COP27: It's Time to Put Youth in The Driver's Seat

From 6-18 November, the world will come together, this time in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, to tackle one of the most pressing global issues of our time: climate change. Though the devastating consequences of our warming planet affect us all, the damage caused by climate change is far from equal. To deliver better outcomes where they’re needed most, decision-makers at the 27th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) must listen to the girls, women, and marginalized communities who have contributed the least to global warming yet continue to bear the dire consequences of inaction.

This year, throughout COP27, we’re honored and excited to support and center the work and expertise of several Women Deliver Young Leaders. We're also joining our partners, including those who make up the SRHR and Climate Justice (SRHR & CJ) Coalition and the Women & Gender Constituency, to shine light on the issues that impact the people and communities most affected by systemic inequalities and that must urgently be prioritized to advance climate justice for all, including:

CLIMATE CHANGE AND HEALTH: When supply chains and health facilities are destabilized by climate-related extreme weather events, progress toward universal health coverage (UHC) is jeopardized, with direct and immediate impacts on human health: disruptions to health systems make accessing essential medicines and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services difficult, and in some cases, impossible. In the longer-term, changing disease patterns worsen maternal and child health outcomes, threatening the health of people who give birth and their children. The impacts of climate change also extend to social and environmental determinants of health, including food systems and water, sanitation, and hygiene. For example, in times of drought, girls and women (who often carry out the majority of caretaking responsibilities within families) walk further — hours further — to collect water. These long walks also leave girls and women more vulnerable to sexual violence.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS (SRHR): Realizing SRHR is foundational to achieving UHC and can reduce the impacts of climate change, including on the most vulnerable. Achieving climate justice rests on building resilient health systems that safeguard equitable access to quality SRH services, including contraceptives, emergency contraception, safe abortion services, treatment and testing for HIV and other STIs, maternal and child care, counselling, and psychosocial support. When health systems and SRHR are strong enough to withstand the impacts of climate change, people, including the girls, women, and marginalized communities on the frontlines of climate-related disasters, are better able to manage risks, adapt to shocks, and drive innovative solutions.

Advancing climate justice at COP27 and beyond will depend on our ability to break down silos and collaborate across health, climate, and gender equality sectors to implement solutions that ensure climate action works hand in hand with UHC, SRHR, and gender equality. In doing this, the perspectives, rights, and views of those who are closest to and living the far-reaching, intersecting impacts of climate change must be centered in our every action.

We hope you’ll join us in advocating for climate justice by exploring the thought piece and key resources below, including the SRHR & CJ Coalition's recommendations on how to integrate SRHR into the implementation of the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan.

Opinion: To Achieve Lasting Progress on Gender Equality, We Must Put Young People in the Driver’s Seat

Success in advancing gender equality goes far beyond engaging young people in select initiatives. Success rests on putting young people, and particularly those most impacted by a program or policy, in the driver’s seat of all aspects of programming and decision-making.

➔ Click here to read our latest op-ed and to learn more about about how young people will pave the way toward realizing gender equality, SRHR, and climate action at COP27 and other upcoming global convenings.

Key Resources to Take Action

Integrating Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights into the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan

These recommendations, developed by the SRHR & Climate Justice Coalition, provide a list of actions for decision-makers to take in order to integrate SRHR best practices across each of the 18 activities listed within the UNFCCC's Gender Action Plan to support gender-responsive climate action.

➔ Read the recommendations

African Women's & Girls' Demands for COP27

These demands, drafted by the African Feminist Taskforce ahead of COP27, outline 27 actions that the global community must take to advance climate justice in all five regions of the continent. Among the demands include a call for the inclusion of women and young people in national and UNFCCC decision-making processes.

➔ Read the demands
➔ Share key demands on social media

Gender Equality, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, and Climate Change Are Linked

These reports by Women Deliver and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) are designed to be used by decision-makers and advocates to better understand the linkages between climate change, gender, and SRHR and to align efforts to design and implement gender-just policies, programs, and national plans to address climate change.

➔ Learn more in the Evidence Review
➔ Read "SRHR in NAP Processes "
➔ Check out the i nteractive website

Climate Justice and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

This issue brief, first published ahead of COP26 by the Women & Gender Constituency and the SRHR and Climate Justice Coalition underscores why climate change, gender equality, and SRHR are linked, and reinforces why SRHR must be considered a key component of climate adaptation, resilience action, and climate justice.

➔ Explore the issue brief

Advancing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights for Climate Adaptation and Resilience

This infographic, developed by the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, FP2030, the UNFCCC Gender Secretariat, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and Women Deliver, outlines why climate justice is only possible when SRHR are fully realized, and what can be done to implement a rights-based and intersectional approach to SRHR as part of climate change adaptation measures.

➔ Check out the i nfographic in English, French, or Spanish

New WD2023 Regional Convening Partner

Women Deliver is thrilled to welcome the Victorian Government, in partnership with the Commonwealth of Australia, as a new WD2023 Regional Convening Partner representing the Pacific region, alongside existing WD2023 Regional Convening Partners representing Latin America and the Caribbean, Southern Africa, Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa.

Pacific region Host Committee Chair: The Honorable Natalie Hutchins MP, Minister for Women.

WD2023 Regional Convening Partners will mobilize and convene advocates within their region to advance conversations around gender equality before, during, and after the Conference as part of WD2023’s expanded Global Dialogue, which will take place in the six-months leading up to the Conference.

Click here or visit WD2023.org to learn more >>

Photo captions:

1. From left to right: Women Deliver Young Leaders from the Class of 2020 Karin Watson Ferrer (she/her/hers) and Amr Hassan (he/him/his). Both Karin and Amr will participate in COP27, including by speaking on panels, and ensuring that the voices of young people are heard – and listened to – during conversations on gender equality and climate change.

2. Women Deliver Young Leader from the Class of 2020 and Small Grantee Lilian Sospeter (she/her/hers). Lilian’s advocacy work focuses on SRHR, and more specifically, social and behavior change within her community.