CHAPTER 4: AN AGENDA FOR TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE


Key conclusions The scarcity of gender-disaggregated data


Environment-related gender-disaggregated data are crucial for gender-and-environment analysis. In all the domains covered by the GGEO, however, gender- disaggregated data are scarce or entirely absent; where available, they are typically fragmented and incomplete, making regional or cross-national comparisons impossible. In some domains, such as the water sector, progress in collecting gender-disaggregated data at the global scale has been reversed. In the absence of gender- disaggregated information, including data, indicators and other information, environmental analyses will be inadequate and partial while establishing realistic baselines, monitoring progress and assessing outcomes will be impossible.


The gender and environment dimension of sustainable development


Unsustainable development activities not only have negative impacts on the environment (including terrestrial and marine ecosystems), but they also create unequal pressures and health consequences for women and men, girls and boys, and vulnerable groups to which they may belong in both developing and developed countries.


Gender boundaries are reflected and defined in economic and productive sectors including energy, fisheries, forestry and livestock production. Activities whose purpose is to end environmentally destructive practices need to be supported by widespread changes in notions about appropriate gender roles.


Narrowing gender gaps in agriculture, water and sanitation, education, research and other areas would increase society’s productivity and reduce poverty and hunger appreciably (Figure 4.1).


Consumption patterns are highly gender-differentiated. Reducing


the environmental impact of the over-


consumption of commodities including cars, cosmetics, meat and plastic products will require shifts in gender- based societal norms that determine the types of consumption and behaviours that are considered acceptable, appropriate or desirable for women and men.


Basic questions about gender and environment cannot be adequately addressed using conventional units of analysis such as “the household” or “the family”. Women and men experience “the household” differently and have different authority, resources and control relationships within it.


Women and men play different roles in maintaining livelihoods and well-being


at agents of change the household and


community levels. Understanding their roles as potential


at these levels can


indicate pathways to equal opportunities and equal participation in decision-making, which in turn will help ensure more efficient and sustainable natural resources management as well as waste reduction.


Equitable gender and environment policies for the future we want


Until recently, the importance of the gender-and- environment nexus was scarcely recognized. Today there is growing acknowledgement, including in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), that gender and environment are interlinked.


While the importance of the gender-and-environment nexus is increasingly accepted in, for example, international


agreements and national


documents, implementation and follow-through are still largely absent.


A more transformative agenda would call for gender equality as a driver of change, leading to more people- smart environmental policies.


Existing environmental and gender commitments by governments need to be followed up and effectively implemented. Governments have made commitments to gender equality in a number of multilateral environmental agreements and policies, notably the 2030 Agenda and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). To implement those commitments, ensuring gender equality must be understood as more than just counting the number of women participating in a meeting. Real progress is needed at the country level, starting with the integration of gender into national action plans, monitoring and reporting systems, prioritization of the collection and analysis of gender-disaggregated data, and gender budgeting.


policy


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