Promoting Women’s Leadership in “Loss and Damage” Climate Negotiations

Jun 13, 2023 | Marisa O. Ensor

Last year, women took the lead on one of COP27’s most contentious and challenging issues: climate reparations, the third pillar of international climate change governance, usually referred to as “loss and damage”.  The establishment of a Loss and Damage Fund was touted as the highlight of COP27 and the culmination of decades of pressure from climate-vulnerable developing countries and small island states. The recent Bonn Climate Change Conference (5 to 15 June 2023) built on the mandates that emerged from COP27. Discussions included the second Glasgow Dialogue on Loss and Damage intended to ensure that the fund becomes operational at COP28 and that it advances broader funding arrangements. Women's leadership in this and all other aspects of climate negotiations must be promoted, as evidence suggests that higher women’s representation in high-level governance structures tends to lead to the adoption of more effective climate change and security policies.

The Three Pillars of International Climate Change Governance

The Paris Agreement recognizes the importance of “averting, minimizing, and addressing” loss and damage (L&D). L&D is a general term used in United Nations climate negotiations to refer to the consequences of climate change that go beyond what people can adapt to, or that occur when options exist but those affected lack the resources to utilize them. L&D thus refers to the destructive impacts of climate change that cannot be or have not been avoided by mitigation efforts – the first pillar of international climate change governance (e.g., reducing greenhouse gas emissions) – or adaptation strategies – the second pillar of international climate change governance (e.g., adjusting to and building resilience against current and future climate change impacts).

L&D, currently recognized as the third pillar of international climate change governance, can result from both sudden-onset weather events (e.g., hurricanes, cyclones, flash floods, and heatwaves) as well as from slow-onset changes (e.g., sea level rise, desertification, glacial retreat, land degradation, ocean acidification, and salinization). The damages caused by climate change can be divided into economic losses and non-economic losses, though there is overlap between the two. Economic losses and damages are those affecting resources, goods, and services that are commonly traded in markets, such as damage to critical infrastructure and property or supply chain disruptions. Non-economic losses include loss of life, health impacts or losses due to forced displacement, loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, loss of territory, cultural heritage, and indigenous or local knowledge, and other threats to cultural survival. The combination of economic and non-economic losses and damages multiplies existing threats, exacerbates vulnerability, and disproportionately impacts those in disadvantaged positions.

Scaling down our emissions and building resilience against climate change, while absolutely imperative, can only take us so far; some negative impacts and damages are now unavoidable. These climate change-induced losses and damages are affecting and will continue to affect everyone, but not equally.Women and girls, particularly those from the Global South living in marginalized rural communities, bear the least responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions. They are, however, experiencing the worst impacts of the climate crisis and suffering the greater losses and damages. Yet, despite recent gains, the L&D discourse remains dominated by technical and policy discussions held in spaces largely controlled by men. 

Women’s Participation in High-Level Climate Negotiations

Since 2008 when the Gender Climate Tracker started compiling data, there has been an increase in women’s participation in climate negotiations, both in overall participation and at the highest levels of decision-making. This progress can be attributed to various factors at local, national, and multilateral levels. These include: (1) the introduction of initiatives by civil society to enhance women’s leadership in climate change negotiations; (2) the implementation of gender quotas and the introduction of climate change and gender plans at the national level; and (3) the adoption of decisions promoting women’s participation in climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The Conference of the Parties (COP), first held in Berlin, Germany in March, 1995, is the main decision-making body of the UNFCCC. It includes representatives of all the countries that are signatories (or “Parties”) to this convention. The most recent one, COP27 (held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, 6-20 Nov 2022), evidenced limited progress in achieving gender balance, as women delegates accounted for 35.6% of all national Party delegates. This number represented an increase compared to the previous COP26 (with 34.8% women participation), but was still lower than in pre-pandemic COPs. Furthermore, in COP27 women encompassed 20.0% of Heads of Delegation in COP27, which constituted an increase from COP26 (13.4%).

The most recent Bonn Climate Change Conference – officially, the 58th session of the subsidiary bodies (SB58) – took place from 5 to 15 June 2023 in Bonn, Germany. It included discussions of the Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement, which is conducted every five years and will be finalized at COP28. The Global Stocktake represents an opportunity for countries to assess the gender responsiveness of their climate policies and actions. SB58 also included a meeting of the Transitional Committee on Loss and Damage – the mechanism set up to provide recommendations on funding arrangements. The Women and Gender Constituency (WGC)– the platform for observer organizations working to ensure women’s rights and gender justice within the UNFCCC – contributed a submission to the Global Stocktake. In particular, the WGC underscored the importance of (1) assessing the gender-differentiated impacts of climate change; (2) highlighting the role of women and discriminated groups in climate action; (3) identifying gaps in gender mainstreaming in climate policies and programs;and (4)ensuring gender-responsive means of implementation. The WGC also advocated for a new fund under UNFCCC to be set up at COP28 with guiding principles that would include human rights and gender equality.

The Way Forward

A noteworthy outcome of COP27 was a package of decisions that reaffirmed States Parties’ commitment to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Mitigation efforts nevertheless remain insufficient to avoid catastrophic global warming. A special report on the impact of global warming by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes that thecombined climate pledges of 193 Parties under the Paris Agreement would still put the world on track for an increase warming of approximately 2.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, which would cause irreversible impacts for people and planet.

As efforts to mitigate and adapt to the adverse consequences of climate change fall short, discussions around L&D resulting from climate change have gained urgency. As noted above, developed and developing nations at COP27 last year agreed  to create a fund for addressing losses and damages experienced by vulnerable nations more susceptible to climate disasters.  Nevertheless, many questions remain around how L&D will work and how much money wealthy nations will provide. The International Peace Institute identifies four key issues that must be considered in negotiations around a new L&D financial mechanism: (1) where will a financial mechanism be located? (2) who will pay for it? (3) who will control it? and (4) what will it do? The answer to these questions will have to be resolved in the coming months and years, including in multilateral discussions like the recent SB58 and the upcoming COP28.

World leaders at COP28, to be held in Dubai later this year, will need to acknowledge and address the growing gap in climate finance and swiftly implement effective compensatory measures. Accounting for L&D is a crucial aspect of efforts to respond to the climate crisis for those countries where the number of disasters and the severity of the impacts are increasing each year. Additionally, countries can use the ongoing Global Stocktake – to be finalized at COP28 – to identify ways to enhance gender equality by, for instance, assessing gender-differentiated impacts of climate change, highlighting the role of women and marginalized groups in climate action, and ensuring gender-responsive means of implementation. By promoting women’s leadership, including socially just and gender transformative measures, and including women from climate-vulnerable communities in the discussion, we can more effectively lead the way to climate justice worldwide.

Dr. Marisa O. Ensor is an applied environmental and legal anthropologist currently based at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) where she leads the portfolio on climate security.  She is also the current Chair of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association’s Gender Interest Group (“EnPAx-GIG”).