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Climate change is a matter of “justice and equality” - Nancy Pelosi, US Speaker of the House

COP: Day 9 update

On Day 9 of the COP 26 summit, the focus has been on putting gender at the forefront of the conversation with key countries and organisations settling out gender and climate commitments. The UK for example has committed £165 million in funding to address the dual challenges of gender inequality and climate change. 


Throughout the day, speakers addressed the impact of climate change on women. Speakers such as Nicola Sturgeon and Nancy Pelosi have highlighted how women and girls are often disproportionately affected by climate change, while first-hand accounts from organisations on the ground have highlighted how gender-based violence increases due to climate-change induced disasters. For example, Sandra Bernklau, UN Women Fiji Representative pointed to the connection shown between a tropical cyclone and a significant uptick in calls to the national domestic violence helpline. 


Other countries’ gender and climate commitments includes:
•    The USA have dedicated new funding for gender-responsive climate programming, including $14m of the Gender Equity and Equality Action Fund, and $3m investment to support women farmers in East Africa
•    Germany have announced a new Gender strategy as part of its International Climate Initiative aimed at promoting gender-transformative approaches in international climate and biodiversity cooperation
•    Canada has committed to ensuring that 80% of its $5.3bn climate investments target gender equality outcomes


In addition to a focus on gender, Day 9 has also focused on Science and Innovation, with calls for international cooperation to help meet the goals set in the Paris Agreement. 


To tie in with the focus on Science and Innovation, the Climate Action Tracker have published its calculations, finding that the world is heading for 2.4C of warming- much higher than the 1.5C target many nations have committed to. 


This analysis has been met with strong reaction from across the board from environment group Greenpeace calling the report ‘devastating’, to Alok Sharma, President of COP26, saying that progress hasn’t been ‘good enough’. 


Many groups have called on international cooperation to bring the level of warming down, and today the governments of 22 countries and the European Commission have confirmed they will work together to invest in clean energy technologies. This is part of Mission Innovation which brings together governments from every continent, international organisations and private investors to tackle this issue. There will be four key ‘missions’- helping to facilitate urban transitions, eliminate emissions from industry, enable CO2 removal and produce renewable fuels.