Gender – Knowledge Sharing Platform

Two women smiling, looking at each other, in front of their computers.

Our new e-course, developed in collaboration with C40 and with the support of Fondation L’Oréal, inspires and equips women with the skills needed to lead inclusive and effective climate initiatives.

Read on to find out more about the course.

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and women are uniquely positioned to drive the innovative, inclusive solutions needed to address this global crisis. The “Developing Skills for Women Leadership in Climate Action” e-course is a comprehensive 9-hour e-course designed to inspire and equip women and girls with the leadership skills necessary to lead just and effective climate initiatives.

In four modules, the e-course introduces learners to the most up-to-date understanding of climate science while offering practical tools and strategies to help them implement inclusive and equitable climate actions. You’ll learn how to develop, plan, and execute climate projects that prioritize social justice and inclusivity, ensuring that your initiatives benefit all members of the community.

The course was developed by UNITAR and C40 with the exclusive support of the Fondation L’Oréal, and with knowledge contributions from Columbia Climate School and CARE France. It’s available in English, French, and Spanish.

Learn more about it below.

What will you learn?

Explain what is climate change and define key elements of inclusive climate action.
Discuss the impact of climate change on women and the role they play at the heart of climate action.
Identify opportunities and plan effective climate action.
Discuss approaches for influencing others and gaining support for your climate actions.

Who is this course for?

This course is designed for everyone, but particularly women and girls, who would like to develop key leadership skills and access a rich base of knowledge on climate action rooted in inclusivity and equity

Will you get a certificate?

Anyone who completes the course will be granted an official UN certificate of completion.

To obtain the certificate, learners need to go through all course videos, readings, and activities, as well as pass all course quizzes with a grade of 70% or higher.

Take the course today in English, French, or Spanish.

The ‘Women Leadership in Climate Action’ e-course aims to inspire women and girls, strengthen their leadership skills, and help them deliver the just climate initiatives needed to tackle the climate crisis.

If you are concerned about climate change, if it’s already affecting you, or if you thought about taking action but felt you lacked power or knowledge: this course is for you. It empowers and educates emerging climate leaders like you to deliver climate actions rooted in the principles of inclusivity and equity.

Enroll

Gender

Self-paced course

12 hours

Why take this course?

The ‘Developing Skills for Women Leadership in Climate Action’ online course was created to support women and girls to develop their leadership skills and take on green and just climate actions. By the end of this course, you will have a good understanding of key topics related to climate change science and inclusive climate action. You will also be equipped with actionable tools that will help you lift your climate ideas off the ground or strengthen the existing project you are working on.

We look forward to accompanying you through this inclusive climate leadership journey and learning more about you, your motivations and your plans for climate action! After completing the course, you will be able to:

Explain what is climate change and define key elements of inclusive climate action.
Discuss the impact of climate change on women and the role they play at the heart of climate action.
Identify opportunities and plan effective climate action.
Discuss approaches for influencing others and gaining support for your climate actions.

Course Overview

The course consists of 4 modules, each taking approximately 2,5 hours to complete. Modules 1 and 2, introduce learners to the most up-to-date understanding of climate science and zoom in on innovative approaches aimed at mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change while reducing social inequalities. This baseline of knowledge prepares learners for modules 3 and 4, which provide actionable tools to help learners create inclusive and equitable projects on the ground. The 5th wrap-up section of the course provides useful guidance and tools for the development of your climate project.

Introduction to Climate Change and Inclusive Climate Action
Women at the Heart of Climate Action
Taking the Lead on Inclusive Climate Action
Influencing Change while Staying Resilient
Course wrap-up

Get your Certificate

After completing the course you will be granted a certificate.

To obtain your certificate, you need to complete all course videos, readings, and activities, as well as pass all course quizzes with a grade of 70% or higher.

You can keep track of your progress and download your certificate under the “Certification” tab on the main course page.

On this International Women’s Day, we’ve put women-led and gender-responsive climate action in the spotlight.

Read on to find out how we can strengthen and increase women’s participation in climate solutions.

Photo Credit: Panos Pictures.

Read in French or Spanish

Today is International Women’s Day. To celebrate this important date, we invite you to reflect on the role of women in addressing climate change.

Women are often overlooked in climate policy, even though they are the ones suffering the most from the consequences of climate change.

According to UN Women:

“The climate crisis is not “gender neutral”. Women and girls experience the greatest impacts of climate change, which amplifies existing gender inequalities and poses unique threats to their livelihoods, health, and safety.”

How can we ensure that women and girls take part in climate-related decisions that produce effective and inclusive solutions to climate change?

To answer this question, we listed below three ways that could help improve gender-responsive and women-led climate action.

Implement community-led and gender-responsive climate solutions.

Encouraging women’s participation and women-led climate solutions results in better, more efficient, and inclusive outcomes.

In many rural communities, for instance, women are responsible for collecting water for their families and, over the years, have gained a unique understanding of changes to rainfall patterns, as well as water harvesting and storage.

These women are uniquely placed to inform adaptation strategies and develop tailored and inclusive solutions.

Access to tailored financial resources and resource management.

Women manage households and account for a big chunk of the labor force. Nonetheless, they often find themselves without the means to provide for themselves and their families, or without the right incentives to do so.

In Côte d’Ivoire, for example, women account for 70% of the agricultural sector but own only 3% of the land they cultivate. This UN Women project in the country has empowered Ivorian women to increase their incomes through improved efficiency and greater agricultural output.

By providing them with the right resources, including financial ones, they can build more tailored and climate-resilient communities, greatly contributing to climate adaptation and mitigation.

Climate action for all.

Investments in gender-inclusive climate action have far-reaching, society-wide benefits, such as environmental conservation and poverty reduction.

As the UNFCCC put it:

“By tackling climate change with a gender lens, we can also address women’s rights and promote greater gender equality.”

Women play a key role in building climate-resilient societies.

Interested in learning more about the interlinkages between gender and climate change on International Women’s Day?

Take our free gender-related e-courses.

Training participants posing happily for a picture.

From 7 to 11 August 2023, UNITAR delivered a training on gender and climate change to civil servants in Kigali, Rwanda, the first one developed in the framework of the One UNITAR Gender Initiative.

Read on to find out more about the training.

“The land of a thousand hills” – this statement is no exaggeration to the undulating landscape of Rwanda. The hills were also a welcoming sight for UNITAR’s pilot training on gender and climate change, organized in collaboration with the Gender Monitoring Office of Rwanda and CIFAL Kigali with support from the Ministry of Environment under the One UNITAR Gender initiative. The One UNITAR Gender promotes innovative learning solutions on women’s empowerment, building on extensive experiences and knowledge of all UNITAR divisions.

Participants at the training in a meeting room.

The training, held from 7 – 11 August 2023 at the CIFAL Kigali centre, aimed to build capacities of a mix of participants drawn from government institutions including the Gender Monitoring Office, Rwanda Environment Management Authority, Rwanda Standards Board, National Institute of Statistics, Rwanda Green Fund (FONERWA), Ministry of Environment, Rwanda Cooperation and civil society organizations including Action Aid and ADEPE. The focus of the training was on climate change and the interlinkage with gender equality and women’s empowerment. Climate change as a threat multiplier can deepen existing gender inequalities. Rwanda’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) aims to “promote and encourage the mainstreaming of gender considerations in climate change issues” including the capturing and reporting of gender disaggregated data. Ensuring that institutions like the Gender Monitoring Office that are mandated with monitoring gender related commitments within Rwanda’s ratified policies across sectors have the capacity to not only understand climate change impacts and differentiated effects on people but also on how climate policies can be made gender-responsive – from policy design to monitoring and evaluation.

A participant and Ms. Lisa Main, from UNITAR.

Rwanda is a leader in the African continent on advancing women’s participation in decision-making, with nearly two thirds of its parliamentary seats and 52 per cent of cabinet positions held by women. Women in Rwanda are also leading the charge when it comes to climate action, with examples from community-level champions to trailblazers at national and international levels. This training was a step towards enabling Rwanda’s climate policies to be gender-responsive and that a multi-institutional approach is taken towards their development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The end-goal is to ensure that climate policies speak to the realities of frontline communities and vulnerable groups and that Leaving No One Behind is not just a principle, but a practice.

Neeshad Shafi took the Intro Course on Climate Change and founded the first and only not-for-profit environmental organization registered in the State of Qatar. His NGO strives to protect the environment while giving equal opportunities to women and the youth. Read his full story below!

When one thinks about climate change action, Qatar is not really the first place that comes to mind. But Neeshad Shafi, founder of the Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar, is changing that. As a student, Neeshad wanted to better understand climate science and advocacy, which led him to discover UN CC:Learn and its platform with free e-courses. He set out to complete the “Introductory e-Course on Climate Change” and successfully completed the course in 2015. The knowledge acquired in the course laid out the groundwork for his future endeavor: founding the Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar (AYCMQ), the single not-for-profit environmental organization registered in the State of Qatar.

AYCMQ is a youth-led NGO building a movement that fosters understanding of the natural ecosystems and empowers the community to act. It does that by raising environmental awareness at grassroots level and by targeting youth and adults with tailored activities, helping to promote active participation in dialogue and in finding solutions.

AYCMQ’s values are also rooted in gender equality. For instance, more than half of its team members are women and so are most of the participants who take part in the organization’s activities, which is something remarkable everywhere but especially in a Gulf country.

“At AYCM Qatar we are founded on the presciple of gender equality. More then 50% of our team comprises of women members and we have always given up most space for women and youth girls in various programs of ours.” – Neeshad Shafi, 2022 UN CC:Learn Champion

Joe Mari Francisco is the Philippines’ National Gender Focal Point to the UNFCCC. His engagement with gender and climate change started in 2018 when he completed UN CC:Learn courses that shed a light on the interlinkages between the two topics. Read on to discover his inspiring story.

Gender equality and climate action are intertwined topics that are increasingly being addressed together. Joe Mari S. Francisco, technical officer of the of Philippines’ Climate Change Commission and National Gender Focal Point of the Philippines to the UNFCCC, agrees with it and has been tasked with mainstreaming gender across the Philippines’ NDC. Joe Mari took the Open Online Course on Gender and Environment and the Introductory e-Course on Climate Change back in 2018 to better understand climate change and its implications on gender. He successfully completed both courses and, among other things, discovered the interlinkages between climate change and gender. This newly acquired knowledge contributed to him being appointed to support the development of a gender responsive NDC for the Philippines.

Since 2018, he has carried out gender and climate change audits of his organization, produced a Gender Analysis and added technical inputs to the NDC, and been appointed as the National Gender Focal Point to the UNFCCC. Moreover, Joe Maris has been able to raise awareness of gender and climate change among his peers in the Commission and this has been reflected in the mainstreaming of gender across the Commission’s internal and external processes.

Currently, he’s part of the team developing the Philippines’ NDC Gender Action Plan which aims to implement gender responsive NDC policies and measures for Filipino women, men, and LGBT+.

Joe Mari’s contributions can be found on the National Integrated Climate Change Database and Information Technology.

His knowledge of gender and climate change opened opportunities on different fronts as well. For instance, he has been invited to deliver several national and international presentations on Gender and Climate Change to share the Philippine’s experiences on integrating gender in climate actions.

“I think the knowledge I got from the courses on UN CC :e-Learn helped me to fulfil my tasks as one of National Gender Focal Point of the Philippines to the UNFCCC.” – Joe Mari S. Francisco. 2022 UN CC:Learn Champion

In May 2022, the UNITAR Green Development and Climate Change Programme (GCP) team, under which UN CC:Learn is hosted, took part in a week-long training on gender with the purpose of learning more about this imperative topic to further mainstream it across its projects and activities.

Read on to find out more about this enriching experience!

UNITAR has made targeted efforts to mainstream gender equality and the empowerment of women and leaving no one behind, two of the guiding principles of the Sustainable Development Goals, at an institutional and programmatic level. From development of online courses (Gender and the Environment, Gender Equality and Human Rights in Climate Action and Renewable Energy) to institutional frameworks and guidelines on the integration of gender in projects. However, taking a deeper inward look, the Green Development and Climate Change Programme (GCP) team of UNITAR reflected on its own approach to gender mainstreaming and inclusion in its work.

Attitude and behavioural shifts start internally…

In an effort to strengthen internal capacity on inclusion, gender equality and women’s empowerment, a gender training was organized over the course of 5 days from 23 – 27 May 2022 in Geneva. The training was specifically tailored to speak to the context of gender equality and inclusion in GCP’s work on green development and climate change learning while also discussing the fundamentals of gender equality and inclusion (key terms, tools and approaches). The sessions utilised a varied approach with group work exercises, role plays, case studies, videos, mock interviews, practical sessions and check-ins.

UNITAR Executive Director, Mr. Nikhil Seth, highlighted the training as an essential initiative to elevate gender and inclusion within programmes and projects of GCP. It was also an opportune time as the training coincided with the beginning of the new phase of the UN CC:Learn programme and provided a chance to ensure interventions are indeed gender-responsive and contribute to the goal set out in the Theory of Change.

UNITAR Executive Director, Nikhil Seth (centre), opening the gender training

It is no longer enough to say gender equality and inclusion are important, we need to go beyond to practical action to reflect approaches that improve the condition and position of women and girls in all areas of our work. – UNITAR Executive Director, Nikhil Seth

Over the course of the week, the team dissected gender, intersectionality and a human rights-based approach drawing from personal and professional experiences, enriching the discussions and exercises. The approach to the training was highly practical and engaging, a safe space where colleagues could raise all sorts of questions, demystify misconceptions and assumptions around gender equality and inclusion and come up with creative and applicable ways to better address gender issues in a more proactive and systematic manner. Looking at GCP’s programme of work and partners, the aim was to identify opportunities and entry points to integrate and advocate for gender equality and inclusion. There were also dedicated one-on-one sessions where colleagues consulted with the gender expert on specific areas to integrate gender equality within their work; from gender-responsive communication, gender in green economy and e-learning and integration in youth engagement work.

GCP team in a mock interview exercise during the gender training

Aside from the technical content, the training also served as an informal team building session as it was the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic forced people to work from home, that the team had congregated and reacquainted in person.

GCP team filling out an exercise sheets during the gender training

With all that was learned throughout the week, there was a sense of invigoration among the team to ensure deliberate and conscious steps are taken to integrating gender equality and inclusion in all areas of work within climate change learning.

UN CC:Learn and EmPower partnered up to train over 90 people from five Asian countries on the interlinkages between gender equality, human rights, climate action and renewable energy.

Read on to get a glimpse of the training.

Facilitating women’s access to renewable energy can increase gender equality and enhance the realization of their rights, while boosting climate action. That’s one of the key takeaways from the “Gender Equality and Human Rights in Climate Action and Renewable Energy” e-course, launched in November 2021. As a follow-up UN CC:Learn and EmPower joined forces once again to organize a two-day moderated e-workshop on the topics of the course with the purpose of enabling participants to delve deeper into them.

The “E-Workshop on Gender Equality and Human Rights in Climate Action and Renewable Energy” took place on 6^th and 7^th April 2022 and brought together 102 people – between participants and speakers – to discuss, among other things, how women’s access to renewable energy can positively affect gender equality, human rights, and climate action. The e-workshop aimed to contextualize the knowledge about these topics while enhancing experience-sharing across the Asia-Pacific region. It primarily focused on five Asian countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Viet Nam, and was divided into four main sessions spread across over more than seven hours of training.

The training was designed to achieve the following learning objectives:

Learning Objectives – Slide taken from main presentation.

The sessions were:

Session 1: Regional overview
Session 2: Understanding gender equality and human rights in climate policy
Session 3: Gender and climate change – sectoral experiences
Session 4: Moving forward – where to from here?

Each session consisted of keynote presentations delivered by experts, with three of them having moderated and interactive group exercises to promote experience-sharing among attendees. The “Experience-sharing: the status of gender equality in climate action in Asia-Pacific” and “Designing gender responsive sectoral activities” group activities in sessions 2 and 3, respectively, allowed participants to exchange and brainstorm with peers, thus allowing them to share their experiences while they worked on tailored exercises focused on each country or sector. The former had participants split into 5 groups representing one of each focus countries while the latter had them divided into 3 groups representing three key sectors: energy, agriculture, and forestry.

“Thank you for all the organizers of the e-workshop on Gender Equality and Human Rights in Climate Action and Renewable Energy. I have learned a lot. It is interesting to meet so many people from all over the region that are working on the issue. I am thankful that I found this workshop and joined this network exactly at the same time as I planned to delve more into this issue.“ – E-Workshop Participant

To attend the e-workshop, participants had to undertake a selection process which consisted of being invited or appointed by their governments or agencies and filling in an online application form. They were also encouraged to take the online course prior to the training to arrive at it with a similar level of knowledge and understanding.

The entire process was captured by a visual artist who drew live the topics and ideas discussed.

Visual Representation of Day 1

Visual Representation of Day 2

Disclaimer

Cover picture credit: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Panos Pictures

How are gender equality and human rights interlinked with climate change and renewable energy?

The new “Gender Equality and Human Rights in Climate Action and Renewable Energy” e-course aims to answer this question while unpacking these critical issues in a 6-hour learning experience.

Read on to find out more about it.

Climate change effects are far-reaching and concern every aspect of society, from economic development to the realization of human rights. By multiplying existing threats, climate change disproportionally affects vulnerable groups – such as women, youth, the elderly, and persons with disabilities, reduce their ability to adapt and respond to its challenges, and enhances inequalities.

In this context, UN CC:Learn has partnered up with EmPower, an initiative led by UN Environment and UN Women with support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), to develop the “Gender Equality and Human Rights in Climate Action and Renewable Energy” e-course. This new free, self-paced e-course aims to equip decision-makers with the tools and knowledge to integrate gender and human rights into climate policies and commitments while explaining how to develop inclusive climate mitigation and adaptation actions, with a particular focus on the renewable energy sector.

At the end of the course, participants will be able to:

Describe the nexus between gender equality, human rights, renewable energy, and climate change
Explain how a gender-responsive and human rights-based approach in climate action leads to economic, social, and environmental benefits
Recognize international and sectoral commitments on gender equality, human rights, and climate change and their relationship with national priorities and policies
Identify entry points for gender and human rights in renewable energy and climate policy and action
Select and apply tools and approaches for the promotion of human rights-based and gender-responsive climate action
Discuss targeted opportunities for women in climate change and renewable energy, with a particular focus on multi-stakeholder collaboration, renewable energy entrepreneurship, and access to finance.

The course consists of an introductory module and two specialized ones. The former introduces the interconnections between gender equality and human rights in climate action and renewable energy. Module 2 focuses on how to develop and implement gender-responsive renewable energy policies and programmes, with the goal of creating more opportunities for women to access and benefits from renewable energy. It pays particular attention to the promotion on women’s renewable energy entrepreneurship. Module 3 delves into how to develop and implement gender-responsive and human rights-inclusive climate change policies and frameworks at national level, including in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).

Learners are invited to complete the first introductory module and then choose one of the two specialized modules according to the selected pathway. Pathway 1 is particularly intended for renewable energy experts and professionals of financial institutions. Pathway 2 is designed specifically for climate change and green economy policymakers. Participants can also opt to take all three modules.

Each module has four lessons, a final quiz and takes an estimated 2 hours to be completed. To succeed, participants must score 70% or higher within three attempts for each final quiz. Upon successful completion of each, participants will receive a badge. After completing the quizzes for the chosen pathway, participants will be able to download their certificate from the “Certification” section of the course’s webpage.

Take the course here.

Disclaimer

Cover picture credit: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Panos Pictures

This self-paced e-course provides an overview of the interlinkages between gender, human rights, climate change, and renewable energy. It provides participants with the specific knowledge and tools to integrate and implement gender equality in renewable energy access and entrepreneurship, as well as related gender-responsive and human rights-based approaches in climate change mitigation and adaptation measures.

Enroll

Gender
Energy
Climate Change
Education

Self-paced course

6 hours

English

Key Results

16200 learners
14100 certificates issued

Welcome!

The deep-rooted and far-reaching impacts of climate change make it one of the most defining challenges in the world today. The impacts of climate change manifest in primary effects such as increased frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events like droughts, storms and floods. However, it is the negative secondary effects that often go overlooked, especially for those who already experience inequalities, including women, youth, the elderly, persons with disabilities and minority groups.

Multiple and intersecting social inequalities affect the ability of marginalized groups to adapt to a changing climate, excluding these groups from decision-making processes at household, community, and national levels. They also prevent them from taking hold of the opportunities that low-emissions, climate-resilient development brings towards improved livelihoods, particularly in sectors like renewable energy that also have the potential to improve the socio-economic wellbeing of women.

What Will You Learn?

After completing the course, participants will be able to:

Describe the nexus between gender equality, human rights, renewable energy, and climate change
Explain how a gender-responsive and human rights-based approach in climate action leads to economic, social, and environmental benefits
Recognize international and sectoral commitments on gender equality, human rights, and climate change and their relationship with national priorities and policies
Identify entry points for gender and human rights in renewable energy and climate policy and action
Select and apply tools and approaches for the promotion of human rights-based and gender-responsive climate action
Discuss targeted opportunities for women in climate change and renewable energy, with a particular focus on multi-stakeholder collaboration, renewable energy entrepreneurship, and access to finance.

The Course at a Glance

The course includes 3 modules. These have specific learning objectives and contain a broad range of features such as videos, case studies and exercises. Each module is divided into 4 lessons of around 30 minutes each.

The course provides learners with the option to choose and combine different thematic modules. There are two main learning pathways available that participants can select based on their interests. Pathway 1 is particularly intended for renewable energy experts and professionals of financial institutions. Pathway 2 is designed specifically for climate change and green economy policymakers. Both learning pathways have a common introductory module. Participants can also opt to take all three modules.

Who Should Take This Course?

The course is of particular interest to the following audiences:

National policymakers, government officials and stakeholders in sectors of climate change, gender equality and renewable energy, as well as regional actors;
Renewable energy service providers and officials of financial institutions in renewable energy entrepreneurship;
Anyone interested in learning more about gender equality and human rights-based approaches in the renewable energy sector.

Get a Certificate

Level 1: Each module in the course has a final quiz to assess participants’ understanding of the content. Participants will receive a completion badge via email upon successful completion of each quiz.

Level 2: Participants who pass all the final quizzes within their learning pathway will receive a UN certificate of completion, where successful completion will require a score of 70% or higher with a maximum of 3 attempts at each quiz. Upon successful completion of the quizzes, participants will be able to download their certificate – or their 2 certificates if they followed all three modules – from the “Certification” section of the course’s webpage.

Harness Your Leadership Potential with the Developing Skills for Women Leadership in Climate Action

What will you learn?

Who is this course for?

Will you get a certificate?

Developing Skills for Women Leadership in Climate Action

Why take this course?

Course Overview

Get your Certificate

Three Ways to Ramp-up Women-led Climate Action.

Implement community-led and gender-responsive climate solutions.

Access to tailored financial resources and resource management.

Climate action for all.

UNITAR delivers its first training on Gender and Climate Change in Rwanda

Engaging Youth People to Advance Climate Action in QATAR

Mainstreaming Gender across Climate Action in the Philippines

UN CC:Learn Gender and Climate Change Week