October 27, 2021 – As feminists, gender equality and women’s rights advocates from around the world—led by and accountable to the demands of frontlines, Indigenous and grassroots leaders— the Women and Gender Constituency have outlined below our key demands for the outcomes of COP26.

We share these views in the reality of a world of ever-increasing climate impacts and disasters, where a global pandemic has worked to deepen gross inequities between and within countries and to further exacerbate inequalities and drive millions into greater poverty and instability, especially in the Global South.

While the science is clear on the devastating impacts of failing to keep warming below 1.5 degrees, countries current emissions reductions targets are woefully inadequate to meet the promises of Paris—nor are we close to the US$100 billion per year in climate finance promised from Copenhagen. At the same time, in 2020 and 2021 a record number of environmental human rights defenders working to protect the environment and marginalized people’s rights were murdered—losing their lives while trying to preserve the planet, other species and ourselves.

We call on COP26 to:

1. Fulfill commitment to human rights in the Paris Agreement & keep 1.5 alive
2. Deliver on finance and prioritise loss & damage
3. Ensure human rights & ecosystem integrity in Article 6
4. Advance the Gender Action Plan
5. Reject false solutions & invest in gender-just climate action
6. Facilitate gender-just transitions to a regenerative economy
7. Invest in resilient, gender-transformative, climate justice education
8. Promote health, including sexual and reproductive health and rights
9. Ensure rights to water and sanitation in all climate action
10. Protect the ocean, cryosphere, coastal ecosystems and local communities
11. Ensure collective women’s land rights

DOWNLOAD the full Key Demands here.

View and download the WGC COP26 Key Demands in English, French and Spanish