Gender and Climate Change At The UNFCCC

On behalf of the Gender and Disaster Network (GDN), I'm attending the current United Nations Framework Convention on Climate meeting with GenderCC (https://owa.northumbria.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.gendercc.net/) in Bonn, Germany. This meeting represents one of the most crucial meetings before the Conference of Parties (COPs) - 15 in Copenhagen, Denmark in December 2009, where new commitments for mitigation and more promising strategies for adaptation will be made.

It seems that finally the efforts of civil society groups at the international and local levels have paid off. Within the Negotiating Text for Long-term Cooperative Action (LCA)( http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2009/awglca6/eng/08.pdf) of the UNFCCC, a fair amount of attention has been devoted to disaster risk reduction under adaptation. It talks about mainstreaming adaptation into development, disaster risk reduction and poverty alleviation strategies, tools and policies. Interestingly adaptation will be supporting country-driven projects and programs assessing, managing, and reducing the risks of climate induced disasters. In this whole process, the Hyogo Framework of Action (HFA) will be used as a guiding principle.

This time the text also explicitly talks about vulnerable populations especially women and children, elderly and indigenous people while touching on the importance of a gendered perspective. This vulnerable group of people will be provided support in order to address their adaptation concerns and enhance their resilience.

It's interesting to see that sometimes, international commitments or agreements say all the right things but the essence is