Issue 6: GEDA Insights

by geda

September 6, 2024

Welcome to the sixth edition of GEDA Insights, the Gender and Environment Data Alliance’s (GEDA’s) Newsletter. As an alliance of more than 90 organizations, GEDA serves as a hub to foster collaborations and joint action among diverse institutions working at the intersection of gender and environment through a data lens. In this issue, we congratulate the winners of the first iteration of the GEDA Small Grants, showcase multiple exciting resources from our members (including more details on the Commit to Data Campaign), and get to know GEDA Core Partner One Future Collective! As always, we are deeply appreciative of our members for sharing their resources and their work. Thank you for reading and sharing!

WEDO & IUCN on behalf of GEDA

First of all, a very heartfelt thanks to all those who applied to the first call of GEDA’s Small Grants. We received 33 excellent applications from across the world. Looking at the breadth of regional and thematic diversity among the applicants, the Steering Committee has chosen the five following organizations as this year’s recipients of GEDA’s Small Grants:

Ghana: “Women’s Voices in Coastal Climate Adaptation: Rapid Feminist Participatory Research (WOVCCA-RFPR)”by Institute of Climate Change and Environmental Governance (ICEG)
Uganda: ”Empowering local women in wetland inventory mapping in Uganda; A feminist participatory action research approach using user friendly digital tools” by Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development
Sri Lanka: “The FemData Project” by EMACE Foundation of Sri Lanka
Costa Rica: “Gender Indicators and Citizen Science on Loss and Damage in Central America” by Asociación La Ruta del Clima
Afghanistan: “Gender, water, and climate mobility in Afghanistan” by Environment Conservation Organization for Afghanistan (ECOFA)

We are excited to follow their journey as they explore themes from loss and damage to climate mobility to water, and spanning from Afghanistan to Sri Lanka to Costa Rica.

GEDA members are working on timely new projects at the gender-environment-data nexus across the world. Check out the latest resources from the GEDA Network:

Environmental Justice for 2SLGBTQIA+ Communities: Dimensions on Queering Environmental Policy in North America

Explore the latest report from the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation: “Environmental Justice for 2SLGBTQIA+ Communities: Dimensions on Queering Environmental Policy in North America“, featuring as co-author Diego de León, Out for Sustainability‘s Advocacy Chair (Core Partner of GEDA). This first-of-its-kind effort analyzes the regional impacts of discrimination against LGBTQI+ people and their intersecting identities in terms of climate change and environmental degradation. It also provides concrete recommendations to ensure equitable and inclusive climate and environmental policies at local, national, and international levels. The document is available in English, Spanish, and French. For more information, please feel free to contact diego.deleon@out4s.org.

Read the report here

Summarizing Evidence for Gender-Responsive National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Processes

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD, GEDA Core Partner) recently published the brief Summarizing Evidence for Gender-Responsive National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Processes: Key Gender and Equity Findings from the 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – Working Group II on Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. This briefing note highlights key findings from the 6th Assessment Report (AR6) of the IPCC, which referenced gender, equity and justice more times than any previous IPCC report. By highlighting the ways in which exclusion and discrimination exacerbate vulnerability to climate change for different social groups—such as women, children, the elderly, Indigenous Peoples, and those facing discrimination—this document emphasizes the importance of including diverse perspectives in adaptation planning.

Read the briefing note on IPCC AR6

Gender, Climate and Environmental Justice in Australia

Dig into Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia’s Gender, Climate and Environmental Justice in Australia report, where Susan Harris serves as an expert on behalf of Core Partner Griffith University. Through research data and expert stakeholder perspectives from across Australia, this report summarizes what we know about the gendered impacts of climate and environmental issues and explains why gender diverse leadership and intersectional perspectives are critical to solving these challenges.

Read the report here

Feminists Shifting Paradigms for Environmental Social Justice

Peg Spitzer, Stony Brook University’s representative to GEDA, is part of the CK Collective, a recently launched initiative that created an open-access oral history digital archive on Feminists Shifting Paradigms for Environmental Social Justice. Their mission is to preserve and share stories of environmental resilience and innovation, with a focus on feminist knowledge. Through in-depth research and the creation of story maps, visualizations, and comprehensive oral history interviews, CK Collective documents and curates these narratives in an open-access format.

Dig into feminist methodologies here

Each GEDA Insights features an interview of GEDA members to showcase the work they are doing at the gender-environment-data nexus. This issue, we’re excited to spotlight two GEDA Core Partner One Future Collective and The ShexEarth Network.

This interview explores the relevance of data in their work in urban India, focused on advancing and promoting the rights of women and queer folks.

Read the interview with One Future Collective!

This interview explores the work of ShexEarth Network in the Philippines, catalyzing the devastation caused by Supertyphoon Rai in 2021 to produce gender-responsive ecological solutions through education, organization, and collaboration.

Read the interview with the ShexEarth Network!

The Gendered and Racial Impacts of the Fossil Fuel Industry in North America and Complicit Financial Institutions

September 12, 2024

On September 12, the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) is releasing the fourth edition of the report, “The Gendered and Racial Impacts of the Fossil Fuel Industry in North America and Complicit Financial Institutions.” The report addresses the disproportionate gender and race-specific health and safety impacts as well as human and Indigenous rights issues of fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure in the United States and selected parts of Canada— interlocking issues that have been sorely neglected in the discourse regarding fossil fuel extraction.

Join the event here to learn more!

GEDA: Bridging Data and Action in the Lead-up to COP29

September 26, 2024

GEDA will be hosting an event at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, on Thursday, September 26th, from 6-8PM. The event, titled Gender and Environment Data Alliance: Bridging Data and Action in the Lead-up to COP29 will delve into the role of data in advancing gender-responsive climate action. RSVP below!

RSVP here!

27th Sustainable Development Conference

5-7 November, 2024

The 27th Sustainable Development Conference (SDC) will take place from 5–7 November, in Islamabad, Pakistan, and will be hosted by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) (GEDA Member). This year’s theme, “From Fragility to Resilience: Enhancing Sustainable Development,” reflects SDC’s commitment to addressing contemporary global challenges through resilience and sustainable development. This flagship event showcases SDPI’s research and invites researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and academics to share their work and engage in a meaningful dialogue.

The UN World Data Forum will be held in Medellín, Colombia from the 12th to 15th of November. In its lead-up, GEDA Core Partner Open Data Watch (ODW) is pursuing in collaboration with PARIS21 and the UN World Data Forum (UNWDF) Programme Committee the Commit to Data campaign.

This campaign aims to gather concrete actions for better data and improved lives, building on the outcomes of previous UNWDFs and the Secretary General’s Power of Data initiative. Explore commitments that have been made so far here and learn more about the campaign here. For additional questions, reach out to deirdreappel@opendatawatch.com.

Learn more about the campaign here!

GEDA at the UN High Level Political Forum (HLPF)

July 2024

Several GEDA members engaged in the HLPF, held at UN Headquarters in July. Alongside this moment to check in on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, UN agencies and NGOs convened discussions on the importance of data.

Several GEDA members participated in a workshop and expert group meeting held by the Collaborative on Citizen Data, which offered the opportunity to engage national statistics offices and UN agencies on “unofficial” data collection methodologies and ways to highlight more people-centered approaches.
IWDA’s Jo Crawford also spoke at an SDGs in Practice session on “Data Collection and Analysis for SDG Monitoring.” This session on data collection and analysis for SDG monitoring will provide an introduction to data and statistics, covering both traditional and non-traditional data sources as well as the concept of data diplomacy. The focus included an overview of SDG monitoring tools, such as the global SDG indicator framework. Check out the recording in the HLPF special events webpage .

GEDA Side Event at UNFCCC SB60

June 2024

GEDA hosted a side event at the 60th meeting of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies (SB60) on Gender-Responsive Data for Climate Action, featuring speakers from Development Initiatives, Out for Sustainability, Ruta del Clima and WEDO. The event showcased the critical role of gender data in shaping national climate policies. Check out more details on the event, as well as the recording, here. Also, check out the brief on the Data for the Gender Action Plan!

Welcome to GEDA’s new member of the Secretariat!

Welcome to Lena Maghraoui, a new member of the GEDA Co-conveners Team! Lena, Gender Programme Support Officer at IUCN, graduated with a B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Chicago. Before joining IUCN this summer, she studied Arabic in Jordan with the Center for Arabic Studies Abroad and interned with the Phoenix Center for Economic and Informatics Studies, investigating and reporting on the labor and living conditions of agricultural workers in Jordan. Lena is excited to contribute her research and analysis skills and delve more deeply into the intersection between human rights, gender equality, and environmental protection. Outside of work, she is an avid reader, student of Mediterranean cuisine, and novice runner.