technology will only perform if the social, economic and environmental prerequisites are in place over time.
2.8 Gender, Equity and Inclusiveness
The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development,
10 adopted at the Earth
Summit in 1992, introduced principles (10, 20, 21, 22) on participation and
importance of specific groups (civil society, women, youth and indigenous groups)
for sustainable development. The Sustainable Development Goals recognize that
society and the economy need to ensure an equitable distribution of wealth,
attention for gender perspectives and ensure inclusiveness of both civil society
and the private sector, as well as government. Achieving this will ensure sustainable
development in the social and economic domains. Without this balance, the balance
of social and economic needs with the environmental domain will be meaningless.
Climate change impacts affect men and women, with the poorest being the most
vulnerable. Seventy percent of the world’s poor are women,
11 making them
extremely affected. On the other hand, they also play a large and important role
in tackling climate change. As impacts of climate change increase, work predominantly undertaken by women (i.e. food production, supplying household water,
ensuring fuel for heating and cooking) is becoming increasingly more difficult.
Coping strategies and their resilience give them a practical understanding of
innovation and skills to adapt to changing realities, as well as contribute to finding
solutions.
The GEF has recognized gender as highly important to achieve behavioural
change that will lead to broader adoption of sustainable solutions to global environmental problems. In 2010, OPS4 highlighted that ‘social and gender issues in
GEF strategies and projects are not addressed systematically, and the GEF cannot
rely completely on the social and gender policies of its Agencies.’ (GEF/EO 2010,
p. 30). As a response, the GEF developed its policy on gender mainstreaming and
adopted it in May 2011. There has also been an increase in the proportion of
projects that aim to mainstream gender. These improvements may be attributed to
adoption of gender mainstreaming by several GEF agencies, of which the best
international practices come from IFAD, UNDP and the World Bank. Despite the
adoption and review of a gender policy and designation of a focal point OPS5
provides evaluative evidence that attention for gender in projects is often lacking.
No less than 43 projects evaluated qualified themselves as “gender not relevant”,
10 United Nations Environment Programme (2003). Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. http://www.unep.org/documents.multilingual/default.asp?documentid¼78& articleid¼1163.
Accessed 12 May 2016.
11 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (2014) Gender and Climate Change.
http://unfccc.int/gender_and_climate_change/items/7516.php. Accessed 19 April 2016.
2 Action on Climate Change: What Does It Mean and Where Does It Lead To?
29
2.8 Gender, Equity and Inclusiveness
The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development,
10 adopted at the Earth
Summit in 1992, introduced principles (10, 20, 21, 22) on participation and
importance of specific groups (civil society, women, youth and indigenous groups)
for sustainable development. The Sustainable Development Goals recognize that
society and the economy need to ensure an equitable distribution of wealth,
attention for gender perspectives and ensure inclusiveness of both civil society
and the private sector, as well as government. Achieving this will ensure sustainable
development in the social and economic domains. Without this balance, the balance
of social and economic needs with the environmental domain will be meaningless.
Climate change impacts affect men and women, with the poorest being the most
vulnerable. Seventy percent of the world’s poor are women,
11 making them
extremely affected. On the other hand, they also play a large and important role
in tackling climate change. As impacts of climate change increase, work predominantly undertaken by women (i.e. food production, supplying household water,
ensuring fuel for heating and cooking) is becoming increasingly more difficult.
Coping strategies and their resilience give them a practical understanding of
innovation and skills to adapt to changing realities, as well as contribute to finding
solutions.
The GEF has recognized gender as highly important to achieve behavioural
change that will lead to broader adoption of sustainable solutions to global environmental problems. In 2010, OPS4 highlighted that ‘social and gender issues in
GEF strategies and projects are not addressed systematically, and the GEF cannot
rely completely on the social and gender policies of its Agencies.’ (GEF/EO 2010,
p. 30). As a response, the GEF developed its policy on gender mainstreaming and
adopted it in May 2011. There has also been an increase in the proportion of
projects that aim to mainstream gender. These improvements may be attributed to
adoption of gender mainstreaming by several GEF agencies, of which the best
international practices come from IFAD, UNDP and the World Bank. Despite the
adoption and review of a gender policy and designation of a focal point OPS5
provides evaluative evidence that attention for gender in projects is often lacking.
No less than 43 projects evaluated qualified themselves as “gender not relevant”,
10 United Nations Environment Programme (2003). Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. http://www.unep.org/documents.multilingual/default.asp?documentid¼78& articleid¼1163.
Accessed 12 May 2016.
11 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (2014) Gender and Climate Change.
http://unfccc.int/gender_and_climate_change/items/7516.php. Accessed 19 April 2016.
2 Action on Climate Change: What Does It Mean and Where Does It Lead To?
29