Feminist Perspectives on Climate Diplomacy

Feminist foreign policy provides a lens through which we can see climate action as a shared priority and human security issue. Australia should use feminist climate diplomacy to authentically listen to diverse stakeholders, analyse justice issues rigorously, and involve bottom-up approaches in its bid to co-host COP31.

The development of feminist foreign policy began with Sweden in 2014 with the idea that it provides a framework to understand and transform the global systems of power which uphold and perpetuate inequality in order to create peaceful and flourishing societies. As Thompson, Patel, Kripke, and O’Donnell state:

Feminist foreign policy is the policy of a state that defines its interactions with other states, as well as movements and other non-state actors, in a manner that prioritizes peace, gender equality and environmental integrity; enshrines, promotes, and protects the human rights of all; seeks to disrupt colonial, racist, patriarchal and male-dominated power structures; and allocates significant resources, including research, to achieve that vision. Feminist foreign policy is coherent in its approach across all of its levers of influence, anchored by the exercise of those values at home and co-created with feminist activists, groups and movements, at home and abroad.

As a collective action problem, climate change requires nations to look beyond their own narrowly defined interests and seek collective global solutions. Feminist foreign policy provides a lens through which we can see climate action as a shared priority, a human security issue, and one which is central to Australia’s relationships with the region. Additionally, as a framework which emphasises the need for policy coherence between domestic and international issues, feminist foreign policy highlights the need for states to take domestic action on climate change in order to fulfil their international role. Feminist foreign policy approaches to climate policy provides perspectives on the gendered impacts of climate change, but also possible gendered solutions to climate adaptation and mitigation. For example, the IPPC Sixth Assessment Report on Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation has recognised this, stating that not only are the impacts of climate change heavily gendered, intersectional solutions that promote just and equitable mitigation and adaptation actions to support sustainable development can lessen climate risk:

Structural vulnerabilities to climate change can be reduced through carefully designed and implemented legal, policy, and process interventions from the local to global that address inequities based on gender, ethnicity, disability, age, location and income (very high confidence).  This includes rights-based approaches that focus on capacity-building, meaningful participation of the most vulnerable groups, and their access to key resources, including financing, to reduce risk and adapt (high confidence).  Evidence shows that climate resilient development processes link scientific, Indigenous, local, practitioner and other forms of knowledge, and are more effective and sustainable because they are locally appropriate and lead to more legitimate, relevant and effective actions (high confidence).

Feminist foreign policy perspectives can also link non-traditional security threats or human security perspectives to national security debates. For example, AUKUS is responding to a traditional threat assessment about China, but what if the human security of Australians was more at risk from another pandemic, or acute climate impacts?

Feminist approach to COP29 Agenda will focus on Peace and Climate Nexus

COP29 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will be held in Azerbaijan towards the end of 2024. Elshad Iskandarov, Special Envoy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, has stated that global climate change poses a formidable challenge to international security and that a pressing issue for the COP agenda is to pre-empt potential conflict that may arise from food and water shortages stemming from climate change. The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, is working for a COP Ceasefire Appeal, which would be the first COP statement linking security and climate issues.

A second priority outlined by Mr Iskandar is to establish a special support fund for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) who are particularly vulnerable to the threat posed by climate change. This is in recognition of an ever-increasing portion of the world’s population that is grappling with both the impacts of climate change and conflicts, with more regions falling into the “particularly vulnerable” category. A feminist approach to climate diplomacy at COP29 would ensure that the voices of SIDS representatives are heard and that the Loss and Damage agenda would see progress.

Feminist Climate Diplomacy – Co-hosting COP31 with Pacific Neighbours

The Australian Government has officially bid to co-host the 31st UNFCCC COP in 2026 in partnership with our Pacific neighbours. Partnering with Pacific Island nations who are among the most climate vulnerable in the world would be a show of responsibility-taking and leadership for Australia. Not only is this ethically appropriate, but strategically Australia needs to rebuild ties within its immediate region due to increasing concerns about China’s influence within the Pacific region. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Penny Wong, has rightly noted: “Nothing is more central to the security and economies of the Pacific than climate change.” However, many have argued that Australia will struggle not to be accused of greenwashing.

The Pacific region has taken action to hold developed countries to account within UNFCCC forums and it can be assumed that any meeting co-hosted with the Pacific region will be pushing for ambitious climate mitigation action, significant increases in climate finance, and support for climate adaptation. The foreign affairs minister will be held to positions like these: “Australia is acting on climate change at home, and will now be part of the solution in the world. As well as playing our part to reduce emissions, Australia is also focused on helping our neighbours deal with the climate emergency, and elevating Pacific voices and priorities on the world stage.”

Australia will also have to acknowledge and genuinely redress the climate impacts on First Nations Australians, especially in the Torres Strait, the subject of a successful UN Human Rights Committee complaint and current Federal Court action. Feminist climate diplomacy will involve authentic listening and bottom-up approaches to hosting the world in the critical decade for climate.

Professor Rowena Maguire is Director of the QUT Centre for Justice. Rowena is currently working on two original programs of work: climate governance work focusing on gender, social inclusion, and effectiveness; and examining how supply chain regulation (due diligence, modern slavery, carbon account, decarbonisation, circular economy) can improve environmental and social outcomes. 

Professor Susan Harris Rimmer focuses on international human rights law, climate justice, future generations and gender equality in the Griffith Law School. Her latest book is Climate Politics in Oceania. She was appointed by the Qld Attorney-General to undertake an independent review of the Human Rights Act 2019 to be tabled in October 2024.

This article is published under a Creative Commons License and may be republished with attribution.