Outlook for a sustainable and just future

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development places women’s rights at the centre of transformative change, and especially at the centre of the pursuit of sustainable development in its three dimensions - economic, social and environmental (UN 2015). Giving shape and context to what gender-transformative sustainable development approaches look like, it offers the promise of shifting current trends and dynamics away from business as usual (BAU) in regard to gender and the environment. However, even in a document as visionary as the 2030 Agenda, explicit links between gender and the environment are weak: in the environmentally specific SDG goals, gender and women are mentioned in only one target: “13.b, Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries and small island developing States, including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalized communities.”

Sustainable Development Goals:

Gender Equality