The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa in 2024 recognised the Commonwealth Collaborative Network on Gender-responsive Climate Action in the Leaders’ Statement as an outcome of the 13th Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting in August 2023 where Ministers committed to a collaborative Commonwealth effort on gender-responsive climate action, recognising the urgent need for policies, capacity building, data collection, financing, knowledge sharing, and peer learning.
Gender inequalities remain a critical challenge
Gender inequalities remain a critical challenge in the climate arena. Despite growing awareness, women and girls continue to be underrepresented in decision-making, and only a fraction of updated national climate plans effectively integrates gender considerations. Addressing these disparities is essential for achieving sustainable, inclusive climate action across the Commonwealth.
Mainstreaming gender in climate action
The Network is designed to foster collaboration among Commonwealth member countries, uniting experts in climate change and gender equality. Through targeted capacity building, standardised data collection, and the exchange of best practices, the Network aims to bridge existing knowledge gaps and empower both developed and developing nations to mainstream gender in climate action.
Objectives
The Collaborative Network is poised to advance gender-responsive climate action by pursuing the following objectives:
- Bridging the knowledge gap on the gendered impacts of climate change: improved availability and use of gender-disaggregated data collection systems on climate change impacts to inform climate action.
- Promoting equitable access to climate finance: increased proportion of climate finance proposals with gender mainstreamed and with gender as a principal objective.
- Strengthening diverse leadership for decision-making: enhanced participation of women and men in leadership positions across climate governance mechanisms.
