GI-ESCR 206d ago

On 12 November, we participated in a side event organised by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), alongside ECLAC, ILO, IOM, UNDP, UNEP, UNEP-FI, UNFPA, UN Women and WHO, focused on aligning COP30 outcomes with States’ human rights obligations. Our Programme Officer on Climate and Environmental Justice, Maggie Rochi, spoke as a representative of the Women and Gender Constituency on ensuring gender-responsive approaches to just transition. The intervention highlighted how the climate emergency disproportionately impacts women, particularly Indigenous women, women of colour, and women in the Global South, and emphasised that just transitions require a fundamental transformation of energy systems, not merely a technical shift between energy sources. Maggie stressed that just transitions must be understood holistically, encompassing both mitigation and adaptation while addressing the structural conditions of gender inequality, and called for the establishment of a robust Belem Action Mechanism capable of guiding countries toward sustainable societies that prioritise the well-being of people and planet, ensuring a rapid and equitable phase-out of fossil fuels without leaving anyone behind.