Wandering around the negotiation rooms, ECO hears many items under Adaptation. Yet there is deafening silence on gender equality. While the decision text on the GGA in Dubai reflected the need for gender responsiveness in national adaptation plans (NAPs) and “to take gender into account” during their implementation, one cannot simply lean back and consider the job done, not even with this acceptable but ultimately weak language.
ECO finds it distressing that among priorities during interventions gender is not making the cut, at least you haven’t forgotten about Indigenous Peoples and their knowledge. Weren’t the rights of Indigenous Peoples and gender once besties and mentioned in tandem? Has it somehow slipped from negotiators’ minds? Or is this silence sending a message about gender equality not being important for climate justice?
So here’s a friendly reminder to all of you who can speak in the Adaptation negotiations: gender equality is in fact one of the most cross-cutting and important social bases for climate justice, and we still have a long way to go. Adaptation measures have no purpose if they are not informed, designed and implemented in a gender-responsive manner.
And if you’re casting about for ideas on how to do it, consider the good example of your Mexican colleagues from the EIG group.