How many beans?

Posted by Barbara on January 22, 2024 in Blog, climate change, feminism, Rants, Women's equality issues | 2 comments

‘Climate change affects the whole world, not half of it’.  Please forgive me for stating the obvious, but this was a comment made by a group called SHE Changes Climate.  Actually, you could be forgiven for wondering which side of the fence this group is on, but fear not. This is damesnet, and we can be trusted to back the feminist horse – or mare perhaps – whenever the topic turns to gender equality.

‘So just what prompted the comment in the first place?’ I hear you ask.  Well, as you know, the international meetings on climate change or Cops – never robbers – are hosted by a different country each time. The next meeting, COP29, will be held in Azerbaijan in December of this year.

There had already been a considerable amount of concern expressed by observers of this process that the gathering is once again being hosted by a petrostate heavily reliant on fossil fuel production.  Last year it was the United Arab Emirates, so the trend is not entirely encouraging.

However, something else caught the attention of women’s groups: the President of Azerbaijan had announced the names of the 28-strong committee that would organise the event and… you’ll never guess… it was all male! A few facts about this President, Ilham Aliyev: he has been in power since 2003 and is the son of Heydar Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan from 1993-2003.  Aliyev père was a Soviet KGB official, so clearly a mini dynasty with a commitment to equality, democracy, human rights and diversity, Or not, perhaps.

The announcement of the composition of the committee triggered a backlash, and Aliev has now added 12 women, and one more man.  So we are now on 29:12, which is probably seen as almost revolutionary in what is effectively a dictatorship. Christiana Figueres, the UN’s climate chief when the historic Paris agreement was delivered in 2015, had called the all-male panel ‘shocking and unacceptable’, so I wonder what her view is regarding these latest developments.

I was intrigued to find out more about SHE Changes Climate; their mission statement is actually so obvious that it is tragic it has to be made at all, but here it is:

‘We are committed to ensuring women, in all their diversity, are able to make the critical decisions to save humanity and the planet. We do this by influencing governments, raising awareness of inequality, and collaborating with other organisations looking for greater equality in climate negotiations.

We campaign for the equal inclusion of women at top levels of all climate negotiations, and for the implementation of the updated Gender Action Plan (GAP) from COP25 in 2019. Specifically, we call on officials to deliver on their commitment to promote gender equality in the UNFCCC process.’

They make the point that the climate crisis affects all of us, but the main decisions regarding how to deal with it are largely made by men.  They lead with a focus on women, the largest excluded party from climate negotiations, with a view to opening the door for all marginalised people.

I guess you’ve got to start somewhere, and in my view it’s an excellent rationale. I wish them success, and hope President Aliev is listening. Surely he can find a few more women?