“Now more than ever, we need women to come together to decide on the climate,” says businesswoman Luisa Trajano, president and one of the founders of the Women of Brazil group, which is coordinating the creation of a women’s charter for COP30 and is promoting the Women’s COP, which will be held in Belém this Friday (14th).
“Women must first be involved in climate change decisions, because they are so affected, because they take care of the children, and often their husbands leave and they stay behind. Secondly, women are better able to make things happen and more resilient,” she added a few hours after arriving in the capital, Pará.
Women and girls, especially black, indigenous, marginal, riparian and quilombola women, are disproportionately affected by extreme weather events. At the same time, women are underrepresented in climate change decision-making.
These two factors led our group to create a parallel event that brings together regional and national women leaders to discuss gender-informed and just climate change.
“We need to raise awareness that women are the ones most affected by climate change,” said Andreia Schroeder, director of public policy and institutional relations at Brazil Group Muljeres.
Leaders attending the event will include indigenous environmental activists Vanda Witoto and Jennyfer Bransfor, executives, and representatives from fundraising funds, NGOs, associations and local organizations. Minister Marcia López (Women), Minister Marina Silva (Environment), Minister Margareth Menezes (Culture), as well as Vice Governor Hana Gassan (MDB) of Pará state, also confirmed their attendance at the opening table.
The Women’s COP is an outgrowth of the COP30 Women’s Charter, a document developed in a collective and bipartisan manner designed as a vehicle for political influence on gender equality on climate-related issues.
The document emerged from the COP30 Women’s Caucus meeting, which brought together organizations, political representatives and women’s groups from all regions of Brazil in Brasilia in October this year. From there, a consultation was conducted through the Women’s Network in every state across the country, resulting in 190 donations from organizations and individuals.
“This is a very democratic document, with 190 communities participating to give their opinion on what is most important for women to care more about the climate and nature,” Trajano explains. “This letter sums up the cries of women’s society very well.”
The document sets out seven propositions, ranging from gender-inclusive climate finance to building women’s full participation in climate change decision-making, including education for climate resilience and green economy innovation based on women’s experiences and human rights in the most affected regions.
“Women are distributing the COP30 Women’s Charter in blue and green zones,” said Fabiana Peroni, the group’s director of partnerships. “We have given the report to the ministers and other authorities we have met so far and we hope it will reach the legislative, executive and judiciary,” she added, claiming she was excited to have women present at COP30.
The group expects Trajano to hand over a copy of the document to Minister Edson Fassin, the current president of the federal Supreme Court, who is also in Belém.
“Here at COP30, there is a movement to deliver a symbolic product. We want to build a political agenda so that the actions and proposals for improvement made there bear fruit after the COP,” Peroni explains. “To realize these agendas, women need to be included in decision-making fora. After the COP, we will work on political advocacy at both local, state and federation levels.”
This document includes: Quero Você Eleita, Instituto AzMina, Elas Pedem Vista,
Elas No Poder, Rede Governança Brasil, Grupo Ser Educacional, Instituto Global ESG, Instituto Latino-Americano de Governança e Compliance Pública.
The group’s CEO, Alexandra Segantin, defines it as “putting women at the center of climate change decision-making and action, and linking climate justice and gender equality.” “One of our strategic positions is to empower more women to exercise power in decision-making spaces, both in public and private companies.”
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