Four steps to put women’s rights at the centre of implementing the Rio Conventions

The implementation of these conventions will only be effective if it is grounded in gender equality and women’s human rights. But while the conventions each have their own gender action plans, they often act in silos. The environmental crises themselves are interlinked—so our responses should work to break down silos and ensure that decisions, policies, and programming related to gender equality are harmonized across the Rio Conventions’ work. 

A new UN Women brief based on a forthcoming working paper examines just that: how centring gender equality across the three Rio Conventions is not just critical for women and girls, but leads to better outcomes for all. 

The brief distills four key actions to put gender equality front and centre across implementation of the Rio Conventions: 

1. Build capacities and leadership  

Gender equality should be brought to the forefront in Conferences of the Parties (COPs) to the Rio Conventions. Special attention should be paid to the participation and leadership of women in all their diversity—including Indigenous women, women in both cities and rural areas, and women working on environmental issues at the grassroots level. 

Women, girls, and organizations advocating for their rights are at the frontlines of climate and environmental action—policymakers must heed their advice, as well as that of national gender ministries and other stakeholders, to integrate gender-responsive measures into the Rio Conventions’ processes and policies. 

2. Coordinate gender-responsive environmental polices 

While there are some current attempts to coordinate policies across the Rio Conventions, there is no formal mechanism to ensure that gender-related issues are handled consistently across the responses to climate change, desertification, and biodiversity loss.  

Gender equality issues should be tracked across negotiations, decisions, and policies under all three Rio Conventions. Harmonizing common gender equality goals across the conventions and monitoring their implementation will lead to better responses to the climate change, biodiversity, and land degradation crises.  

3. Increase funding to support gender equality  

When gender advocates and women’s rights organizations have access to resources, including climate and environmental finance, it leads to more effective policies and impacts. But women’s organizations at all levels are in dire need of increased funding support. 

All stakeholders should work to increase the funds for gender-responsive initiatives across the Rio Conventions. Public financing should be the primary source of such funds, with supplemental support from private finance as necessary. 

4. Harmonize communications and advocacy on gender equality 

Coordinated communications and advocacy strategies – by Rio Convention secretariats, Parties, national focal points and others – can support the production and sharing of gender-responsive data, evidence and knowledge to implement the Rio Conventions.  

All stakeholders have a role to play in raising public awareness about gender inequalities and the environment and the measures necessary to overcome them. 

Gender equality and women’s and girls’ rights must be central to responding to the world’s ongoing environmental crises. When they have the resources and the political power, women have championed effective climate and environmental policies, sustainable resource management, and improved food security and nutrition. 

By breaking down silos and building on gender-responsive synergies, we can address the interlinked environmental crises through deepened cooperation and coordination for sustainable and transformative change for people and planet.  

Decisions and actions on climate change, desertification, or biodiversity loss that address the needs of women and girls are not only the right thing to do—but they are essential to confronting these crises that affect us all.