21 April 2017: A guidebook on gender mainstreaming, a brief on the role of women in climate change adaptation in the Himalayas, and a report on decent work for indigenous peoples have pointed to the role of women and indigenous peoples in addressing climate change. These publications highlight the interlinkages among various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 5 (gender equality), 6 (clean water and sanitation), 8 (decent work and economic growth) and 13 (climate action).

UN Women, with support from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), has launched a guidebook aimed at supporting practitioners in mainstreaming gender into climate change projects and programmes. The publication is based on the recognition that climate change affects women’s and men’s assets and well-being differently in terms of agricultural production, food security, health, water and energy resources, climate-induced migration and conflict, and climate-related natural disasters. The guidebook therefore highlights that action to advance SDG 5 also supports progress on other related SDGs, such as those related to food security (SDG 2), health (SDG 3), water resources (SDG 6), clean energy (SDG 7) and climate mitigation and adaptation (SDG 13).

It presents methodologies and tools to address the gender gap, not simply about adding a “women’s component,” but by “modifying climate and development interventions so that they will benefit men and women equally.” The guidebook calls for “a paradigm shift towards gender mainstreaming,” noting that systematically addressing gender gaps in responding to climate change is “one of the most effective mechanisms to build the climate resilience of households, communities and nations.” [UNFCCC Press Release] [Leveraging Co-Benefits Between Gender Equality and Climate Action for Sustainable Development]

Also on the role of women in climate action, but with a focus on adaptation in the Himalaya, a brief developed based on the results of the Himalayan Climate Change Adaptation Programme (HICAP) has been released. It highlights that rural women in the Hindu Kush Himalaya manage the frontline of local agriculture and natural resources, and as such, deal directly with climate change impacts and risks. Noting hat more men migrate from rural areas, the brief calls on policy makers and decision makers to recognize women’s increasing roles and responsibilities in agriculture, food security, and natural resource management to create enabling policies and institutions that “acknowledge women as vital agents of change.” The brief thereby illustrates that efforts to achieve SDG 5 will contribute to attaining SDGs 2, 6 and 13, among others. It also calls for supporting and strengthening the role of women as risk and resource managers.

HICAP is implemented jointly by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), UNEP GRID-Arendal, and the Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research-Oslo (CICERO), in collaboration with local partners, and is funded by the Governments of Norway and Sweden. [Strengthening Women’s Roles as Risk and Resource Managers at the Frontline of Climate Change]

An International Labour Organization report calls for indigenous peoples to “be seen as powerful agents of change,” and accorded access to decent work opportunities and the ability to participate in the development of climate change measures.

Addressing another group that is particularily vulnerable to climate change, namely indigenous peoples, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has released a report that emphazises that ensuring decent work for indigenous peoples helps advance the fight against climate change, thereby drawing a link among SDGs 8 and 13. The report, titled ‘Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change: From Victims to Change Agents through Decent Work,’ notes that indigenous peoples are “affected in distinctive ways by climate change, and also by the policies or actions that are aimed at addressing it.” It further underlines the essential role that indigenous peoples can play in ensuring the success of mitigation and adptation policies and measures, as well as of just transition policies. ILO therefore calls for indigenous peoples to “be seen as powerful agents of change,” and accorded access to decent work opportunities and the ability to participate in the development of climate change measures. It also underscores the need to address in a distinct and targeted manner the factors that make indigenous peoples uniquely vulnerable to climate change [ILO Blog Post] [Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change: From Victims to Change Agents through Decent Work]