GGCA Gender and Climate Change Training Manual - Women's ...

7.7 Gender and the post-2012 climate change financing regime
Anticipated changes in the global climate change financing regime
will be realized with the result of the final conclusion of the deliberations of the
Conference of the Parties (COP-15) in Copenhagen in 2009. Decisions will be
taken on a shared vision for global climate change, the strategies, targets and
actions for future emissions reductions (20% by 2020, or 50% by 2030, or some
other formulation around 2050) in the post-2012 period. In the case of climate
change financing, decisions and commitments will also be made on the kinds
of support that will be important for governmental processes and measures such
as NAPAs, and risk-reduction initiatives and technologies.
The Copenhagen meeting will also provide the elements for broadening
the operations of, and possibly securing more funding for, specific financial
instruments such as REDD. At the same time, on a parallel track, there will be
scope to rethink instruments such as the CDM, emissions trading and carbon
credits, which are due to expire in 2012.
After Copenhagen, there is likely to be an infusion of funds into some
existing financial instruments (for example, the 5th replenishment of GEF) as well
as an impetus towards second or third generation funds for both adaptation and
mitigation. It is to be hoped that the same old template will not be automatically
relied upon, but rather that new and innovative gender-sensitive templates are
created. Undeniably, the period leading up to Copenhagen, as well as the
COP-15 deliberations themselves, provide a window of opportunity for building
in processes, mechanisms and procedures that are gender-sensitive and which
will work to the advantage of women’s economic and social empowerment.
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With regard to climate change and its financing, the task is to ensure
that the concerns and priorities of women, especially poor women, move to
centre stage of the financing agenda. Women’s, especially poor women’s,
priorities and concerns should be key items on the COP-15 agenda.
The way forward in engendering climate change financing
It is therefore important in the interim period to aggressively push a
platform that seeks to address public-finance and private-sector financing issues
in the context of gender equality objectives. This will lead to a cohesive shortterm
and long-term policy and activist agenda based around at least six key
elements:
Module 7