Climate Change (UNFCCC)

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an outcome of the 1992 Earth Summit, when the Women’s Major Group was launched. Climate change is a clear symptom of the lack of progress on sustainable development in recent decades. At the 2015 climate conference (COP21) in Paris, governments came to a universal climate agreement that is meant to set a global action plan to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2°C, toward the goal of 1.5°C. The agreement is due to enter into force in 2020.

Global efforts to achieve sustainable development (in all its 3 dimensions of social, economic, environmental) must be taken together with global efforts to combat climate change. The Women’s Major Group for SD has always incorporated climate change into its advocacy and positions and will continue to do so as the 2 agreements are inextricably linked, particularly via Goal 13 of the SDGs.

The official space for women’s civil society at the UNFCCC is the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC), which played a critical role in pushing the Paris agreement to address gender equality, human rights and climate justice. To join the mailing list and learn more, visit the website.