Advancing gender-responsive synergies across the Rio conventions: Gender equality at the intersection of climate action, biodiversity protection and sustainable land management

Despite decades of coordination initiatives, the implementation of the Rio conventions—the treaties designed to protect life on earth, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD), the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)—and their gender provisions and action plans remains largely siloed, reducing opportunities and generating inefficiencies that stretch government capacities and budgets. Existing coordination mechanisms fall short, and capacity is insufficient.

Parties to the Rio conventions, as well as their Secretariats and stakeholders at all levels, urgently need to overcome these silos through renewed attention to the interlinkages and collaboration on strategic approaches that build gender-responsive synergies across all processes—from meetings, to negotiations, to finance, to capacity development, implementation, monitoring, and reporting. Identifying and implementing synergies would not only advance the mutual goals of the Rio conventions but also increase efficiencies across policies, programming, and financing.   

This working paper highlights the urgency of addressing gender inequalities across the Rio conventions, provides examples of where progress has been made, and identifies thematic entry points for implementing gender equality considerations across the conventions. It makes recommendations for actions to accelerate the synergistic implementation of the gender provisions and action plans of the conventions.