Newsletter - SDC Climate Change & Environment Network

- Newsletter March 2016 - n°22

Taking off for new communication horizons in the aftermath of the 2015 new global agreements
2015 was an ‘anno mirabilis’ for the multilateral development cooperation world, with a new framework on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) agreed in Sendai in March, the new Agenda 2030 with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) presented to the world in New York in September, and finally the successful UNFCCC negotiations in France in December leading to the ‘Paris Agreement’ on climate action in the 2020-30 period.
In light of these global reference frameworks and in view of the Message to the Swiss Parliament to fund Swiss Development Cooperation for 2017-20, we, the Global Programme Climate Change (GPCC) and the Climate Change and Environment (CC&E) Network of SDC, want to intensify our communication efforts and refresh our tools. A first effort led us to redesign the CC&E Newsletter, beginning with this edition.
We hope you find our new format attractive and the content relevant to your work. We welcome your feedback and suggestions and invite you to contribute to the content of the future editions of our increasingly popular newsletter.

Yuka Greiler & Anton Hilber, Co-Heads GPCC

Thematic focus: Gender, women's empowerment, and Climate Change

Climate Change has a female face. Why?
Climate change affects women and men in different ways due to their distinct roles in economy and society. Women constitute the majority of the world’s poor, and their livelihoods often depend more on natural resources, rending them more vulnerable to climate variability and change. In Africa, female farmers oftentimes possess only one third of the land that men possess. In many countries, women have no rights to own or inherit land. When floods and droughts as consequences of climate change destroy the already limited parcel, these female farmers are seriously challenged to ensure the provision of food for their families.

At the same time, women possess the skills and knowledge needed to tackle climate change. As women produce an estimated 60 to 80% of the food in developing countries [1], they are the repositories of traditional agricultural knowledge and practices such as seed diversity and managing agro biodiversity. Women’s contributions are therefore crucial when designing climate actions.

[1] Women in Agriculture, Closing the Gender Gap for Development, FAO, 2010 – 2011