{"id":12607,"date":"2024-09-20T09:22:55","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T07:22:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.prif.org\/un-summit-of-the-future-why-the-climate-gender-conflict-nexus-would-be-a-game-changer\/"},"modified":"2024-09-20T09:22:55","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T07:22:55","slug":"un-summit-of-the-future-why-the-climate-gender-conflict-nexus-would-be-a-game-changer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.prif.org\/en\/2024\/09\/20\/un-summit-of-the-future-why-the-climate-gender-conflict-nexus-would-be-a-game-changer\/","title":{"rendered":"UN Summit of the Future: Why the Climate-Gender-Conflict Nexus Would Be a Game Changer"},"content":{"rendered":"

World leaders and international civil society will gather in New York on 22-23 September 2024 for the <\/strong>UN Summit of the Future<\/strong><\/a>. The Summit is an event where world leaders meet and address current international issues and challenges to find consensus on how to create a better and safer present and future. This blog article takes issue with how the climate-gender-conflict nexus is (not) discussed in the lead-up to the summit. Reviewing the summit documents, I argue that the (draft) Pact for the Future<\/em> treats gender justice, climate crisis, and conflict as separate silos of challenges, overlooking their interconnectedness. Instead, I emphasize the need for the Summit of the Future to take the climate-gender-conflict nexus seriously, recognizing the climate crisis as a risk multiplier that exacerbates gender inequalities and conflict dynamics.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Preparing the UN Summit of the Future<\/h2>\n

The UN Summit<\/a> of the Future, taking place in New York on September 22 \u00ad 23, aims to develop concrete action<\/a>s to respond to persistent global challenges and to work towards agreed on goals, such as the Sustainable Development Goals<\/a> or the New Agenda for Peace<\/a>. There will be an action-oriented outcome document, namely the Pact for the Future<\/em>, which is currently being negotiated by countries in the lead up to and during the Summit. As of now, the Pact for the Future includes, among other things, a renewed commitment to the UN Charter, a call for the restoration of multilateralism, and a push for the implementation of existing commitments. As the Summit of the Future seeks multistakeholder participation<\/a> to rebuild trust in global governance structures, it has encouraged member states to invite a wide range of international civil society to contribute to the Pact for the Future<\/em> through accompanying policy briefs. Representatives of non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations (especially youth organizations), academic institutions, and the private sector provided inputs to the Pact for the Future<\/em> and are also scheduled to take part in interactive dialogue events at the side of UN Summit.<\/p>\n

Why Focus on the Climate-Gender-Conflict Nexus?<\/h2>\n

Conflicts and climate change do not affect everyone equally. Climate change can exacerbate conflicts and, vice versa, conflicts can increase climate vulnerability. The escalation of (climate related) conflicts can therefore reinforce pre-existing vulnerabilities and patterns of gender-based discrimination. The interconnectedness of these different dimensions is fundamentally stressed by the term climate-gender-conflict nexus<\/a>. Even though climate change is not a direct cause of violent conflict, it can intensify them and reinforce drivers of armed conflicts<\/a> such as poverty, inequalities and economic shocks. Therefore, climate change must be seen as a stress factor and risk multiplier<\/a> for existing conflict-prone situations whereby climate change threats to peace are very unevenly distributed across different world regions.<\/p>\n

Moreover, particularly the living conditions of groups suffering from social, economic and political inequalities are disproportionately vulnerable to the hazards of climate change. Since gender<\/a> overlaps with axes of social difference, women from marginalized cultural, political, ethnic, or economic groups face the most challenges and climate change impacts. Gender focuses on the differences and multiplicities of identities and especially in the Global South it is often a decisive factor in assessing a person\u2019s risk level for climate shocks as well as for access to resources and options to react. Gender has multiple linkages to vulnerability and agency related to climate change and can exacerbate vulnerability to climate change because gender-related social norms, structures, processes and relations of power have an influence on the distribution of the impacts of climate change and adaption opportunities.<\/p>\n

One example of how the climate crisis and conflict reinforce gender inequalities is food insecurity. As women are often forced into specific gender roles<\/a> around the world and are mostly responsible for subsistence agriculture and water collection for the household, they suffer disproportionately when climate change affects water availability and agricultural yields. They face the burden of additional work as they struggle to find alternative sources of food, water and income as well as caring for the sick. However, climate-related threats to human security not only increase the burden on women, but also aggravate existing gender inequalities, as women in many cultures and regions of the world are often already seen as less deserving of food, mobility and access to health services. Moreover, women\u2019s greater vulnerability to food insecurity<\/a> is often linked to gender-based violence, as risks of gender-based violence and inequality reduce women\u2019s and girls\u2019 access to food while, at the same time, food insecurity and gender inequality increase women\u2019s and girls\u2019 risks of gender-based violence.<\/p>\n

In sum, while climate change can exacerbate conflicts, for example by increasing food and livelihood insecurity, conflicts can equally intensify environmental degradation and increase vulnerability to climate change. This interrelationship is shaped by factors such as gender which intersects with climate change impacts and security but often remains unaddressed<\/a> in climate action. As the impact of climate change and environmental conflicts is gendered<\/a>, any approach to transformative solutions to gender inequality, climate insecurity and environmental conflicts must have affected groups at the center, especially those in fragile and conflict affected contexts who are most vulnerable to impacts of climate change.<\/p>\n

How is the Climate-Gender-Conflict Nexus (not) Addressed in the UN Pact for the Future?<\/h2>\n

The Pact for the Future<\/em><\/a> is organized in five main chapters, namely<\/p>\n