11/09/2021

Release of IKI Gender Strategy at COP26

Illustration: six people are standing on a globe and are discussing; in the background there is a wind turbine and a sunflower.

As part of the high-level event ‘Advancing Gender Equality in Climate Action’ at COP26, the IKI Gender Strategy was presented as a contribution to the implementation of the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan.

Dr Christiane Paulus, Director General for Nature Conservation and Sustainable Use of Natural Resources at the German Federal Environment Ministry (BMU), will today (9 November 2021) present the IKI Gender Strategy at COP26 in Glasgow as a contribution to the implementation of the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan.

Marking the public launch of the new IKI Gender Strategy, this presentation will be part of the Gender Day Presidency event ‘Advancing gender equality in Climate Action’, which will be attended by many high-ranking delegates.

Chaired by COP26 President Alok Sharma and UK minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the event will serve as a platform for the presentation of new commitments and policy solutions to promote gender equality within international climate policy.

Gender equality as a prerequisite for effective climate action and biodiversity conservation

The IKI Gender Strategy aims to promote gender-transformative approaches within international climate and biodiversity cooperation while ensuring that all new projects include gender-responsive planning as a minimum standard.

The integration of gender perspectives into the work of the IKI means that gender justice becomes a guiding principle for funding. Comprehensive Gender Mainstreaming will be employed to implement the IKI Gender Strategy within the IKI project cycle, and in all institutional processes and procedures.

In the future, IKI projects are to include specific measures that will be aimed at helping to reduce gender-based discrimination and inequality. This targeted accommodation of the roles and needs of all genders is intended to make project work more effective by utilising the full potential of all stakeholders to thereby improve the results of climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation.

An IKI Gender Action Plan is now being developed in order to formulate measures for the implementation of the IKI Gender Strategy and set measurable goals for the next few years.

The IKI Gender Strategy framework

Enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender and UNFCCC Gender Action Plan

In 2019, the Enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender and the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan were adopted by the Parties at COP25 in Madrid. These frameworks aim to bring gender equality into climate policy.

The next step is for the Parties to now focus on their implementation. With the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan, the Parties of the Convention – which include Germany – have underlined their commitment to reviewing their climate policy work in terms of gender equality relevance and to actively promote gender equality in these activities.

This is where the IKI’s Gender Strategy comes in, as it supports the implementation of the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan in the following areas in particular:

Strengthening of gender mainstreaming in climate policy plans and strategies
Inclusion of all genders in the process for developing, implementing and updating climate policies, planning, strategies and measures at all levels
Improving the availability of data that is broken down according to gender

CBD – Gender Plan of Action

Similarly, the IKI Gender Strategy also contributes to the Gender Plan of Action that has been developed as part of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This Plan is intended to ensure that the new Global Biodiversity Framework will also promote the goal of gender equality.