Vera P. Weill-Halle, Chairperson of the WOCAN Board, attended UNFCCC COP 18 conference in Doha, Qatar Nov 26-Dec 7, 2012. Vera attended various events, here are some highlights. Please download the report for more detail.
Vera reported on the events held during the ‘Gender day’ on Nov 27, such as the launch of a new publication ‘Women Adapt to Climate Change’, written by the former President of COP17, and the current Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa; and also the side events ‘Gender and Climate Innovation: Breakthrough Changes for Gender Equality,’ and ‘Gender and Climate: Moving beyond the Rhetoric.’ Vera reported that the focus of women’s network and gender coalitions on improving gender balance and the participation of women in the UNFCCC process is very successful on putting Gender firmly on the Agenda of the UNFCCC. She emphasized that WOCAN should explore how it could contribute in the future workshops on capacity building and gender trainings at UNFCCC.
Vera also reported on the events organized during The Forest and Agriculture Day, 30 Nov and 1 Dec. Vera explains the introduction of the new emphasis on the “landscape approach”,a more multi-sector approach to sustainable forest management. The new message is: ‘only when water, agriculture, mining, and other relevant sectors and industries are brought to the same table’ there will be a chance of stemming the drivers of deforestation. To remain within the silo of forestry will ultimately curtail the sustainable management of forests.
On the other hand she highlights that agriculture did not fare as well at COP 18. Farmers, researchers and policy makers were disappointed with the lack of progress achieved in including agriculture in the U.N. climate talks. She explains that a ‘very delicate balance’ between adaptation and mitigation measures in agriculture has to be reached between developed and developing countries. Robert Carlson, president of the World Farmers’ Organization, said sustainable agriculture actually requires few trade-offs between climate change adaptation and mitigation.
There are also excellent summary reports from other organization, who are part of WOCAN network:
GGCA: http://gender-climate.org/Events/UNFCCC-COP18-in-Doha-Qatar-Results.php
CIFOR: http://blog.cifor.org/11958/forest-day-time-to-move-on/#.UNkWu-RwqyI
RECOFTC: http://recoftc.wordpress.com/2012/12/04/are-landscapes-the-new-forests/
IISD: http://www.iisd.ca/climate/cop18/enbots/27nov.html#event4
New resources:
WEDO Report on Women’s Participation in the UNFCCC https://www.wocan.org/resources/wedo-report-women%E2%80%99s-participation-unfccc
DRAFT Decision: Promoting gender equality by improving the participation of women in UNFCCC negotiations and in the representation of Parties in bodies established pursuant to the Convention or the Kyoto Protocolhttps://wocan.org/resources/draft-decision-promoting-gender-equality-improving-participation-women-unfccc-negotiations