This year, the 66th Commission on the Status of Women will review climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programs. Indeed, climate and environmental crises exacerbate gender inequality and pose some of the greatest threats to sustainable development of our time. As the world shifts from recognition to policy implementation, the time to act in service of gender-environment data is now.
The 66th Commission on the Status of Women: An Opportunity for Action
The annual Secretary General’s report on the priority theme reveals the wide-ranging gendered impacts of climate change, disasters and recent environmental trends. Addressing any of the challenges noted by the Secretary General—and successfully implementing any of the draft agreed conclusions—will require dedicated focus and investment in gender data, both to develop a baseline and deliver progress. This is especially true of the gender-environment nexus, where challenges in generating robust data have led to persistent gaps in knowledge that will hamper movement from zero draft rhetoric to action. Building a stronger normative framework to measure the gender-environment nexus will require concerted action, and the Commission on the Status of Women is well-poised to elevate calls for investment and innovation.
See our recommendations for the 66th Commission on the Status of Women.