Imbalance of power: Women at international climate negotiations

Women’s representation at UN climate conferences has barely improved in 30 years, particularly women from South Asia

 (Image: COP29)

As the 29th UN climate conference opens in Baku, Azerbaijan on Nov. 11, one thing remains the same: men will occupy most seats at the climate talks. Much has changed since the UN’s first Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1995. But the proportion of women representatives has remained stalled, at about a third of participants.

According to data from the Women’s Environment and Development Organization, women represented only 34% of party delegates and 19% of heads of delegation at COP28 last year. In comparison, 16 years ago at COP14, women comprised 31% of party delegates. This minimal progress is despite increasing calls for gender mainstreaming in climate action.

Why are women delegates missing at COPs?

In January this year, the organising committee for COP29 appointed 28 men and no women. After facing significant criticism, 12 women were added (and one more man). She Changes Climate, an organisation founded in 2020 that advocates for equal gender representation at climate negotiations, called the initial decision “a regressive step”. It asked for equal representation in the committee: “Climate change affects the whole world, not half of it.”