COP29: Men still control Africa’s climate decisions as women carry the water
People walk at the entrance of the venue of the United Nations climate change conference COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan November 11, 2024. Research reveals gender gaps in COP delegations as women face disproportionate health impacts.
What you need to know:
- African and Asian delegations will need at least a decade to achieve gender parity in climate change conferences (COP), according to a new Lancet study.
- The research reveals that despite women being more vulnerable to climate change impacts, they remain severely underrepresented in climate governance.
A new study shows that delegations from Africa and Asia will take at least 10 years to achieve gender parity in their representation during the annual Conference of Parties (COP) on climate change.
The study, published in the scientific journal Lancet Planetary Health a day before the official opening of the 29th Conference of Parties (COP29), predicted this outcome based on percentage trends in representation over the years.
The analysis was done between 1995, when the world convened for the first COP, and 2023, at the 28th Conference of Parties (COP28).
The study delves into the nexus between health, climate, and gender, highlighting that health and gender are often limited in inclusion at climate conferences.
“Despite the tendency to conflate gender equality with number-based representation, climate governance under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) remains dominated by men,” says the study.
Civil society has always been concerned about underrepresentation, and even in January this year, the Lancet study shows that there were jitters on gender representation and equality following the initial appointment of 28 men and no women to the COP29 organising committee.
They explain that this kind of exclusion will deter the conferences from obtaining different perspectives, undermining effective decision-making.
The authors of the study fault the UNFCCC for insufficiently recognising the role of climate change in worsening gendered health impacts, including gender-based violence and the safeguarding of reproductive and maternal health in the context of climate change.
The researchers explain that women are more likely to be affected by the impacts of climate change than men because of different issues.
“In many countries, women are less likely to own land and resources to protect them in post-disaster situations, have less control over income, less access to information, and experience limited institutional support and restricted freedom of association, resulting in increased vulnerability to acute and long-term climate change impacts,” they explain.
Some countries like Singapore have carbon tax, which is a direct price pegged on industries on their production of greenhouse gas emissions per ton.
The study argues that such taxes may be poorly designed for women especially when they fail to address issues like income disparities between men and women.
“In resource-constrained settings, women might not have the agency to effectively adapt to climate change, and are commonly regarded as so-called shock bearers, who are expected to carry out daily tasks (like collecting water from distant sources) despite harsh climate conditions,” the study explains.
Solutions meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions include renewable energy sources, where issues of land rights are likely to side-line women from making decisions when, for instance, a wind farm is set up in their community.
“If the existing gendered power imbalances in land access and resource allocation are not tackled, these new energy systems risk further perpetuating the same existing structural inequalities,” shows the Lancet study.
Health impacts continue to affect women the most.
“Studies in The Gambia and the USA have linked heat stress to adverse birth outcomes, such as reduced foetal strain or spontaneous pre-term births, whereas a global umbrella review found that these same adverse pregnancy outcomes were associated with air pollution,” the authors say.
The study also shows that social stressors are made worse by climate change leading to gender-based violence, which tags along other health complications like sexually transmitted infection, mental health and physical injury.
The authors say that during climate disasters like floods and droughts, women take on the most caregiving roles, supporting their families and overlooking their needs.
“The increased risk of gender-based violence for women and gender minorities staying in temporary shelters, particularly when accessing sanitation facilities at night, often results in heightened stress and anxiety,” the study shows.
Health only had a dedicated day last year, but it did not make it to the agenda—the situation is not any different from gender.
The study's authors now advise countries to include health and gender in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) whose third round of submission will happen early 2025.
“Achieving more equitable gender representation is not just a matter of fairness, but a strategic imperative. Equitable representation can potentially drive the development of more comprehensive and effective policies that address a broader spectrum of societal needs, including those relevant to public and environmental health,” shows the study.
