Asian person in water

Gender Mainstreaming

COP requested the UNCCD secretariat to sustain its advocacy for the recognition and expansion of women’s land rights, particularly for Indigenous Peoples and local communities. These efforts build on the global visibility and high-level advocacy achieved through the “Her Land”.

The 1992 Earth Summit saw the formation of the three Rio Conventions — the treaties designed to protect life on earth — on climate, biodiversity and desertification. From that time, the Rio Convention Secretariats, national governments, civil society organizations and the UN system at large have worked to advance interlinked, gender-responsive implementation of the Rio Conventions.

They have led collaboration and coalition building initiatives and engaged in research and analysis on the linkages between gender equality and better environmental, economic and social outcomes, as well as the adoption of gender action plans in all three Rio Conventions. 

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Yet, despite decades of coordination initiatives, implementation of the gender provisions and action plans of the Rio Conventions often remains siloed, reducing opportunities and generating inefficiencies that stretch government capacities and budgets.

Existing coordination mechanisms fall short, and capacity is insufficient. Overcoming these barriers requires renewed attention to interlinkages and stronger collaboration on strategic, gender-responsive approaches across all processes — from negotiations and financing to capacity development, implementation, monitoring and reporting. Such synergies would not only advance the mutual goals of the Conventions but also increase efficiencies in policies, programming and financing.

A recent UN Women working paper highlights the urgency of addressing gender inequalities across the Rio Conventions, provides examples of progress, and identifies thematic entry points for integrating gender equality considerations across the Conventions, offering recommendations to accelerate the synergistic implementation of their gender provisions and action plans.

Boston Public Library Photo of Women
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The most recent UNCCD COP16 (Decision 25/COP.16) called for continued collaboration with the other Rio conventions and relevant international organizations, such as the UN Women, to support the implementation of the Gender Action Plan and its Roadmap. This includes joint efforts on critical issues such as access to resources, capacity-building and technologies for sustainable land management, and women’s economic empowerment.

The COP also requested the UNCCD secretariat  to sustain its advocacy for the recognition and expansion of women’s land rights, particularly for Indigenous Peoples and local communities. These efforts build on the global visibility and high-level advocacy achieved through the “Her Land. Her Rights.” campaign, and on the collaborative momentum generated by recent workshops focused on enhancing synergies among the Rio conventions and other key actors promoting women’s land rights.

Read more

Advancing gender-responsive synergies across the Rio conventions: Gender equality at the intersection of climate action, biodiversity protection and sustainable land management

Brief  Working paper

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Sustainable Energy

At the intersection of energy, land and biodiversity, the Rio Conventions offer complementary entry points for sustainable energy that amplify co-benefits across climate action, ecosystem health and land restoration.
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Integrated Land Use Planning

The integrated land-use planning and integrated landscape management (ILUP-ILM) are central to creating synergies and informing policies for reaching major internationally agreed sustainability goals, including the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN).