1 Introduction and scope

COP25 (Madrid 2019), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Parties adopted the Enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender (LWPG) and its Gender Action Plan.

UNFCCC (2020). Enhanced Lima work programme on gender and its gender action plan. Decision 3/CP.25.

Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden thereby committed to advancing knowledge and understanding of gender-responsive climate action and mainstreaming gender equality into the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

UNFCCC (2023). Gender Action Plan - Decision 3/CP.25 and amendments agreed in Decisions 24/CP.27 and 15/CP.28

As the culmination of the Enhanced LWPG at COP29 in 2024 approaches, an opportunity arises for countries to evaluate their progress and exchange experiences.

Thus, this policy brief compiles the main findings from the report “A review of the Nordic implementation of the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan” (2024). The review assesses the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Gender Action Plan (UNFCCC GAP) in the five Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. It assesses both the notable endeavours towards gender responsive climate policies through the strategy of gender mainstreaming, as well as the challenges encountered.

At the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66) in 2022, the Nordic Ministers for Gender Equality made a commitment to promote international cooperation, alliance, and advocacy on the interconnections between climate action and gender equality, as well as strengthening the work to gender mainstream climate policy in a structured way.

Nordic Council of Ministers (2022). Commitment by the Nordic Council of Ministers under Generation Equality's Action Coalition: Feminist Action for Climate Justice.

The review has been commissioned by the Nordic Working Group for Climate and Air under the Nordic Council of Ministers.

The UNFCCC GAP is structured into five priority areas; ‘A: Capacity-building, knowledge management and communication’, ‘B: Gender balance, participation and women’s leadership’, ‘C: Coherence’, ‘D: Gender-responsive implementation and means of implementation’ and ‘E: Monitoring and reporting.’

To assess the Nordic implementation of the UNFCCC GAP, the activities under each Priority area have been translated into the Nordic context of the national (and regional and local) level of implementation, with a specific focus on domestic climate policies- and strategies.

The review draws on desk studies, screenings of relevant policy- documents and reports, as well as the involvement of policymakers and gender- and climate experts via interviews, e-mail questionnaires and online focus groups. The focus groups (5 in total) were conducted in break-out rooms in an online cross-Nordic workshop in December 2023. Representatives from all five countries have participated in the project steering group led by Nordic Working Group for Climate and Air under the Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM), sharing inputs for the review through contributing with contacts, relevant documents, and feedback. Several of the steering group members also participated in the focus groups.

The review has been commissioned by the Nordic Working Group for Climate and Air under NCM. It has been carried out in the autumn and winter of 2023/2024 by Norion Consult, Ekvalita, Ráður, Chalmers University, CICERO, and Equality Research Helsinki.

The results from the assessment of each of the priority areas are outlined under “main findings”. Moreover, the project has compiled gaps and barriers to successful mainstreaming in climate policies in the Nordic countries, as well as best practices on local, regional, and national level, which are presented at the end of this policy brief. First, we present policy recommendations, derived from the project, which aim to support implementation of the UNFCCC GAP in climate policies in the Nordic countries.