A Decisive Victory for Equality: The Belém Gender Action Plan Charts a Nine-Year Course for Feminist Climate Justice at COP30.
As the humid air of the Amazon rainforest hung over the closing sessions of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, a landmark agreement emerged that promises to reshape the global response to the climate crisis for nearly a decade. UN Women has officially signaled its enthusiastic endorsement of the newly adopted Belém Gender Action Plan (GAP), a comprehensive and ambitious roadmap designed to govern climate policy through a gender-responsive lens for the next nine years. This framework is not merely a bureaucratic milestone; it represents a hard-won victory for activists, policymakers, and the millions of women and girls currently navigating the harshest realities of a warming planet.
The adoption of the Belém GAP marks a critical evolution in how the international community perceives the intersection of environmental degradation and social inequality. For years, gender advocates have argued that climate change is far from a “gender-neutral” phenomenon. From the disproportionate impact of natural disasters on female-headed households to the increased risk of gender-based violence in the wake of climate-induced displacement, the evidence has been mounting. The Belém agreement acknowledges these systemic failures and positions gender equality as the indispensable engine of effective climate action.
At the heart of the Belém Gender Action Plan are several groundbreaking pillars that move beyond the vague commitments of the past. For the first time, the international community has integrated explicit provisions regarding health and the protection of women environmental defenders into a central climate framework. In regions across the globe, women who stand on the front lines to protect their ancestral lands and biodiversity often face extreme risks, including harassment, physical violence, and criminalization. The Belém GAP seeks to establish robust protection mechanisms, ensuring that those who risk their lives for the planet are shielded by international standards.
Furthermore, the decision addresses the often-overlooked “care economy”—the unpaid or underpaid labor of domestic work and caregiving that falls disproportionately on women. As climate change disrupts traditional livelihoods, the burden of care work often intensifies, pulling girls out of school and preventing women from participating in the green economy. The Belém GAP advocates for “socially just transitions,” a concept that ensures the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy does not replicate old patterns of exclusion. Instead, it calls for the creation of decent, quality jobs for women and the formal recognition of care work as a pillar of economic resilience.
The inclusivity of the Belém GAP is perhaps its most significant achievement. It rejects a “one-size-fits-all” approach to feminism, instead embracing a deeply intersectional perspective. The framework explicitly recognizes that the climate crisis is experienced differently based on a woman’s specific identity and location. It highlights the unique vulnerabilities and the indispensable leadership of women with disabilities, Indigenous women who are the traditional custodians of biodiversity, women from rural and remote communities, and women and girls of African descent. By naming these groups, the GAP ensures that their specific needs and traditional knowledge are not erased in the pursuit of high-level policy.
However, as UN Women and other stakeholders have noted, a plan is only as effective as its implementation. The success of the Belém GAP over the next nine years will depend heavily on “means of implementation”—the technical term for the funding, technology, and training required to turn words into action. To ensure that the GAP does not become another hollow document, it must be anchored in human rights principles and supported by adequate climate finance. This includes ensuring that climate funds are accessible to grassroots women’s organizations, which are often the most effective at implementing adaptation strategies but receive a fraction of global environmental funding.
Sarah Hendriks, the Director of the Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division at UN Women, underscored the organization’s commitment to this mission. She noted that UN Women is prepared to collaborate with all participating parties and stakeholders to close existing gaps. Her message was clear: the Gender Action Plan must be more than a document; it must be a tool for “inclusive, effective, and sustainable” action that benefits all women and girls, regardless of their background.
To understand the weight of this new agreement, one must look at the history of the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan. Originally conceived as a guidance document, the GAP outlines activities across five core priority areas: capacity-building and knowledge management; gender balance and leadership; coherence within the UN system; gender-responsive implementation; and rigorous monitoring and reporting. The Belém iteration of this plan is the most robust to date, reflecting a growing consensus that inclusive governance is not just a moral choice, but a practical necessity for survival. When women are involved in climate leadership, the resulting policies are often more sustainable and community-focused.
The context of COP30 being held in Belém, Brazil, adds a layer of symbolic and practical urgency to this development. As the gateway to the Amazon, Belém represents the epicenter of the struggle for the planet’s future. The adoption of a gender-focused plan in this specific location serves as a reminder that the defense of the environment is inextricably linked to the defense of the rights of those who live within it. Indigenous women in the Amazon, for instance, have long been at the forefront of conservation efforts, yet they have often been sidelined in global diplomatic forums. The Belém GAP seeks to correct this historical imbalance.
Beyond the immediate policy shifts, the Belém GAP addresses the pervasive issue of gender-based violence (GBV) in the context of climate change. Research has shown that during times of environmental stress, such as droughts or floods, rates of child marriage, domestic abuse, and human trafficking often spike. By including violence against women and girls as a key concern within the climate framework, the Belém GAP forces climate negotiators to consider the safety and bodily autonomy of women as a prerequisite for climate resilience.
UN Women’s role in this process remains pivotal. As the lead United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality, the organization works across the “Rio Conventions”—which cover climate change, biodiversity, and desertification—to ensure a coherent approach to environmental justice. Their mission is to shift the very foundations of society, from laws and institutions to social behaviors, to ensure that the gender gap is closed forever. For UN Women, climate action is not a separate silo; it is a fundamental part of building an equal world.
As the international community moves forward from COP30, the focus shifts to the national level. The Belém GAP provides the framework, but it is up to individual governments to integrate these principles into their National Climate Action Plans (NDCs). This will require a total rethink of how climate budgets are allocated and how local communities are consulted. It will require moving past the idea of women as “vulnerable victims” and instead treating them as the powerful agents of change they have always been.
The next nine years will be the ultimate test of the Belém Gender Action Plan. If successful, it will lead to a world where a woman’s leadership in a renewable energy co-op is the norm, where an Indigenous girl’s right to her ancestral land is protected by international law, and where climate finance flows directly to the communities that need it most. The adoption of the plan in Brazil is a moment of hope, but it is also a call to action. The blueprint is now in place; the work of building a gender-just planet begins in earnest.
For those following the progress of the UNFCCC and UN Women, the Belém GAP is a reminder that progress is possible even in the face of daunting global challenges. It reinforces the idea that gender equality is not a secondary goal to be addressed after the “real” work of climate mitigation is done. Instead, it proves that gender equality is the very foundation upon which a sustainable future must be built. As the world looks toward 2034, the Belém Gender Action Plan stands as a testament to the power of collective advocacy and the unwavering belief that a fairer world is a cooler, safer, and more resilient one for all.
