The UN-REDD Programme organized an online dialogue on “Fostering Change: How to improve gender considerations within the VCM,” which aimed to share awareness, build capacity and identify options to enhance gender mainstreaming within the VCM. Leticia Guimaraes, the UNDP Senior Global Technical Advisor on Carbon Markets, opened the event, highlighting some key benefits and critical gaps of integrating gender within the VCM and stressing the need to ensure that gender is not sidelined in the VCM.
Sue Phillips, WOCAN Board member and CEO of Gender Tech Enterprises, provided a brief overview of the business case for mainstreaming gender into the VCM, as well as information on the current state of gender integration into the VCM, including a brief summary of gender gaps.
Jeannette was one of the panelists and highlighted how the W+ Standard helps to fill gender gaps in programming, incentivizing project developers to focus on women’s empowerment while ensuring financial resources generated from such efforts are also returned to women at the local level. She spoke to the continued need to raise awareness around the fact that it is possible to measure women’s empowerment, while at the same time generating credits that have a tradable asset.
Other panelists were Claire Willers, Senior Manager for Market Relations from the Gold Standard and Anna Mortimer, Senior Program Officer with Verra.
This two-hour online event had representatives from governments, international NGOs, UN agencies, women’s organizations and carbon standards, intermediaries and project developers, among others. The dialogue’s key messages were informed by a complimentary UN-REDD online knowledge exchange and capacity building event on VCM with gender/women’s-focused organizations held in June, as well as by an e-discussion launched on UN-REDD’s Gender and VCM Community of Practice here in early October.
To engage in interactive discussions and conversations on and connect with gender and VCM stakeholders, you can join UN-REDD’s Gender and VCM Community of Practice here.