COP30: UN Women Urges Bold, Inclusive Gender Action Plan to Tackle Climate Crisis

“Climate change is a manmade problem that requires a feminist solution,” said Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, underscoring the call for gender-responsive climate governance.

At COP30 in Belém, Brazil, world leaders are being called upon to recognize a crucial truth: climate change is not gender neutral. Women and girls across the world disproportionately bear the brunt of the climate crisis — from food insecurity and displacement to increased gender-based violence — yet they remain underrepresented in decision-making spaces.

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) is urging governments to seize the historic opportunity at COP30 to adopt a new, transformative Gender Action Plan (GAP) — one that puts gender equality and women’s leadership at the core of global climate action.

“Climate change is a manmade problem that requires a feminist solution,” said Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, underscoring the call for gender-responsive climate governance.

The Urgent Need for a Gender-Responsive Approach

Climate change magnifies existing inequalities. Around the world, women and girls are disproportionately affected by droughts, floods, and environmental degradation because they often rely on natural resources for food, water, and livelihoods. When these resources are depleted, women’s workload intensifies and their access to education, healthcare, and safety diminishes.

For example, after Hurricane Maria devastated Dominica, women farmers worked tirelessly to revive local agriculture through UN Women-supported initiatives. Similar stories repeat globally — women leading recovery efforts while facing structural barriers that limit their access to financing, land, and decision-making roles.

Yet women are also powerful agents of change, often driving community-based adaptation, conservation, and clean energy initiatives. That’s why gender equality must be integral to climate policies, not an afterthought.

What Is the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan?

The Gender Action Plan (GAP) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) provides a roadmap to ensure that climate action benefits everyone equally. It promotes the inclusion of women’s voices and gender perspectives across all aspects of climate policy — from mitigation and adaptation to finance, technology, and transparency.

The first GAP was adopted in 2017, but Parties are now due to agree on a revised, second-generation plan at COP30 as part of the Enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender. This updated plan will define how the global community integrates gender equality into climate action for the next decade — a period widely seen as decisive for the planet’s future.

Why Gender-Responsive Climate Action Matters

According to UN Women, gender-responsive climate action acknowledges and addresses the specific vulnerabilities of women and girls, ensuring their rights are protected and their leadership recognized. It means:

• Designing policies that recognize women’s distinct risks and roles in climate resilience.

• Ensuring equal access to green jobs and sustainable livelihoods.

• Embedding gender perspectives in adaptation and mitigation strategies.

• Promoting feminist climate justice, which connects the fight against environmental destruction with the struggle for social and gender equality.

Key Elements of a Strong Gender Action Plan

UN Women insists that the new GAP must not be a symbolic gesture or a box-ticking exercise. Instead, it must be bold, inclusive, and transformative, with clear implementation mechanisms and accountability frameworks.

A strong GAP should be:

• Transformative: Addressing the root causes of gender inequality alongside climate vulnerability.

• Inclusive: Involving governments, Indigenous communities, Afro-descendants, youth, women’s movements, civil society, and the private sector.

• Adequately Resourced: Ensuring sufficient financial, technical, and human resources to support implementation, particularly for grassroots women’s groups.

• Adaptable: Applicable across national and local contexts, aligning with Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and Low-Emission Development Strategies (LT-LEDS).

• Measurable and Accountable: Including gender-specific indicators, transparent reporting systems, and independent evaluation mechanisms.

• Data-Centric: Investing in sex-disaggregated and intersectional data to inform policy and measure progress.

• Aligned: Coordinating with other major frameworks, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Risks of a Weak or Vague Plan

UN Women cautions that a weak or diluted Gender Action Plan would not only fail women and girls — it would also undermine the effectiveness of global climate action. Without binding commitments, clear accountability, and financial support, the new GAP could perpetuate exclusion and deepen inequalities.

The agency warns against:

• Excluding women and Indigenous voices from negotiations.

• Relying solely on voluntary commitments without enforcement mechanisms.

• Neglecting the intersectional impacts of climate change on marginalized communities.

• Omitting explicit references to human rights, social protection, and gender-based violence prevention.

Linking Climate Action with Economic Justice

The new GAP is being negotiated alongside key COP30 outcomes on climate finance and the just transition — the shift from high-emission industries to sustainable, equitable economies. UN Women emphasizes that women must be central to these transitions, benefiting equally from green jobs, renewable energy access, and climate financing mechanisms.

To support this, UN Women launched the Gender Equality and Climate Policy Scorecard, a monitoring tool assessing how national climate policies address gender gaps in areas like unpaid care work, health, and protection from violence.

A Feminist Blueprint for the Planet

Women’s leadership is not new to climate action. Across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific, women have led reforestation drives, sustainable farming projects, and renewable energy initiatives that restore ecosystems while improving community well-being.

“Women and girls are not just victims of the climate crisis — they are innovators, educators, and leaders,” said a UN Women spokesperson at COP30. “Their solutions work, but they need recognition, resources, and representation.”

UN Women’s Call to Action at COP30

UN Women’s message to negotiators at COP30 is clear: “Enough promises — it’s time for action.”

The organization calls on all Parties to deliver a Gender Action Plan that is ambitious, binding, and measurable, ensuring that gender equality remains at the heart of global climate governance.

“The climate crisis is not gender neutral — and the solutions cannot be, either,” UN Women declared. “A truly transformative Gender Action Plan will ensure that climate action uplifts everyone, leaving no woman or girl behind.”

Looking Ahead

As the world faces accelerating climate impacts — from deadly floods to extreme heat and food insecurity — the inclusion of women’s leadership is not only a moral imperative but a strategic necessity. Research consistently shows that gender-diverse leadership leads to more effective environmental policies, stronger community resilience, and fairer outcomes.

At COP30, the decisions taken will determine whether the next decade of climate action is inclusive, just, and sustainable — or whether gender equality once again becomes a peripheral issue.