CARE’s Expectations for the UN Climate Action Summit

Advocacy

The UN Climate Action Summit in New York on September 23 must deliver tangible outcomes and commitments from government leaders to increase ambition across both mitigation and adaptation, and provide support to the poorest and most vulnerable countries.

At the first major leader’s summit on climate change after the entry-into-force of the Paris Agreement, leaders must bring clear commitments to the table to confront the climate crisis and take significant steps to close the huge gaps between the actions planned and what is scientifically needed to prevent a rise above 1.5°C. The world will be watching and the public will hold them accountable to address the climate crisis at the necessary scale and speed. 

CARE’s Key Demands

CARE calls on governments at all levels, businesses, and other institutions to urgently tackle the climate crisis by building and promoting champions of gender-just climate resilience, with a focus on the poor segments of the population. CARE urges governments to:

1. Enhance their national climate plans and development strategies no later than 2020, and implement immediate concrete measures, which strengthen gender equality and are compatible with the efforts required to build resilience for the poorest populations, and shift to net zero emissions as soon as possible, in line with the 1.5°C limit.
   
2. Significantly increase finance for gender-just climate resilience measures to developing countries, including through new innovative finance mechanisms as well as in domestic budgets, and increase efforts to integrate gender equality across all climate measures, including by:
   • Ensuring that by 2023, at the latest, at least 50% of public climate finance for developing countries is for adaptation, of which at least 20% targets gender equality as a primary objective, and 85% as a secondary objective.
   • Earmarking a proportion of public climate finance for grassroots’ women organizations providing critical support to communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis.
   • Ensuring that measures to address loss and damage, such as reparation, incorporate a gender-responsive approach.