Rakhee LAKHRAJ-GOVENDER, None, South Africa
Women have been challenged in various areas of life for decades therefore, the United Nations included gender equality as one of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Hence, organisations around the world strive for better representation of women, to promote gender equality and equity. The study aims to is to determine the extent of efforts to achieve gender equality (SDG5) in the climate change context, for global south women during 2021. To achieve this, the study used a qualitative approach, with content analysis of conferences and documents. Results show that COP26 hosted the Virtual Gender Market Place, provided a platform for women who lead their communities on adaptation and resilience, and honoured a global south female leader with the Earth Champion Award. An analysis of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) displayed that 94% of NDCs for Sub-Saharan Africa considered gender. A separate study of 100 highly cited publications reported that less than 1% of authors were from Africa and only 12 of the authors were females. An article entitled “Researchers: The barriers to climate science in the global south” expressed the need to increase publications by female scientists from the global south. African Water Association (AFWA) and South Africa’s Water Research Commission (WRC) hosted online conferences in 2021 to discuss challenges female scientists face. South Africa’s Centre for Environmental Rights hosts an annual Environmental Rights and Activism training programme for climate activists, with 15 activists graduating in November 2021. The findings highlight the opportunities and challenges female leaders, scientists, activists, and citizens face in the context of the climate crisis. In conclusion, the global south needs to build capacity by training and supporting early-career female researchers. Recommendations include future research to determine how current gender policies translate to action and help female scientists in the global south.
Mots clés : sustainable development goals |global south|climate crisis|gender equality|climate scientists
A102859RL