COP28 Debuts Partnership To Empower Women in Climate Crisis Response

At the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, the UN launched a new partnership endorsed by 68 countries, focused on reducing climate change’s impact on women. This initiative aligns with UN gender-responsive strategies, aiming to reduce job and income losses among women during the green transition. The partnership, introduced in a high-level dialogue, encompasses commitments to gender-specific data, finance, and equal opportunities, which the signatory countries will implement and review at COP31 in three years.

UN climate change high-level champion for COP28, Razan Al Mubarak, emphasized the disproportionate effect of climate change on women and girls. The COP28 presidency highlighted the potential job transformations and new roles emerging from the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon economy. According to the International Labor Organization, up to 1.2 billion jobs, or 40% of the global workforce, are at risk due to climate change, with women predominantly employed in the most affected sectors. An estimated 158 million women and girls could face poverty by mid-century due to climate impacts, 16 million more than men and boys.

Mubarak called for a global financial architecture reform to foster women’s economic empowerment and address the climate crisis’s amplification of gender inequalities. Sima Bahous, executive director of UN Women, urged for women’s rights to be central in climate action, advocating for their inclusion in decision-making processes at COP28 and beyond.