“More than ever, women have to come together to decide on climate,” says businesswoman Luisa Trajano, president and one of the founders of the Women of Brazil group, which coordinated the creation of the Women’s Charter for the COP30 and which, on Friday (14), is promoting the Women’s COP in Belém.
“Women should be involved in climate decisions, firstly because they are greatly affected, because they take care of the children, and oftentimes, the husband goes and they stay. Secondly, because women have the ability to achieve things and are very resilient,” she added a few hours after her arrival in the capital, Pará.
Women and girls suffer disproportionate impacts from extreme weather events, especially Black women, indigenous women, oceanic women, riparian women, and quilombola women. At the same time, women’s representation in climate decision-making is low.
These two factors prompted the group to create the parallel event that will bring together local and national women leaders to discuss a just climate transition that takes gender issues into account.
“We need to raise awareness that women are most affected by climate change,” says Andrea Schröder, Director of Public Policy and Corporate Relations at Grupo Mulheres do Brasil.
Leaders attending the event included indigenous environmental activists Vanda Witoto and Jennifer Bransford, CEOs, and representatives of funds, NGOs, associations and local organizations. Ministers Marcia Lopez (Women), Marina Silva (Environment) and Margaret Menezes (Culture) also confirmed their presence at the opening table, in addition to the Deputy Governor of Pará, Hanaa Ghassan (Development Bank of Malaysia).
The Women’s COP is an offshoot of the COP30 Women’s Charter, a collectively created and non-partisan document designed to be a tool for political influence on gender equality on climate-related issues.
The document was born from the COP30 Women’s Caucus meeting, which brought together organizations, political representatives and women’s groups from all regions of Brazil in Brasilia in October this year. From there, the consultation was conducted through women’s networks in all states of the country and 190 contributions were collected from organizations and individuals.
“It is a very democratic document, in which 190 communities participated to clarify what is most important for women to take better care of the climate and nature,” Trajano explains. “The letter nicely sums up the cry of the women’s community.”
The document presents seven axes of proposals ranging from climate financing with a gender perspective and building women’s full participation in climate decisions, including education for climate resilience and innovation in the green economy based on the experiences of women in the most affected areas and human rights.
“Women are disseminating the COP30 Women’s Charter in the Blue Zone and the Green Zone,” says Fabiana Perrone, the group’s director of partnerships. “We have handed it over to the ministers and other authorities we have met. We want it to reach the legislative, executive and judicial authorities,” she adds, who claims she was excited about the presence of women at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30).
The group expects Trajano to deliver a copy of the document to Minister Edson Facin, the current president of the Federal Supreme Court, who is also in Belém.
“Here at COP30 there is the handover movement, which is a symbolic movement. We want to build a political agenda so that the proposals made there, on actions and improvements, will bear fruit after the COP,” explains Perrone. “Women must be in these decision-making places for these agendas to come to fruition. After the COP, we will work on political advocacy in both municipalities, states and the federation.”
Groups such as Quero Você Eleita, Instituto AzMina, Elas Pedem Vista, and others participated in the document.
Elas No Poder, Rede Governança Brasil, Grupo Ser Educacional, Instituto Global ESG and Instituto Latino-Americano de Governança e Compliance Pública.
“Putting women at the center of decision-making and climate action, establishing the link between climate justice and gender equality,” defines Alexandra Segantin, CEO of the group. “One of our strategic positions is for more women to exercise their power in decision-making areas, both in public and private companies.”
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