This document discusses the importance of ensuring women and girls' rights to a healthy environment. It provides facts showing existing inequalities faced by women, such as lack of equal land and inheritance rights. It outlines international frameworks that recognize women's role in biodiversity conservation, including the Beijing Declaration and CBD. It calls for transformative change in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework to achieve gender equality, including ensuring women's leadership in governance and equal access to resources. Case studies from around the world showcase women's resilience and leadership in environmental protection.

1. THE RIGHT TO A
HEALTHY
ENVIRONMENT:
WOMEN AND
GIRLS MATTER
MRINALINI RAI
WOMEN4BIODIVERSITY
CBD WOMEN CAUCUS
OCTOBER 23, 2020
THE ROAD TO KUNMING: HIGH-LEVEL
WORKSHOP ON BIODIVERSITY, CLIMATE AND
GOVERNANCE
#Women4Biodiversity

2. FACTS In 18 countries, husbands can legally prevent their
wives from working; in 39 countries, daughters and
sons do not have equal inheritance rights; and 49
countries lack laws protecting women from domestic
violence.
 While women have made important inroads into
political office across the world, their representation in
national parliaments at 23.7 per cent is still far from
parity.
 Globally, women are just 13 per cent of agricultural
land holders.
 Women make up 80% of all refugees and displaced
people. Instruments of genocide such as sexual
violence and rape are often directed at women and
girls.
 1 out of 3 women worldwide have experienced either
physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or
non-partner sexual violence. While there are many
other forms of violence that women may be exposed
to, this already represents a large proportion of the
world’s women.
 Global Witness recorded 212 land and environmental
defenders killed in 2019 – an average of more than
four people a week. Over 1 in 10 defenders killed were
women.
 COVID-19 pandemic will push 96 million people into
extreme poverty by 2021, 47 million of whom are
women and girls. This will bring the total number of
women and girls living on USD 1.90 or less, to 435
million.
9670034207

3. INTERNATIONAL GENDER-ENVIRONMENT POLICY FRAMEWORK
KEY COMPONENTS COMPRISING THE INTERNATIONAL GENDER-ENVIRONMENT POLICY
FRAMEWORK INCLUDE:

4. BEIJING DECLARATION AND
PLATFORM FOR ACTION (1995)
WOMEN AND ENVIRONMENT
253. By Governments, at all levels,
including municipal authorities, as
appropriate:
(a) Ensure opportunities for women,
including indigenous women, to
participate in environmental
decision-making at all levels,
including as managers, designers and
planners, and as implementers and
evaluators of environmental projects;
(b) Access to information and
education…
(c) Effective knowledge, innovation
and practices of indigenous and
local communitieis
(d) Take into account the the
precautionary principles 18,
Participants at the Non-Governmental Organizations Forum meeting held in Huairou, China, as part of the United
Nations Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, China on 4-15 September 1995. UN Photo/Milton
Grant

5. CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL
DIVERSITY (CBD) TEXT (1993)
 Recognizes the close and traditional dependence
of many indigenous and local communities on
biological resources;
 Recognizes the vital role that women play and
affirm(s) the need for the full participation of
women at all levels of policy-making and
implementation for biological diversity
conservation;
 Aware that conservation and sustainable use of
biological diversity is of critical importance for
meeting the food, health and other needs of the
growing world population
The Plan of Action was welcomed by the
Conference of the Parties at its ninth
meeting in Bonn, Germany, in May 2008
through its decision IX/24. Building on this
Plan of Action, the Conference of the
Parties adopted the 2015-2020 Gender Plan
of Action at its twelfth meeting in
Pyeongchange, Republic of Korea, in
October 2014 through its decision XII/7

6. TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE FOR GENDER EQUALITY AND
WOMEN AND GIRL’S RIGHTS IN POST-2020
Transformative change - A fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic
and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values (IPBES)
Proposed Priority Areas
• Women’s engagement and leadership in biodiversity governance;
• Equal access, ownership and control over biological resources, including land;
• Equitable sharing of benefits from biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, and from the utilization of
genetic resources
Recommendations
• Embed gender-responsive indicators throughout targets and make use of relevant gender-responsive indicators.
• Take into account pre-emptive precautionary principle and ensure in place social safeguards, including Free, Prior
and Informed Consent (FPIC)
• Address inequalities and the systemic barriers limiting women and girl’s enjoyment of their fundamental rights
RIGHT TO A HEALHTY ENVIORNMENT MEANS ENSURING THAT NO WOMEN OR GIRL IS LEFT BEHIND.

7. CBD POST2020 PROCESS
HTTPS://WWW.CBD.INT/CONFERENCES/POST2020
UN BIODIVERSITY CONFERENCE
C O P 1 5 – C P / M O P 1 0 - N P / M O P 4
Ecological Civilization-Building a Shared Future for All Life on
KUNMING • CHINA

8. Coordinator / CBD Women Caucus
Mrinalini (Tina) Rai
mrinalini.rai@women4biodiversity.org
Campaign Coordinator
Amelia Arreguin
amelia.arreguin@women4biodiversity.org
www.women4biodiversity.org

9. HERSTORIES – OF RESILIENCE
Para-Kiror women group in Chepareria’s
West Pokot County Kenya have
transformed their landscapes through
agroforestry practice
Mahila Parisar Sanghs mining meeting ,
Korchi, India. Their physical opposition and
vocal expression in various meetings against
mining, including the state sponsored public
hearings, ensured that the mining lease has
remained pending until this date in the
Korchi taluka

10. HERSTORIES – OF RESILIENCE
Marine Protected Areas and sustainable
management practice of “Bameti” mollusk
collection, Isles of Kei, Indonesia
Women fishers, shrimp peelers and mollusk
workers in Costa Rica

11. HERSTORIES – OF RESILIENCE
Endorois Women Forum, Kenya. to represent women on
matters involving rights of women particularly on matters of
cultural marginalisation that have resulted in the denial of
among others, women rights to participate in decision
to be heard, to resources and ownership of land.
Fair and Equitable Benefit Sharing (ABS) Biodiscovery case in
Mexico . The local development of an herbal product for the
cosmetic industry is guided by traditional knowledge under
the Nagoya Protocol
Through advocacy, Endorois women were also represented during the
preparation of the BCP and were able to share their ideas and
experiences as well in addition to being capacity built to ensure
resources are not removed from their jurisdiction without their
Ten years ago, at
the Mexican state
of Queretaro, in
the Charape-La
Joya Ejido
community, Mrs.
Eulalia Moreno
with her two
daughters
founded Women
& Environment
(W&E). In 2017,
Provital S.A turned
into the first
cosmetic
ingredients
supplier worldwise
to fully fulfil the