The Knowledge Gateway for Women's Economic Empowerment has launched an e-discussion on "Women and the Environment". The discussion is co-hosted by SEED Initiative, UNEP, UNIDO and UN Women and will be open from 10 to 24 June 2014. It will inform UN Women’s preparatory work as well as civil society and intergovernmental discussions leading up to the Beijing+20 commemoration in 2015.
Women play a critical part in environmental management and sustainable development. This was recognized 20 years ago as "Women and the environment" was set as one of the 12 critical areas of concern of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted by world leaders at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. Over the past 20 years, numerous environmental agreements, laws, policies and reporting instruments have been implemented to further this agenda. However, much more needs to be done to realize the goal of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in this area.
Beijing+20 affords us the opportunity to push for the integration of women's concerns and perspectives in environmental policies and programmes, and renewed interest to assess the impacts of development and environmental policies on women. The Beijing+20 review takes place at a strategic moment when the global community is intensifying efforts towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, and working towards a post-2015 development agenda and Sustainable Development Goals. It provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to position gender equality and women's empowerment front and center in these discussions.
The e-discussion consists of five separate discussion threads: 1) Women entrepreneurs and workers in green economies; 2) Impact of climate change, environmental degradation and natural disasters on women’s livelihoods; 3) Women in green industries: promoting clean technologies and eco-innovation for sustainable development; 4) Women farmers and food and nutrition security; 5) Women’s roles in sustainable patterns of production and consumption.
The objectives of the discussion are:
- Create awareness and bring attention to emerging issues and opportunities for women and the environment.
- Document good practices and innovative initiatives on advancing participation of women in sustainable development and the green economy.
- Encourage contributions from participants on new approaches and perspectives to make environmental policies and programmes more responsive to women’s needs.
- Develop recommendations on policies,laws, regulations, and public-private partnerships that promote greater women’s participation in sustainable development.
- Seek to actively engage and get inputs from diverse stakeholders, in particular youth and the private sector, at global, regional and national levels.
- Feed relevant inputs, suggestions and recommendations into the Beijing+20 discussions and the EmpowerWomen.org Online Summit on Women’s Economic Empowerment in late 2014.
To join the discussion, please visit: https://www.empowerwomen.org/en/community/discussions?page=187
Photo credit: Flickr, World Bank Photo Collection