Former Costa Rican negotiator Adriana González captured this urgency:
Women are driving climate solutions across Latin America — and their impact should take center stage at COP30
As negotiators gather in Belém for COP30, the renewal of the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan stands as a defining moment for the global gender–climate agenda. Yet across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), one reality is already clear: long before the negotiating rooms open, women are shaping some of the region’s most innovative, effective, and culturally grounded climate solutions.
This is the message that UN Women and the Government of Luxembourg brought to COP30 during their joint event, “Gender, Environment and Climate Justice: Women Leading Transformative Action for People and Planet.” Bringing together government officials, Indigenous leaders, youth activists, technical negotiators, and donors, the session demonstrated not only the necessity of a strong new GAP — but also the lived experiences and evidence that should guide it.
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Beyond policy: real impact in communities
In Puebla, Mexico, women potters have transitioned to lead-free ceramics, improving health and reducing contamination — and their techniques are now shared nationally through a digital platform supported by Luxembourg. In Chile’s Atacama Desert, ASEMTIAL’s women entrepreneurs are promoting sustainable tourism that protects biodiversity while strengthening local economies. And in Brazil, Indigenous women from APOINME are creating the first “ABC Glossary of Climate Change from the Perspective of Indigenous Women,” merging ancestral knowledge with climate science.
Different contexts, one message: when women lead, climate action becomes more sustainable, inclusive, and rooted in community realities.
A programme influencing negotiations
These examples are anchored in the Luxembourg-funded regional programme “Scaling Up Climate Change and Environmental Policies and Programmes and Their Effectiveness by Integrating Gender Perspectives,” implemented by UN Women. The programme plays a critical role in helping countries understand not only why gender matters, but also how to integrate it into climate governance.
In Chile, the Ministry of Environment has used the programme to systematically assess how gender is reflected across climate policies — and identify where gaps remain. A key conclusion emerging from this work is the centrality of care as a climate issue: care for people, ecosystems, and the sustainability of territories. As Chile emphasized, acknowledging care is not enough; it must be backed by financing, implementation capacity, and results tracking.
Through its support to civil society and youth initiatives, the programme also ensures that the lived realities of women in territories influence regional and global debates.
Xiomara Acevedo, from Barranquilla+20 and the Women’s Constituency, offered a clear call to action:
“If you don’t know where to start in responding to climate change, start by putting real power — and financing — in women’s hands. They have been driving solutions in their territories long before the negotiations even began. The science is clear, the solutions exist, and women are already leading them. What’s missing is the influence and decision-making power they need to scale those solutions.”
Her words were reinforced by Bárbara Tupinikim, from ANMIGA, who highlighted the leadership of Indigenous women:
“The women of the territories are the first to feel the impacts of climate change, but also the first to respond and adapt using the resources available to them.”
Together, their interventions underscored a powerful truth: financing women is a form of climate ambition, and one of the fastest pathways to tangible impact.
From the international cooperation perspective, Dr. Andrew Ferrone from the Ministry of Environment of Luxembourg reaffirmed this commitment:
“Gender is not an afterthought — it is an eligibility criterion. We will not finance projects that do not actively promote gender equality. At the end of the day, climate justice is about how we choose to coexist in a fair, sustainable, and inclusive way, grounded in human rights. That is the future Luxembourg strives to build, both at home and with our partners in Latin America.”
A gender-responsive GAP requires a gender-responsive climate architecture
While COP30’s gender agenda centered on the adoption of the new Gender Action Plan, panelists emphasized that the GAP’s success will depend on its connection to the broader climate architecture. Tracks such as technology development, innovation systems, climate finance, and the transparency framework determine the enabling conditions for implementation.
“We live in a world built by men, for men — just look around. COP30 gives us a brilliant opportunity to reimagine that world: resilient to climate change, low carbon, and healthier for everyone. Women are not only part of the solution — they are changemakers and rightful recipients of benefits. Our technological and financial systems must finally align with women’s realities. It’s time to change that mindset.”
Her message was clear: the new GAP will be most effective when its principles inform and are reinforced by every part of the climate system that decides where resources go, what solutions scale, and whose knowledge is valued.
Lorena Lamas, regional Programme Coordinator for UN Women, closing the event, reminded us that “climate justice can only be achieved when women’s leadership, knowledge, and voices are at the center of the response” and called for “continuing connecting global ambitions with local action, ensuring that climate justice in our region speaks with women’s voices”.
We thank the Government of Luxembourg for providing UN Women with the space to showcase the programme’s results and highlight women’s leadership in climate solutions. Their support not only amplifies the voices of women across the region but also demonstrates how donor engagement can catalyze meaningful, gender-responsive climate action.
