities to enable private sector involvement in the least developed countries and small island developing States;

7. Takes note of the outcomes of the Green Climate Fund regional presence study7 and urges the Board to expedite the finalization of its consideration of options for establishing Green Climate Fund regional presence, as outlined in the Strategic Plan for the Green Climate Fund 2024–2027;

8. Encourages the Board to continue to support the formulation of national adaptation plans and other adaptation planning processes in line with the 2024–2027 strategy for the Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme;

9. Requests the Board to continue its consideration, with a view to approving policy proposals, to support results-based payments for activities referred to in decision 1/CP.16, paragraph 70, consistent with the provisions in paragraphs 35 and 55 of the Governing Instrument for the Green Climate Fund;

10. Also requests the Board to continue to enhance coherence and complementarity of the Green Climate Fund with other relevant bilateral, regional and global funding mechanisms and institutions, wherever feasible and to the extent possible, inter alia through joint programmes, outreach, and information-sharing, thereby improving access to climate finance and lowering transaction costs for developing countries;

11. Urges the Board to conclude the updating of the accreditation framework and to address the pending accreditation matters in line with Green Climate Fund decision B.34/19;

12. Requests the Board to continue to accredit national and regional direct access entities, significantly increase direct access entity participation in Green Climate Fund programming and conclude its work on updating the accreditation framework;

13. Also requests the Board to strengthen monitoring and reporting of disbursements for, and impacts arising from, multi-country funded activities on a per country basis, where practical, in a manner consistent with the integrated results management framework;

14. Encourages the Board to continue to implement the Green Climate Fund updated gender policy and gender action plan;

15. Requests the Board to continue supporting activities relevant to averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage, consistent with the Green Climate Fund’s existing investment, results framework and funding windows and structures and in line with the Strategic Plan for the Green Climate Fund 2024–2027, and also requests the Green Climate Fund to ensure coordination and complementarity in the context of the funding arrangements14 with the fund established in paragraph 3 of decisions 2/CP.27 and 2/CMA.4;

Gender reference

Acknowledging that climate change is a common concern of humankind and that Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, the right to health, the rights of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, migrants, 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, Recalling decision 1/CMA.4, paragraphs 50–53,

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The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement,

Recalling the Paris Agreement,

Also recalling Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Paris Agreement, which provides that the Agreement, in enhancing the implementation of the Convention, including its objective, aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change, in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty, including by holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change; increasing the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emission development, in a manner that does not threaten food production; and making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development, Further recalling Article 2, paragraph 2, of the Paris Agreement, which provides that the Agreement will be implemented to reflect equity and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances,

Acknowledging that climate change is a common concern of humankind and that Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, the right to health, the rights of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, migrants, 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, Recalling decision 1/CMA.4, paragraphs 50–53,

Also recalling decision 1/CMA.3, paragraph 85, in which the need was recognized to ensure just transitions that promote sustainable development and eradication of poverty, and the creation of decent work and quality jobs, including through making financial flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emission and climate-resilient development, including through deployment and transfer of technology, and provision of support to developing country Parties,

Recognizing the importance of the best available science for effective climate action and policymaking, Also recognizing that just transitions are for all countries, Further recognizing the specific needs and special circumstances of developing country Parties, especially those that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, as provided for in the Convention,

Taking full account of the specific needs and special situations of the least developed countries with regard to funding and transfer of technology, Underscoring the importance of urgent delivery of means of implementation (capacity-building, climate finance, and technology development and transfer) to facilitate just transition pathways and of enhancing international cooperation on, and support for, just transition pathways, especially for developing country Parties,

1. Confirms that the objective of the work programme on just transition1 shall be the discussion of pathways to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement outlined in Article 2, paragraph 1, in the context of Article 2, paragraph 2;

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