Abstract Book of the 5th World Conference on Climate Change and Global Warming
Year: 2025
DOI:
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Women and Climate Change – Can International Law Sufficiently Protect Women?
Raya Raijaleena Brink
ABSTRACT:
Climate change comes with extreme weather conditions, and floods or droughts are especially detrimental to women in developing countries. Climate change induces climate refugees, and for women, the transit can lead to sexual violence. Thus, this paper aims to discover whether the International Climate Change Law can protect women in developing countries.
Accordingly, important is, to what extent protection is possible thanks to the current legal frameworks. As a result, some enhancements will be suggested.
This research employs a doctrinal legal research method of analysing legal texts and literature with a qualitative and critical approach. The analysis is coupled with interdisciplinary features. The pure climate change sources are e.g. the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the UNFCCC Decisions, the Paris Agreement, and other COP decisions. The different Funds for adapting and mitigating climate change are equally essential.
The analysis shows that women are mostly absent from climate change science. Equally, the legal protection can be insufficient due to the absence of binding provisions for women. An exception to this is Decision 23/CP.18 of the UNFCCC, entailing profound Decisions for women. Otherwise, the language is vague, referring to gender equality and women´s empowerment without concrete definitions. The quotas for women in climate actions are also absent, thus the Funds carry an even more essential role. Correcting the language to mean precisely women would go a long way. A simultaneous implementation of CEDAW with the Paris Agreement would also benefit women greatly. Equally important is to direct climate funding to women, not gender.
keywords: Women in developing countries, International Climate Change Law, evaluation of its proficiency, suggestions to improve