The burden of the climate crisis and decision-making power are not in the same place

Climate change affects everyone, but the effects are not the same for everyone. Many factors such as income level, region of residence, livelihoods, care responsibilities and access to resources determine who will have more severe consequences from climate risks. Gender is also an important part of this picture.

According to The Gender Snapshot 2026 report published by UN Women and UN DESA, 2.9 billion women and girls live in countries with high or very high levels of exposure to climate change and natural disasters. However, in terms of climate justice, it is not enough to just look at who is at risk. There is another question: Who is at the tables where climate policies are shaped?Data shows that there is still a significant gap between exposure to the climate crisis and participation in climate decision-making.

2.9 billion women and girls are at high climate risk

The Gender Snapshot 2026 addresses climate change as one of the growing risks on a global scale for gender equality. According to the report, 2.9 billion women and girls live in countries with high or very high levels of exposure to climate change and natural disasters. This number alone explains why women are affected by climate change in different ways.It does not explain whether it can be affected. To do this, it is necessary to look at how climate risk intersects with existing economic and social inequalities.

Many areas, from access to water to food security, from livelihoods to care work, are affected by climate change. Inequalities in access to resources, finance, land and decision-making mechanisms can directly affect resilience to climate shocks. Therefore, climate justice is not only about who produces emissions and which countries are more affected by their consequences.It does not consist of a question. How risks and adaptive capacity are distributed within the same society is also part of this discussion.

Representation at climate tables is increasing, but equality is not achieved

One of the most important international platforms where climate policies are shaped is the United Nations Climate Change Conferences. Women's representation in these processes has increased over time. According to The Gender Snapshot 2026 data, 31 percent of the delegates at COP14 held in 2008 were women. At COP30 in Belém in 2025, this rate reached 40 percent, so tenThere is a nine-point increase in seven years. However, increasing representation does not mean that equality is achieved in decision-making processes.

The UNFCCC's 2026 assessment also looks more closely at this point. Only 7 of the agency's 17 structured bodies in the climate process have achieved their gender balance target. The average representation of women in these bodies increased from 40 percent in 2025 to 44 percent in 2026. There is progress, but equal representation has not yet spread throughout the system. Moreover, numerical representation aloneIt doesn't measure your strength. Being in a delegation is not the same as being in positions that determine the direction of the negotiation.

Why is climate justice a matter of representation?

The issue here is not just about equalizing the number of men and women in meeting rooms. Climate policies are changing many different areas of daily life. Which region will be supported against drought, how will resources be distributed after a disaster, which projects will climate finance be transferred to, how will agriculture be transformed or to whom will clean energy investments provide new economic opportunities?Among these decisions it will create. Therefore, who is at the decision-making table also affects what experiences and needs can enter into policy design.

For this reason, the Gender Equality and Climate Policy Scorecard, developed by UN Women to evaluate climate policies in 2026, does not only look at participation. It evaluates six different dimensions together, such as economic security, unpaid care work, gender-based violence, health, participation and leadership. This approach reveals an important distinction: Gender-responsive climate policy is not only aIt does not mean mentioning women in the policy document. It requires considering the consequences of the policy on different groups at the design stage.

Climate finance is also part of justice

The same question applies to climate finance. The world has to invest more and more to adapt to climate change and transition to a low-carbon economy. However, who receives the financing is as important as the amount of it. Whether a drought program reaches small producers, for whom clean energy investments create new employment opportunities, orThe extent to which disaster resilience investments meet the needs of the most vulnerable communities determines the social outcomes of climate finance.

Therefore, the gender perspective is not a social topic that will be added to climate finance later. It is one of the tools to understand for whom investing creates resilience. UN Women's current approach to climate policies does not evaluate financing, economic security and decision-making mechanisms independently of each other.

There is a new framework after COP30

This issue now has a more visible place in international climate negotiations. At COP30, countries adopted the Belém Gender Action Plan covering the period 2026-2034. The plan aims to include gender equality more systematically in climate policies. In addition to participation, the new framework also focuses on data, financing, technology and implementation.

This change is important. Because the gender issue in climate policies is only addressed by asking 'how many women attended the meeting?' from the question 'How do the decisions taken affect different groups?' brings us closer to the question. This will now be another area to measure in the run-up to COP31: the extent to which increased representation will contribute to policy design, financing and implementation.reflected.

There are two sides to climate justice

The picture revealed by The Gender Snapshot 2026 data requires looking at climate justice from two sides. First, risk: Billions of women and girls live in countries with high climate and disaster risks. The latter is just as powerful: Women's representation in global climate processes is increasing, but equality is not yet achieved. Without closing the gap between these two areas, we can only achieve climate justice.Evaluating it in terms of temperature, emissions or financing amount is incomplete.

Because one of the fundamental questions of a just climate transformation is simply 'who is more affected by the climate crisis?' not. Whose experience, knowledge and priorities are part of the decisions when solutions are designed? When evaluating the success of climate policies in the coming years, this problem will become as visible as emission reduction and financing.It will have to come.