UN Climate Change News, 02 November 2023 - UN Climate Change has strengthened its Code of Conduct for all participants at its events, with the aim of ensuring a safe and inclusive environment for all, including at the upcoming COP28 Conference in Dubai. The enhanced Code of Conduct reinforces the zero-tolerance policy on all forms of harassment, including sexual harassment, and elaborates actions to be taken in cases of misconduct. Its roll-out will be accompanied by training and awareness-raising initiatives for event participants.
"We recognize the utmost importance of ensuring climate change conferences are inclusive, respectful and safe for everyone. We continue to work together with Parties, observers, and the Presidency to strengthen institutional capacity to both prevent and respond to any incidents and trends that would negatively impact participants' and staff's sense of safety and belonging," said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell.
An internal task force was established in June 2023 to review the UN Climate Change Code of Conduct for events and to develop additional guidance on the prevention and reporting of misconduct and the implementation of training initiatives.
UN Climate Change and the COP 28 Presidency concur that equal and meaningful participation in events can only take place in a safe and inclusive working environment, and are committed to driving positive change in this regard.
Boosting women's participation in climate change decision-making
According to the most recent Gender Composition Report released by UN Climate Change, the underrepresentation of women in the climate decision-making process persists.
The report is published annually to help countries that are part of the UN climate change process to track progress towards the goal of gender balance in advancing gender-sensitive climate policy, established in the Enhanced Lima work programme on gender and its gender action plan.
In a welcome development, this year's Bonn Conference on Climate Change saw gender balance among Party delegates for the first time, achieving 50 per cent representation of women and men. However, the Conferences of the Parties (COP) have historically shown higher male overrepresentation in the composition of Party delegations than the mid-year conference in Bonn. For example, the representation of men in Party delegations stood at around 63 per cent for COP26 and COP27, illustrating a persistent gender gap in representation.
This year's report also includes an analysis of the gender distribution of the beneficiaries of the Trust Fund for Participation in the UN Climate Change Conferences. This fund is a key tool to facilitate the participation of under-represented groups at these conferences, including women. In 2022, the Participation Trust Fund provided funding to 353 designated delegates from developing countries, of which only 131 (just over one-third) were women.
The 2023 Gender Composition report further includes a comprehensive list of the activities implemented by UN Climate Change to promote gender balance and gender-responsive climate action.
Gender and climate action at COP28
Numerous events on gender and climate action will take place as part of COP28 in Dubai. These include the Conference on Gender and Environment Data, a workshop on gender-just transition jointly organized by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UN Climate Change, among others. In addition, COP28 will have a thematic day dedicated to gender and climate change, including a high-level event and a dialogue on financing a just transition, as well as several events to be held in the Impact and Empowerment Lab.
Learn more in a virtual information session on gender at COP28 organized by UN Climate Change on Friday, 10 November, 14:00 CET. Information on all events and relevant reports can be found on the UN Climate Change gender webpages.
