Glossary from letters A to H
Any terms you are unsure about? Scroll down to a specific term to find a quick and simple definition to get you up to date with gender & climate policy language! Missing a term? Feel free to comment below to suggest terms we should add!
B
Biodiversity
Sometimes used to represent species richness, it is synonymous with biological diversity - which means the diversity of life forms on Earth and all living things that are part of an ecosystem, from plants and animals to microorganisms. To understand what biodiversity is, we must consider the term on two different levels: all forms of life, as well as the genes contained in each individual, and the ecosystems, in which the existence of a species directly affects many others. It is not known how many plant and animal species there are in the world, but estimates vary between 10 and 50 million - scientists have classified and named only 1.5 million species.
C
Carbon Footprint
Carbon footprint has been used to measure the climate change impact of something. It works by calculating the amount of greenhouse gases and specifically carbon dioxide emitted by an activity, such as a person's activities (e.g. traveling, shopping, etc) or a product's manufacture and transport, during a given period. Since all greenhouse gases have different levels of impact on the environment, they are measured in CO2 equivalents when calculating the carbon footprint, making it easier to communicate and monitor.
Clean Water and Sanitation
Access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) is a human right. Clean water is a basic human need, and one that should be easily accessible to all. There is sufficient fresh water on the planet to achieve this. While substantial progress has been made in increasing access to clean drinking water and sanitation, every year millions of people — most of them children — still die from diseases associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene, due to poor infrastructure, lack of investment and planning. Worldwide, one in three people do not have access to safe drinking water, two out of five people do not have a basic hand-washing facility with soap and water, and more than 673 million people still practice open defecation. The UN Sustainable Development Goal number 6 has the objective to ensure access to water and sanitation for all by 2030.
Climate Adaptation
Climate Change Adaptation refers to the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects. In human systems, adaptation seeks to moderate or avoid harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. In some natural systems, human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate and its effects (IPCC, 2014). In other words, as Climate Change Mitigation seeks to reduce the likelihood of a climate change event occurring, adaptation aims to enhance our response to these events, ultimately increasing resilience against climate risks. Due to the unequal distribution of rights, resources and power, the ability to adapt to climate change will ultimately differ between men and women. However, adaptation is one of the key areas where gender is most integrated.
Climate Justice
Climate Justice looks at the climate crisis through a human rights lens and it insists on a shift from a discourse just on greenhouse gas emissions and melting ice caps into a civil rights movement, with the people and communities most vulnerable to climate impacts. These impacts are commonly understood to affect all human beings in an undifferentiated approach. However, the way these are distributed both in terms of incidence and intensity alerts us to something completely opposite: it appears that most of the risks fall on vulnerable and powerless populations, such as women, black people, indigenous, etc. Climate Justice implies the right to a safe, healthy and productive environment for all, which can be freely exercised, preserving, respecting and realizing individual and group identities, in addition to the dignity and autonomy of peoples.
Climate Mitigation
Climate mitigation focuses on using new practices and technologies in an effort to reduce and prevent the emission of greenhouse gasses, Efforts may include the use updating of new technologies, better and more eco-friendly management practices, or changing consumer behaviour. The goal of mitigation is to avoid significant human contribution to the climate system and to stabilize greenhouse gas levels in a timeframe sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, ensure food production is not threatened, and to enable economic development to proceed in a in a sustainable manner (2014 Mitigation of Climate Change) Responding to climate change today is crucial for the future of the planet. Climate change’s complexity involves so many dimensions; science, economics, society, politics, among others. Understanding gendered differences is key to developing policies and actions to mitigate climate change, and transition away from high emissions energy use. Women play a huge role in activities that support mitigation, for example, in small-scale agriculture and food production. Through their diverse roles as community leaders, farmers, entrepreneurs, producers, and household managers, women are powerful agents of change in mitigating climate change.
Climate Policy
Climate policy addresses the continuing threats of climate change through policy tools and develops better integration of climate change objectives in legislature and policy areas, such as energy, finance, transport, building, agriculture, technology and others. Climate policy services societal accountability regarding their environmentally-conscious practices. Climate change policies are generally designed to minimize the extent of climate change, or minimize risks, and are implemented at the local, national, regional and global levels (globally through the UN Climate Change Convention).
COP
COP stands for Conferences of the Parties, which is the supreme decision-making body of the UNFCCC. All States that are Parties to the Convention are represented at the COP, at which they review the implementation of the Convention and any other legal instruments that the COP adopts and take decisions necessary to promote the effective implementation of the Convention, including institutional and administrative arrangements. The COP meets every year, unless the Parties decide otherwise. The first COP meeting was held in Berlin, Germany in March, 1995. The COP presidency rotates among the five recognized UN regions - that is, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe and Western Europe and Others.
D
Degrowth
Degrowth is a social and political movement, as well as an economic theory created in the 1970s that presents an alternative to the current capitalist system of growth that prioritizes corporate profits, overproduction and excess consumption. Instead, the Degrowth theory advocates for a reduction in the use of the world’s energy and resources by putting social and ecological well-being first. Degrowth doesn’t imply the reduction of the national GDP, as most of its initiatives create economic value, but it implies producing and consuming less.
E
Eco-anxiety
Eco-anxiety is a term used to describe the fear and anxiety that people experience in response to the environmental crisis. It is a form of psychological distress caused by the awareness of environmental destruction, climate change, and other environmental issues. It is characterized by feelings of helplessness, fear, and despair in the face of environmental destruction. It can manifest itself in physical symptoms such as headaches, nausea, and difficulty sleeping. It can also lead to feelings of guilt, anger, and depression. Eco-anxiety is a growing concern among people of all ages, especially young people who are more likely to be exposed to environmental issues through media and social networks.
Ecofeminism
An activist movement that addresses the relationship between women and the earth. Ecofeminism explores the parallel between the exploitation of the environment and women by an existing patriarchy. This movement aims to bring education and advocacy to the ongoing issues related to gender equality and climate justice. Women are currently undervalued in the conversation of climate justice, when they are affected greatly by the consequences of climate change. Ecofeminism aims at fostering cooperation amongst all peoples to promote a safer, cleaner, and more sustainable environment.
Empowerment
Empowerment is “the process of gaining freedom and power to do what you want or to control what happens to you”. This term is especially used when we talk about the struggle of social minorities, such as women and youth, to be recognized and heard in decision making spaces, obtaining power to act in any situation they would like, but especially the ones that concern their own lives. Throughout history, patriarchal structures have oppressed and dominated certain groups of people according to their best interest - mostly, monetary. Essentially, women and girls’ empowerment contributes to gender equality, which therefore contributes to a more just and sustainable society.
Environmental Migration
Environmental migration is the process associated with the movement of people in anticipation or adaptation to environmental and climate impacts. Extreme events like cyclones, floods or wildfires destroy homes and contribute to the displacement of people. Moreover, the sea-level rise, droughts or extreme rain are increasing pressures on the livelihoods, and compromise the access to food and water, leading to a decision to move away in search of better living conditions and access to resources.
Escazu Agreement
The Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, also known as Escazu Agreement, was adopted in 2018, at Escazu, Costa Rica. The region is one with the fewest mechanisms for transparency and access to environmental information in the world and has one of the highest rates of crimes against climate activists. With that in mind, Latin American and Caribbean countries have created the Escazu Agreement, which is based on the 10th principle of the Rio Declaration (1992). The Agreement is a tool for the protection of the environment and human rights, especially local and indigenous communities, seeking to guarantee access to information about the climate situation in the region and the actions that are taken about it, as well as giving the opportunity for the civil society to participate in the decision making process. The Escazu Agreement aims to create and strengthen the capacity building and cooperation between countries and communities. Learn more here.
F
Feminism
Feminism is a social-political movement that raises an important and complex discussion about women's role in society as well as their rights, aiming to disrupt the current patriarchal structures through female empowerment. Feminists are those who believe that women should not be disadvantaged because of their gender. In other words, women should be recognized as having equal human dignity as men and with the opportunity to freely choose how to live their lives. It is important to highlight the heterogeneity of the movement, since there are different experiences and demands within it, there are also different currents of thought.
Source: TICKNER, J. Ann. Gendering world politics: Issues and approaches in the PostCold War Era. Nova York: Columbia University Press, 2001.
G
Gender Action Plan
The Gender Action Plan, or the GAP as it is known for short, is an international roadmap aimed at incorporating gender equality and women’s full and meaningful participation in climate change discourse and action. It was created in 2017, at COP 22, as an extension of the Lima Work Programme on Gender for an additional 3 years. The Plan aims to enhance participation of women in climate action, ensuring that they are fully and equally represented in all decision-making processes at a global, regional and national level. The plan was reviewed and enhanced at COP25 in 2019. You can see updates on the most recent update of the Gender Action Plan here.
Gender equality
Gender Equality is a fundamental human right. Gender equality secures equal access to a quality education, health, economic resources, political participation, and overall leadership positions of decision-making for both women and men. Achieving gender equality and empowering women is still a great challenge today. Discrimination against women persists in many areas of the world, including in laws and practices and social norms and practices. Gender Equality ensures equal rights and opportunities for women and men worldwide.
Global Warming
Global warming is the long-term warming of the planet’s overall temperature, causing changes in the climate patterns worldwide. Though this warming trend has been going on for a long time, its pace has significantly increased in the last hundred years due to the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and other environmental impacts. Industrialization and agriculture, especially, have been responsible for elevating the levels of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere, increasing the “greenhouse effect” (a natural process, responsible for controlling the Earth’s temperature) contributing to the temperature rise. The expected effects of global warming are rising sea levels, flooding, melting of polar ice caps and glaciers, fluctuations in temperature and precipitation, more frequent and stronger El Niños and La Niñas, drought, heat waves, and forest fires.
Green Economy
Green economy is a term that highlights the elements of efficiency, as a way to reduce environmental risks and address ecological scarcity. It accentuates the importance of bringing equilibrium to the interaction between business and all the ecosystems. It is commonly used as an umbrella term, with many words such as sustainability, bioeconomy and circular economy used synonymously due to their strong ties.
Green Finance
By the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), it is defined as an economy that results in improving the well-being of humanity and social equality, to better manage environmental and social risks, take up opportunities that bring both a decent rate of return and environmental benefit and deliver greater accountability. This means increasing the level of financial flows (banking, micro-credit, insurance and investment) from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors to sustainable development priorities. As a heritage from Rio 92, the expression was officially accepted by the international community and popularized in the world, absorbed by governments, companies and civil society, and used in the formulation and execution of both public policies and private initiatives.