Download 12.04.10 Gender Impact of Climate Change

Speech of
the Hon. D. Virahsawmy, GOSK, FCCA
Minister of
Environment & Sustainable Development
on the occasion of the
Launching of a
Training of Trainers Programme
On Gender Impact of Climate Change
on
Tuesday 10 April, 2012 at 10.00 hrs
Gold Crest Hotel, Quatre Bornes
Hon. Mrs Mireille Martin, Minister of Gender Equality, Child
Development and Family Welfare
Dr Solange Bandiaky, Gender Expert from the Inter-Regional Technical
Support Centre
Dr Agnes Babubura, Gender Expert from the United Nations Development
Programme in New York
Miss How Fok Cheung, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Gender
Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare
Ladies and Gentlemen
I am honoured to be in your midst today for the launching of this ‘Training of
Trainers Programme on Gender Impact of Climate Change’.
Let me stress, at the very outset, that we all recognise the important role played
by women in successful community-based activities worldwide in relation to
climate change adaptation.
As you may be aware, this capacity building programme is one of the key
activities under the Africa Adaptation Programme on climate change which is
being implemented by my Ministry in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender
Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare.
On behalf of the
Government of Mauritius, I wish to acknowledge the support of the
Government of Japan for funding the Africa Adaptation Programme, which is
fundamental for our country to build resilience to climate change. I also wish to
acknowledge the strong partnership with UNDP Country Office for its support
in this Programme.
Ladies and Gentlemen
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Climate change remains one of the greatest developmental challenges of our
time which requires immediate attention as it is already having worsening
impacts on communities worldwide. This trend is likely to continue for the
coming decades. Extreme weather events such as severe droughts, floods, sea
level rise of the order of 3 to 5 millimetres per year and record temperature rise
as described in the various Inter-Governmental Panels on climate change reports
and other recent international publications confirming that climate change is
accentuating.
However, gender dimensions of climate change are yet to be fully addressed.
Gender analysis is of crucial importance to better understand the impacts of
climate change on human communities, particularly on food security, health and
access to natural resources such as water and energy.
It has also been said that climate change will exacerbate the divisions between
men and women in already vulnerable communities due to differences in their
traditional roles, societal expectations and livelihoods. Women, who make up
the majority of the developing world’s 1.4 billion poverty-stricken population
have lower income, less access to credit and decision making authority as well
as limited control over resources. This contributes towards increasing their
vulnerability to many climate change impacts. It is crucial to understand these
distinctions in order to successfully integrate climate change into development
strategies.
In Africa, women also have the primary responsibility for collecting water and
wood. Resource scarcity as a result of climate change will cause women to
travel further to collect water and wood thereby increasing the threats to their
safety while decreasing their productivity.
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The Global Gender and Climate Alliance launched during the United Nations
Climate Change Conference in Bali in December 2007 has helped in pushing
forward the integration of gender issues in climate change negotiations thus
ensuring that women have their say at all levels of discussions. The gender
issue related to the impacts of climate change has also been recognised by a
number of African declarations such as the 2008 Johannesburg Declaration on
the Environment for Sustainable Development and the 2009 Nairobi Declaration
on the African process for combating climate change. The gender responsive
adaptation was also addressed by the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and
Development at the Conference of Parties 17.
Moreover, as part of the 3rd World Climate Conference held in 2009, a forum
on Gender and Climate Change was organised by the UNESCO to raise
awareness on the gender dimensions of climate change among the scientific
community, whereby, it was noted that,
“It is essential to identify innovative economic approaches that could
transform the impact of climatic change into innovative economic
empowerment initiatives on mitigation and adaptation to be
implemented by women and communities.”
A recent study by the World Bank has demonstrated that women, when fully
empowered, can be an important force for change as countries and citizens are
preparing to adapt to climate change.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Despite contributing an insignificant amount to the global emissions of
greenhouse gases, Small Island Developing States and African states are among
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the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
In Mauritius, these
impacts are becoming more and more obvious which can be observed by events
such as change in rainfall patterns, higher temperatures recorded and the
accentuating beach erosions.
Government has placed climate change high on its agenda. We need to show
the world that we are ready to address these challenges in a practical manner, no
matter how difficult they may be. In its effort for a better integrated approach
on gender and climate change, Government has put in place the National
Gender Policy Framework for gender equality and sustainable development.
Government has also signed a number of international conventions to ensure
that women have equal access to resources but more importantly the same rights
and opportunities as men.
It is expected that this training of trainers workshop will create a better
understanding of the link between gender and climate change adaptation
amongst key national stakeholders from policy and decision makers level to
community-based organizations and women’s groups. I am going to highlight
some of the key benefits which can be harnessed from this training:
(i)
first, we will be able to create awareness on gender equality and
community participation in decision making, development of policy and
strategies
(ii)
for
mitigation
and
adaptation
to
climate
change;
second, it can help demonstrate how women can be powerful agents of
change and their leadership critical; and
(iii)
third, it will be an opportunity to share best practices and experiences
from the gender experts, women leaders and communities.
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My Ministry has already taken initiatives to foster gender mainstreaming in
climate change. We are continuously supporting awareness raising campaigns
with women centres on environmental issues including climate change.
We have also embarked, with the collaboration of the Ministry of Gender
Equality, Child Development & Family Welfare on the project entitled “African
Women’s Decade (2010 to 2020)”. As part of this project, my Ministry is
promoting rainwater harvesting in Women Centers so as to empower women
and provide them with the facility to collect rainwater for re-use. We are
targeting 16 Women Centres with different phases of implementation for the
period 2011-2013.
Amongst a series of adaptation-related activities, my Ministry has recently
launched a project on Disaster Risk Reduction. Through the implementation of
this initiative, my Ministry is setting the base for better managing and coping
with climate-related disasters in the future to sustain the livelihood of
communities and protect the environment. My Ministry has also secured USD
9.12 Million of grant funding from the Adaptation Fund Board set up under the
Kyoto Protocol, whereby, climate change risks at three vulnerable coastal sites
namely Mon Choisy, Rivière des Galets and Quatre Soeurs/Deux Frères will be
mitigated. The strengthening of an early warning system for coastal
communities at risk is also being envisaged.
Ladies and Gentlemen
We have to work in a real spirit of partnership where all stakeholders
concerned, namely, local women communities, NGOs, and the public and
private sectors collaborate and develop equitable climate change adaptation
strategies and responses to ensure a sustainable development for our country. In
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this endeavour each and every one of us has a key role to play and take our
responsibility for ensuring that gender issues in climate change strategies and
mechanisms do not go unchecked any more.
On my concluding note, I would like to say that we should take full advantage
of this opportunity to build on the capacity of our women to be a vector for
change in this crusade against climate change.
I very much hope that
participants who will be trained during this two-day workshop will impart the
knowledge gained to other women at community level.
I thank you for your attention.
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