27 September 2012: The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has released a publication, titled “Powerful Synergies: Gender Equality, Economic Development and Environmental Sustainability,” which provides evidence from scholars and practitioners on how gender equality in access and control over resources ensures environmental sustainability and improves lives.
Included papers consider gender equality across development issues such as climate change, consumption and production patterns, education, energy, food security, health, human rights and urbanization. The publication includes nine broad recommendations for policy makers and practitioners, aimed at ensuring the integration of gender equality in sustainable development policies and programmes. Specific recommendations are also included in individual chapters.
The section on gender equality, energy and climate change discusses: links between equality, sustainable energy access and climate change mitigation measures; strategies to address climate-related challenges on health and nutrition security; and financing. Noting women’s role in ensuring household energy, the report recommends fostering women’s access to cleaner, more efficient sources and technologies. On climate change, the report recommends incorporating women’s experiences and ideas into adaptation, mitigation, and disaster risk management policies. It also proposes actions for making climate change funds more gender-responsive and highlights female education, employment and economic and political empowerment as a promising strategy for climate change adaptation.
The publication stresses gender equality as a critical component in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the post-2015 development agenda. The report also recommends investing in women and girls and including them in all stages of decision-making to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and enhance sustainable development achievements.
UNDP promoted the publication at an panel discussion on empowering women titled “Securing the Future We Want: Gender Equality, Economic Development, and Environmental Sustainability,” held on the sidelines of the 67th UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on September 27, 2012. [Publication: Powerful Synergies: Gender Equality, Economic Development and Environmental Sustainability] [UNDP Press Release on Panel “Securing the Future We Want: Gender Equality, Economic Development, and Environmental Sustainability”]