Statement by the International Development Law Organization
Thank you, Mr. President.
The International Development Law Organization (IDLO) thanks the Special Rapporteur for his report and advocacy on issues of gender equality.
Women and girls have a right to participate in and lead climate and environmental action at all levels, not just as matter of fairness, equality, and better outcomes, but as a principle inscribed in core international legal instruments.
IDLO is proud to champion a feminist approach to climate action through the rule of law that empowers women and girls to claim their environmental rights. IDLO continues its work on this issue, including through our most recent publication entitled “Climate Justice for Women and Girls: A Rule of Law Approach to Feminist Climate Action.”
We are convinced that legal empowerment of women and girls, including legal education, provision of paralegal and legal services, improved accountability of justice providers, and protection of civic space for women’s advocacy, is key for women and girls’ participation as climate and environmental leaders and ensuring that they are able to fully enjoy their right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
States must also take steps to remove barriers that stand between women and girls and the realization of this right, including gender-blind laws and regulatory frameworks that entrench legal discrimination in the family, the workplace, and the community; and the broad challenges to equal access to justice due to systemic discrimination and diverse cultural barriers.
In preparing this report, did the Special Rapporteur learn of commitments by States on the ways they intend to promote gender equality in the context of the triple planetary crisis – including legislative reform or the provision of new and additional financial resources for women’s empowerment?
Thank you.