This is a blog post from Kit Nicholson, an Atlas member, that headed to COP29 on behalf of Atlas!
Feminists Hold the Line: The Fight for Gender Justice at COP 29
I know. I know. This editorial is SO late. BUT, now that the dust has settled and the results (or, rather, the general lack thereof) of the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference have been revealed, let’s take a closer look at how the fight for gender justice fared.
For context, COPs are huge multi-lateral and multinational conferences hosted by the United Nations which aim to foster discussions around – and finding solutions for – the ongoing climate catastrophe. Over 50,000 people from all around the world and from nearly every sector attended this (well, last) year’s rendition of the event which was held in Baku, Azerbaijan from 11 to 22 November. I had the privilege of attending alongside Colombe Cahen-Salvador, Andrea Venzon, and Julian Brasil Gerth as part of the Atlas delegation. Atlas is an organisation that is building a global political party – across borders and boundaries – in order to tackle our world’s most challenging survival threats. Not tomorrow, not next year, not by 2030, but NOW. If you haven’t already heard of their work, definitely check them out.
On paper, this all sounds fine and dandy. I mean, we all want an equitable and just solution to the climate catastrophe as soon as possible, right?
Apparently not.
COP 29 was mired in many a scandal since its outset. Most, if not all, of the elephants in the room tie back to the country of Azerbaijan itself. Many organisations raised these red flags early on when Azerbaijan was first announced to be hosting COP 29. The current president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, is a huge supporter of Big Oil. He has even gone on record stating that Azerbaijan’s natural oil and gas resources are a “gift from God.” Now, at this point, I will say that I DO agree with his thesis that countries from the Global South should not be shamed for bringing their natural resources to the market as well as his statement condemning Global North countries for their holier-than-thou attitude regarding the green energy transition while they all scramble simultaneously to use Azerbaijani oil to fuel their overconsumption. The problem lies, however, in allowing such a country to greenwash itself in the same manner by hosting the world’s largest climate conference. Over 90% (!!!) of Azerbaijan’s exports are made up of fossil fuels; the country has a specific and definite interest in keeping oil alive for as long as possible – and has stated as such. Despite repeated messaging around the city of Baku on the importance of green energy, this fact was made abundantly clear at COP 29 given the number of delegates from Big Oil companies present at the conference: over 1,700. The sad part about this number is that it’s significantly less than those who attended COP 28 in Dubai, UAE (another oil-heavy state).
Unfortunately, this problem was only one of many launched against Azerbaijan. Greta Thunberg, the famous youth climate activist from Sweden, announced she was boycotting the event alongside many other prominent civil society and political figures. Because I couldn’t say it better myself, here’s what she has to say on the topic:
“The Azerbaijan regime is guilty of ethnic cleansing, humanitarian blockades and war crimes, as well as repressing its own population and cracking down on the country’s civil society. The independent watchdog Freedom House ranks the country as the least democratic state in Europe, with the regime actively targeting journalists, independent media outlets, political and civic activists, and human rights defenders. Azerbaijan also accounts for about 40% of Israel’s annual oil imports, thus fuelling the Israeli war machine and being complicit in the genocide in Palestine and Israel’s war crimes in Lebanon. The Azerbaijan-Israel ties are mutually beneficial as the majority of weapons used by Azerbaijan during the second Nagorno-Karabakh war and likely those used in the September 2023 military operation into the Karabakh region were imported from Israel.”
Now, we knew all of this going in. But I’ll be damned if I let the powers that be simply walk all over us while pretending it’s a good thing. So, I donned my Palestinian kufiyyeh, went to Baku, and joined thousands of individuals from other civil society organisations in raising hell in the name of the Armenian people, the Palestinian people, and all other peoples oppressed at the hands of bloodthirsty tyrants. Well, at much as we could without being thrown into an Azerbaijani jail cell.
Atlas came to COP 29 under our “Freedom Emergency” banner – our newest campaign that combats authoritarianism. I am proud to say that we brought to the forefront of the conference the concerns of people around the world regarding Azerbaijan’s abysmal human rights record, their crackdown on dissenting voices, their genocide against the Armenian people, and the authoritarian nature of their government. How can we even have free and open discussions regarding sorely-need systemic change (which involves toppling hierarchies of power) when those same hierarchies of power are pointing their guns directly at our throats? Make it make sense.
All of that being said, naturally, as a staunch feminist, I joined the Women & Gender Constituency once I arrived in Baku. In short, this constituency fights for women’s rights in the UNFCCC space and ensures that gender is mainstreamed at every level of every climate negotiation happening. That’s a tall order.
However, when I tell you that this group of women was one the most diverse, competent, and JOYFUL group of people that I’ve ever had the pleasure of being around, I’m not kidding. And I’ve been in a lot of rooms with a lot of inspiring and amazing people. It’s really important to me to be able to share these experiences with you; we all know there are so many barriers to entry when engaging in international politics – especially for women, gender minorities, and members of the LGBTQ2IA+ community. So, without further ado, here’s a quick round-up of my thoughts on the status of gender justice advocacy at COP 29.
[TLDR: Despite an immense gathering of wonderfully capable and passionate individuals from global civil society, the whole conference was a bust. Performative at best and downright criminal at worst, I’ve never felt further from the change-making table despite the fact that those high-level discussions were happening in, literally, the room next door. We, the people, deserve better. Our lives and livelihood depend on it.]
Surprising absolutely no one, women and gender minorities were severely underrepresented at the highest level of decision-making at COP 29. Only 8 of the 78 world leaders that attended were women. This number is down from the 15 women that attended COP 28 in 2023. What’s more, women only constituted 34% of national delegates present at the event. While this is definitely an increase from the 21% during COP 21 in 2015, progress is not nearly fast or effective enough. Women were not even initially included in the 28-person COP 29 Presidency. Only after significant, and global, public outcry did they agree to include 12 women. This is absolutely ridiculous – and dangerous.
Now, I probably don’t have to explain this part to you, but I’m going to do it anyway just for good measure. Let’s talk about WHY women’s high-level political representation is so important. First and foremost, women and girls are the most affected by climate change as it exacerbates already existing social marginalisations and vulnerabilities. This is because women have been traditionally segregated to care work (domestic, land, community, etc.) and the informal sector which are the most vulnerable to instability. Consequently, these sectors are also the most forgotten about when rebuilding from disaster which lead to many women suffering from prolonged food insecurity.
Around 80% of climate refugees and internally displaced persons are women and girls. Research also show that climate catastrophes, alongside other major shocks/stressors to communities such as war and political violence, increases gender-based violence. When men get stressed, they take it out on the women around them. Extreme weather events also increase the likelihood of forced and child marriages as families scramble to acquire financial security and stability amidst chaos.
If ALL of this weren’t enough, women and gender minorities are human beings (Wow, shocker!) who deserve equal representation at the policymaking table when their lives and livelihoods are equally, if not more, at stake. However, this being said, it’s not enough to have women represented in negotiations. Being a woman doesn’t a feminist make; there are many feminists who are not women just as there are many women who are not feminists. What is crucially needed, more than anything, is feminist frameworks and advocates at every level of the negotiation process to safeguard the rights of women and girls worldwide.
Did you know that we don’t even know how gender responsive climate finance currently is? Sometimes countries have a Gender Action Plan (GAP),but this doesn’t always translate into actionability. Currently, an estimated 0.01% of climate financing worldwide goes toward gender justice* efforts. Not only that, but a majority of these finance mechanisms are mainly delivered via grants which require communities to pay them off later through debt. Make it make sense.
*Please note that the global conversation on women’s rights has, in recent years, moved away from “Gender Equality” and more towards “Gender Justice.” There’s an important distinction there as women and gender minorities fight an uphill battle for what they are rightfully OWED.
I’ve said this already, but I’ve never felt further from the change-making table despite the fact that high-level discussions were happening in, literally, the room next door to where we spent most of our time. It truly felt like there were two COPs happening simultaneously within the same arena – a real one for the actual policymakers and a performative one for the global public. But, Kit, I hear you ask, what do you mean by performative? For me, the worst part were the specifically-designated “Activism Spaces.” That is, the Powers That Be provided different community organisations with a short, allotted time to yell, scream, and/or chant in one of the corners of the many many walkways.
Isn’t the whole point of activism to disrupt? Instead, this feels suspiciously like the measly crumbs pushed off of the negotiating table for optics purposes simply to appear inclusive to the global community. Meanwhile, we’re still barred from effecting actual change and protecting our frontline communities. Let them eat cake, indeed.
But, wait, that’s not the end of it. This WAS the concession we were handed. During the first week of the conference, chanting wasn’t even allowed, so activists resorted to snapping and humming. Hey, Siri, can we hum our way out of the climate apocalypse? I’m asking for a friend….
All of these affronts are exacerbated by the fact that BECAUSE of the closed-door nature of these climate negotiations, many parties (read: Egypt, Iraq, Russia, Saudia Arabia, and Vatican City) doubled-down on moving away from human rights-based language that included gender and gender disaggregated data as a focal point. Many of their concerns revolved around keeping the “traditional family structure” intact as well as lobbying to use “sex” instead of gender within certain documents out of fear that the word gender would promote homosexuality and gender dysphoria.
At this point, it is important to mention that over 30% of LGBTQ2IA+ individuals don’t return home after climate disasters as opposed to only 12% of cis/het individuals. That is, around the world, queer people are more than TWICE as likely as their straight counterparts to be climate refugees due to the compounding nature of marginalisation. This is especially true in places where anti-LGBTQ2IA+ laws have been enacted such as in the countries mentioned above.
Speaking of anti-feminist presences at COP 29, I must mention the Lavender Ball. The Lavender Ball was a kick-ass celebration put on by the Women and Gender Constituency after the events of Gender Equality Day – a day of events around COP 29 focusing on raising awareness of (and, more importantly, actively fighting for) gender justice during climate negotiations. There, we celebrated the progress we have made so far and urged people to continue the fight for gender justice now and in the future. And, like any good party, there was a lot of music and dancing.
This was not the problem.
The problem lies in the fact that the ONLY time any other men set foot into the feminist-run venue was during this party. As part of the Women and Gender Constituency, I had been around the venue pretty much all day and, to my estimate, I was AT THE MOST one of maybe three men who listened to and supported the work of the feminist coalition all day. But as soon as Beyoncé’s “Run The World (Girls)” came on and everyone was getting loose and letting their hair down? Poof! A swarm of men – and I mean a literal swarm – appeared. That’s not even the worst of it. They came in with their phone cameras blazing determined to record the gyrating bodies of – you guessed it – specifically the Black women in the room.
Misogynoir at it’s very finest.
I’m not the only one to have noticed this, either. In response, the feminist organisers politely invited these gaggles of young men to join the dance circle in an effort to turn their objectification into genuine cross-cultural interaction. Of course, all of these young men scoffed and adamantly refused to participate even the slightest bit. Their attendance there was not in good faith, after all. You could *see* the gears turning in their heads as they nudged each other and chuckled behind their phone screens – I mean, look how STUPID the women are, right? All they do is dance while the men put in the REAL work.
Apparently, women are only as useful as their bodies are sexy. Toss aside whatever they’ve said all day, toss aside their cries for justice, and toss aside any genuine attempts to learn more about the feminist movement. I foolishly expected more from such a high-level event. I guess that one is on me.
All is not lost, however. Before I get too bogged down in what didn’t go right, I would be remiss if I didn’t highlight the amazing work that feminists from around the world presented at the summit. There really are too many to name them all, but I wanted to take a minute to highlight the winners of the Gender Just Climate Solutions Awards. Hosted by the Women and Gender Constituency, this awards ceremony spotlighted the work of three community organisations that work to tackle the climate crisis from a gender-specific angle in three distinct categories: technical solutions, non-technical solutions, and transformational solutions. With over 340 submissions, it’s absolutely heartwarming to know there are inspirational women all around the world spearheading the fight for a more sustainable and more equitable tomorrow. Not that there was ever any doubt, of course.
In the technical category, The Little Earth is helping women in the Yagnob Valley of Tajikistan transition to solar energy. Currently, over 40 women from 11 different villages have been trained how to use and maintain solar devices in order to keep their homes warm during the winter. By eliminating the harmful effects of kerosene gas emissions on the valley’s fragile environment as well as easing these women’s unpaid workload, this initiative is helping improve women’s lives by granting them access to more (sustainable) job and leadership opportunities both at the local and regional level.
In the non-technical category, the Zág Institute is working to save the araucaria (zág) tree and preserve the Laklãnõ-Xokleng people’s traditional knowledge of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. By centring Indigenous women’s knowledge of ancestral practices and biodiversity, they help foster women’s financial autonomy through handicraft and honey production while promoting regenerative farming. To date, over 80,000 zág seedlings have been planted and 930 tons of CO2 has been reduced across 4 main villages.
Finally, in the transformational category, Love The Oceans is successfully teaching women ocean literacy along the Jangamo Bay in Mozambique. This organisation has trained the first five female swim teachers and lifeguards in the region and have also certified the first group of female scuba divers to help protect endangered marine life along Mozambique’s coast. By focusing on women-led aquaculture projects and training for technical skills, Save The Oceans is helping women foster long-term climate resilience and economic stability within their own communities.
Isn’t that all just absolutely fabulous!? Be sure to check out these organisations with the links provided above. Maybe you can even start something similar within your own community?
So, in conclusion (thank you for making it this far with me), the current state of affairs for gender justice is clearly far from where it should be. But, where does that leave us? For me, the key takeaway is about advocacy. Advocacy IS important – even if you feel like you’re screaming into the void. If people don’t understand WHY gender is important to include within climate negotiations (or, really, any policy discussion), they won’t listen to you. Have your facts on hand and have them straight because, the fact is, many people still don’t understand what gender justice actually means and how much more affected women and girls are by disasters than their male counterparts. Gender mainstreaming means including gender in *every* step of the process, not just during specific stages or as an afterthought.
To learn more about the connection between gender and climate change. join the Women and Gender Constituency here. Please be sure to also check out the three resources below to get you started!