Women's Leadership: Critical to Securing the Paris Agreement; Essential to Fulfilling It

Nov 11, 2016 | Courtney Durham, Natalie Elwell, and Cynthia Elliot
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The Paris Agreement on climate change wouldn’t be what it is today without action from strong women from around the world. Christiana Figueres, the UNFCCC Executive Secretary during COP21 (and now WRI Board member), spent decades working towards an ambitious and equitable final text. New Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa now helms the Convention’s highest office and will be responsible for overseeing the Agreement’s implementation. High-Level Climate Champions Ambassador Laurence Tubiana and Minister Hakima El Haite will encourage climate action from state and non-state actors, with a specific mandate to amplify the voices of women in the UNFCCC process. And Co-Chairs of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement Sarah Baashan and Jo Tyndall will prepare for the Agreement’s entry into force and convene the first meeting of its Parties, known as CMA1.

But as negotiators move forward with implementing this landmark climate agreement, it’s clear that gender equity still hasn’t fully permeated the climate talks. In 2015, the UNFCCC reported that female representation at COP20 amounted to approximately 36 percent of all national delegates and approximately 26 percent of all Heads of Delegations (a Party’s highest level of representation at the negotiations). At COP21, the Gender Composition report by the Secretariat showed those numbers dropped to 32 percent and 20 percent respectively. At the same time, women are disproportionately affected by the effects of a changing climate.