Inclusion of women in decision-making on environment-related security challenges is key for equitable, safe and stable societies concludes OSCE event

Vienna, 5 July 2019 – Including women at all stages of the planning and decision-making processes in environmental security enables more effective and sustainable responses to the challenges we face, stressed participants at today’s High-Level Discussion on Promoting the Role of Women in Addressing Environment and Security Challenges.

Organized by Slovakia’s 2019 OSCE Chairmanship in co-operation with the OSCE Gender Section, the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) and the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the OSCE, the event brought together advocates and practitioners at the international and national levels, to reflect on the impact of environmental challenges on women and explore how to integrate a gender perspective in environmental planning and decision-making. The objective of the discussion was to raise awareness among participating States on the linkages between environment and security through an integrated gender perspective, while providing examples of good practices from the OSCE region and beyond.

In his opening remarks, Norbert Kurilla, State Secretary in the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic said: “The challenges related to the environment and security have taken on a greater urgency in recent years—a perfect example is the fact that we just recorded the hottest June temperatures worldwide since we began keeping records. We all know that environmental degradation disproportionately affects women and girls. Despite that, women are still under-represented in environmental decision-making and their role in natural resource management is largely neglected. How can the OSCE help participating States move towards more inclusive—and therefore more effective—environmental policymaking?“

Stressing that “environmental security is nothing new to the OSCE, which can be considered a trailblazer thanks to its comprehensive approach to security”, OSCE Secretary-General Thomas Greminger said that “women’s role as agents of change in tackling environmental challenges to security remains largely unexplored. This is a missed opportunity. But one that today’s discussions can help to rectify”.

“Enhancing women’s contribution to environmental decision-making – locally, nationally, regionally and globally – would have a positive and enduring impact on security for us all.

Including women and integrating gender perspectives in environmental strategies would help ensure that natural resources are managed more inclusively and sustainably. It would also help to unlock women’s full participation in social, economic and political life,” he said.

As a good example of how this can be done, Greminger highlighted the OSCE’s project on Women, Water Management and Conflict Prevention. “Targeting both female and male water professionals from Central Asia and Afghanistan, the project builds their capacities in gender-sensitive water governance and water diplomacy. It also aims to increase women’s participation in water management and conflict resolution at all levels,” said the Secretary General.

The high-level event featured a conversation with Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, former UN Special Envoy on Climate Change, and founder of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice.  This conversation was moderated by Melanne Verveer, Special Representative of the OSCE Chair-in-Office on Gender Issues and Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security at Georgetown University, Washington DC, who noted that “the nexus of gender, climate, and conflict is something we will increasingly have to grapple with. This is a call to action on every part of society - including the OSCE, its member states, and individuals.” 

Referring to recent scientific reports including the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in October 2018, Robinson said: “It is no longer the case that the 2030 agenda is entirely voluntary or the Paris Climate agreement almost voluntary – they have both become imperative because of the science, and we have to implement them both in full, and with much more ambition.”

Robinson underlined the relationship between climate change and security, and stressed the importance of the role of women in tackling the issue: “The more we recognize that we have an existential threat of climate change, the more the security implications become self-evident and we have to increasingly make that connection. I hope that this discussion and our meeting today will help the OSCE to really fully commit to the role of women as mediators, the need right across the board for women to be in positions of power and responsibility, and to understand and support women’s agency on the ground and give it more platform and more space.”

In his closing remarks, Vuk Žugić, Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities reiterated the crucial role of women as agents of change in addressing environment and security challenges and in promoting environmental co-operation within and across societies and borders.  “We will make every effort to advance women’s participation in our activities towards enhancing security and stability in the OSCE region in conformity with the goals of the 2030 Agenda” said Žugić. The Head of the OSCE’s Gender Section, Amarsanaa Darisuren, added, “The event today gave us all a better understanding about the nexus between gender, environment and conflict and opened a window of opportunity for further discussion and action for the OSCE”.