Download International law instruments as a framework for

International law instruments as a
framework for mainstreaming gender
in climate change
Rose Mwebaza(PhD)
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The Global
- OfficeGender
of the Senior
and Climate
GenderAlliance
Adviser
Human rights as a starting point
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The Global
- OfficeGender
of the Senior
and Climate
GenderAlliance
Adviser
Legal Framework
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There are innumerable global mandates calling for
integrating a gender perspective that apply to climate
change. These include:
instruments that deal with human rights,
gender equality,
sustainable development and environment
and disaster risk reduction
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The Global
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of the Senior
and Climate
GenderAlliance
Adviser
Human rights as a starting point
Equality and protection against discrimination are
enshrined in major human rights instruments:
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which accords
protection to the rights of women for equality, prohibits
discrimination and accords equality before the law
• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which
prohibits discrimination, promotes equality of women’s and men’s
rights and equality before the law
• The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, which prohibits discrimination, and calls for equality of
women and men regarding the rights recognized by the
Covenant
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The Global
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Human rights as a starting point
Their relevance for climate change efforts is:
• Further define the obligations of states to ensure that any laws
and policies adopted in this area fully respect the rights of
women to equal treatment before the law
• Reinforce any obligations on states to secure fair and equitable
distribution of benefits (funds, technology, information)
• Ensure women’s participation in decision making regarding
adaptation and mitigation initiatives, policies and mechanisms
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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of the Senior
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THE NEXUS BETWEEN CLIMATE
CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS
6
• The United Nations Human Rights Commission
(UNHRC) in its Resolution 7/23 on Human
Rights and Climate Change, expressed concern
over the fact that climate change poses far
reaching threats to people and communities
around the world, and has implications for the
full enjoyment of human rights.
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The Global
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of the Senior
and Climate
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Adviser
5/24/2017
THE NEXUS BETWEEN CLIMATE
CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGTHS
7
• The Council Resolution is significant
because it represents the first global
recognition within the UN framework of the
interconnectedness between the worlds of
climate change and human rights.
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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5/24/2017
THE NEXUS BETWEEN CLIMATE
CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS
• The resolution reaffirms that human rights
obligations and commitments have the
potential to inform and strengthen
international and national policy-making in
the area of climate change, by promoting
coherence, legitimacy and sustainable
outcomes.
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The Global
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of the Senior
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THE NEXUS BETWEEN CLIMATE
CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS
• The nexus between climate change and human rights
was elaborated by Mary Robinson, Former United
Nations Commissioner on Human Rights who noted that:
“International Human rights law expands the obligations
which states have assumed under the Framework
Convention on Climate Change to reduce green house
gas emissions and mitigate the effects of climate
change” .
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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THE NEXUS BETWEEN CLIMATE
CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS
• States have a positive obligation under
international law to protect individuals
includig women against threats posed to
human rights by climate change,
regardless of the cause.
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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MARY ROBINSON
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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CEDAW
• CEDAW is the principal instrument for the protection of
women’s rights, adopted in 1979 by GA-UN
• The Optional Protocol to CEDAW, came into effect on the
December 2000. The Optional Protocol establishes procedures
where women may file complaints requesting investigation of
violations of rights
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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CEDAW
• CEDAW defines discrimination against women as: “any
distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of
sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or
nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by
women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of
equality of men and women, of human rights and
fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social,
cultural, civil or any other field”
• CEDAW also recognizes that women should have equal
rights to conclude contracts and to administer property
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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CEDAW
• In a provision of much relevance to UNFCCC, State Parties
are obliged to take “all appropriate measures to eliminate
discrimination against women in rural areas in order to ensure,
on a basis of equality of men and women, that they participate
in and benefit from rural development” and, “participate in the
elaboration and implementation of development planning at all
levels”, and “in all community activities”
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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CEDAW
• Also recognizes that women should have equal rights
to “obtain all types of training and education, formal
and non-formal, including… the benefit of all
community and extension services, in order to
increase their technical proficiency”
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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CEDAW
• State Parties “shall take all appropriate measures to
ensure to women, on equal terms with men and without
any discrimination, the opportunity to represent their
Governments at the international level and to participate
in the work of international organizations”
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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CEDAW
The cumulative effect of these provisions
is to create obligations on countries to
ensure that:
• Women are granted equal opportunities and the
conditions necessary to enable their participation
in decision making and negotiation of climate
change agreements
• Equitable participation in access to financial
mechanisms and technologies
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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of the Senior
and Climate
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CEDAW final thought
Of the 195 Parties and Observer States to
the UNFCCC, only six have not signed
CEDAW
Such data demonstrates that the
overwhelming majority of Parties to the
UNFCCC have already made commitments
to gender equality and their international law
by being part of CEDAW
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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UN Human Rights Council
• March 2008 resolution on Human Rights and Climate Change
“climate change poses an immediate and far-reaching threat
to people and communities around the world and has
implications for the full realization of human rights”
• The Office of the High Commissioner execute an analytical
study of the relationship between climate change and human
rights
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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World Conference on Human Rights
• The right to development should be fulfilled so as to meet
equitably the developmental and environmental needs of
present and future generations
• The outcome documents urge treaty monitoring bodies to
include the status of women and the human rights of women in
their deliberations and findings, making use of gender-specific
data
• It also urges governments and regional and international
organizations to facilitate the access of women to decision
making processes
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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UN Declaration on the Rights
of Indigenous Peoples
DECRIPS specifically prohibits discrimination against
women (Article 22.2), providing that all the rights and
freedoms recognized in the declaration be guaranteed
equally to male and female indigenous people (Article
44)
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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of the Senior
and Climate
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Gender equality
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The Global
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Gender Equality
•
ECOSOC Resolution 2005/31
•
ECOSOC Resolution 2008/34
•
52nd session of the Commission on the
Status of Women (2008)
•
Beijing Platform for Action (4th World
Conference on Women 1995)
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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ECOSOC 2005/31
“All entities of the United Nations system, including United Nations
agencies, funds and programs, to intensify efforts to address the
challenges involving the integration of gender perspectives into
policies and programs, including:
• Developing action plans with clear guidelines on the practical
implementation of gender mainstreaming;
• Fully incorporating a gender perspective into program budgets;
• Ensuring continuous awareness raising and training on gender issues
for all staff;
• Requiring gender analysis for both policy formulation and
programmatic work;
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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ECOSOC 2005/31and ECOSOC
Resolution 2008/34
• Ensuring commitment by senior management to gender
mainstreaming;
• Strengthening accountability systems for gender mainstreaming;
• Incorporating a gender perspective into operational mechanisms, such
as those relating to the implementation of MDGs;
• Continuing to support governments and to work with civil society in
their efforts to implement the Beijing Platform for Action;
• Development and institutionalization of monitoring and evaluation tools
and gender impact analysis methodologies, promoting the collection,
compilation and analysis of sex-disaggregated data;
• Promoting mainstreaming of gender perspectives into key
macroeconomic and social development policies and national
development programs.”
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The Global
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of the Senior
and Climate
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52nd Session Commission on the
Status of Women
•
Identified gender perspectives on climate change as its key emerging issue
•
Resolution 21(jj) governments are urged to: “Integrate a gender
perspective in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation and
reporting of national environmental policies, strengthen mechanisms and
provide adequate resources to ensure women’s full and equal participation
in decision-making at all levels on environmental issues, in particular on
strategies related to climate change and the lives of women and girls”
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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Beijing Platform of Action
Strategic objective K.1.
Involve women actively in environmental decision-making at all levels
Strategic objective K.2.
Integrate gender concerns and perspectives in policies and programmes for
sustainable development
Strategic objective K.3.
Strengthen or establish mechanisms at the national, regional and
international levels to assess the impact of development and
environmental policies on women
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The Global
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of the Senior
and Climate
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Disaster Risk Reduction
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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International Union for Conservation of Nature
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Risk Reduction
• Hyogo Framework for Action (World Conference on
Disaster Reduction 2005)
• Expert Group Meeting on “Environmental
Management and the Mitigation of Natural
Disasters: A Gender Perspective” (ISDR/DAW,
Ankara, 2001)
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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Sustainable
development/environment
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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Sustainable Development/Environment
• Agenda 21 (UN Conference on Environment and
Development 1992)
• Johannesburg Plan of Action (2002)
• Millennium Declaration (2000)
• Convention on Biodiversity (1992)
• Convention to Combat Desertification (1994)
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Agenda 21
•
Chapter 24, entitled “Global Action for Women towards
Sustainable Development”, calls upon governments to make
necessary constitutional, legal, administrative, cultural, social, and
economic changes in order to eliminate all obstacles to women’s
full involvement in sustainable development and in public life
•
In the rest of the text there are specific mention to women in 159
cases
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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Millennium Declaration
The Declaration identifies certain fundamental values to
be essential to international relations in the twenty-first
century. To secure their realisation signatories commit to:
• Assure equal rights and opportunities for women and men (Article
6)
• Promote equality between sexes and the empowerment of women
as effective means to combat poverty, hunger and diseases, and
promote a truly sustainable development
• Ensure that all may take advantage of the benefits of new
technologies, particularly information and communication
technologies
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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The Rio Conventions and the
harmonization process
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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Convention on Biological Diversity
• Preamble Paragraph 13
• SBSTTA recommendation II/7, on agricultural biological diversity
and the role of women in managing practices and knowledge
• COP decision III/11, para.17, on promotion of women’s knowledge
and practices in the conservation and sustainable use of biological
diversity in the agricultural sector
• The annex to COP decision III/14 on Article 8(j): gender balance in
workshop organization
• Annex I to SBSTTA recommendation IV/7, on potential impacts of
tourism on cultural values, including gender
• SBSTTA recommendation V/14, para. 2 (i) and annex and annex
III to COP decision VIII/10, on gender balance in the composition of
ad hoc technical expert groups, subsidiary body and roster of experts
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Convention on Biological Diversity
• COP decision V/16 –element 1 of the programme of work of Article
8(j) on promotion of gender-specific ways in which to document and
preserve women’s knowledge of biological diversity
• COP decision V/20, on gender balance in the roster of experts;
• COP decision V/25, on Socio-economic and cultural impacts of
tourism: the fact that tourism activities may affect gender relationships
• Annexes I and II to COP decision VI/10, annex to COP
decisionVII/1: Gender as a social factor that may affect traditional
knowledge
• Decision V/16: Article 8(j) and related provisions states:
“Recognizing the vital role that women play in the conservation and
sustainable use of biodiversity, and emphasizing that greater attention
should be given to strengthening this role and the participation of
women of indigenous and local communities in the programme of work”
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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Convention on Biological Diversity
• Under the “General Principles” the programme of work on the
implementation 8(j) CBD calls for: “Full and effective participation
of women of indigenous and local communities in all activities of the
programme of work”
• III WGRI recommended for COP 9, “in developing, implementing
and revising their national biodiversity strategies and action plans
to, inter alia, promote the mainstreaming of gender considerations”
• COP 9: Welcomes the development by the Executive Secretary of
the “Gender Plan of Action under the Convention on Biological
Diversity”, as contained in document UNEP/CBD/COP/9/INF/12,
and invites Parties to support the Secretariat’s implementation of the
plan
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Convention to Combat Desertification
• Of the so-called Rio Conventions UNCCD, most clearly
recognizes the role of women in rural livelihoods and
encourages the full participation of women and men in the
implementation of the convention
• The UNCCD stresses the important role played by women in
regions affected by desertification and/or drought, and instructs
national action programmes to provide for effective
participation of women and men, particularly resource users,
including farmers and pastoralists and their organizations.
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
• Failed to recognize the gender aspects of climate
change and omits the issues of gender equality and
women’s participation entirely
• Women’s caucuses since COP-11 in 2005 have strongly
lobbied for a gender approach in all these critical areas
• Gender equality is a guiding principle in NAPA design
and it was advised to include gender expertise in NAPA
teams
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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Final remark
It is important to highlight the fact that since the
UNFCCC was drawn up within the framework of
the United Nations, decisions of the General
Assembly and conventions or treaties dealing
with gender issues constitute mandates
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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