Women Climate Activists Urge Government to Prioritize Gender-Inclusive Climate Projects

LEAVING NO ONE BEHIND

Climate activists in Uganda have appealed to the government to prioritise women-led climate change projects in the next Gender Action Plan arguing that many women are being left on the sidelines yet they are the most affected by climate shocks.

Beatrice Rukanyanga, an eco-feminist and founder of Kwataniza Women’s Farmer Group in Hoima City, said focusing on women, especially those in rural communities, would greatly uplift the well-being of their families and also reduce conflicts over natural resources  and  also reduce respiratory health complications due harmful toxic  gasses from burning biofuel.

“There are many clean energy saving projects that can make a big impact because they cheap and eco-friendly since women are always taking care of their home – like  preparing food for their children which requires burning wood fuel as a source of energy,” said Rukanyanga who trains rural women on how to make eco stoves and briquettes from agricultural residue. “There are also projects like planting of indigenous trees along the land which can act as boundaries that reduce  land conflicts and also improve the micro climate of our communities”.

Janepher Baitwamasa, an anti-fossil fuel activist and coordinator at the non-profit Navigators for Development (NAVODA), urged the government to subsidize all  on alternative clean energy sources of energy to ensure that women transition easily since most of them are the primary care-givers of their families as they battle climate shocks.

“Laws and ordnance should be put in place and administered in local languages so that everyone is informed on the dangers of climate change,” she said. “This can help avert practices like bush burning that enhance climate change and  hinder people’s livelihood like farming”.

The women activists were responding to the recent remarks made by Wilfred Masiko, gender and climate change focal point for Uganda and negotiator on behalf of developing nations, at the COP28 who said Uganda’s Gender Action Plan had failed to meet all its targets in advocating for women affected by climate change effects due to financial constraints.

“There is no text this time around that is addressing gender and climate change and yet is a cross-cutting issue. We are keenly following  the energy transition and loss and damage to ensue that they  all gender responsive in all the negotiation streams,” she said

“We have increased advocacy around gender but some activities were supposed to cascade down to the grassroots but that didn’t happen because we didn’t receive specific funding to implement the Gender Action Plan – and poor countries have not been able to do their activities,” she adding that next year they will push to ensure that the new Gender Action Plan secure  a financial “component showing us so that they can cascade down to the grass roots”.

Uganda’s Prime Minister, Robinah Nabanjja, revealed that government intends to subsidize all energy saving projects as part of Uganda’s energy transition plan, adding that  universal access to clean will be possible when Uganda starts generating revenue from exporting crude oil in 2025.

“We will have enough revenue for renewable energy,” she said. But “for now we will rely on domestic revenue to ensure that every Uganda is able to access clean energy in the best way possible”.

Abed Bwanika, Uganda’s negotiator and Member of parliament for Kimanya-Kabonera constituency, noted that Uganda intends to meet officials at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a body in charge of the overall control of climate change impacts,  to  review next Gender Action Plan before the  C0P29 .

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), 1.2 billion jobs, representing 40 percent of the global labor force, are at risk due to global warming and environmental degradation and women are expected to be most severely affected due to their high representation in sectors particularly susceptible to climate change.

During COP28, Gender Equality Day, ministers and senior officials convened in a series of discussions, led by UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP28 Razan Al Mubarak, to ensure a gender-responsive just transition to support the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

The dialogue culminated in the announcement of a new COP28 Gender- Responsive Just Transitions & Climate Action Partnership from the COP28 Presidency, which was endorsed by over 60 Parties. The Partnership included a package of commitments, including actions on data, finance, and equal opportunities. Implementation will be reviewed at a second convening during COP31.

“The rights of women and girls must be at the center of climate action, including here at COP28. We must ensure that women have a seat at the decision-making table. We must strengthen inclusive decision-making so that the voices of feminists, youth, indigenous and other grassroots movements can be heard loud and clear from the local to the global level,” UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous said.

This story was produced with assistance from MESHA and IDRC Eastern and Southern Africa Office for science journalists reporting on COP28.

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