WHEN GENDER AND CLIMATE

GO HAND IN HAND: NEW

PROSPECTS FOR
DEVELOPMENT
PUBLISHED ON 12 JULY 2021

ClimateGender EqualityFighting Inequalities  

France

This month's Generation Equality Forum organized in Paris highlighted the links
between gender and climate change. A new study conducted by the French Economic
Observatory (OFCE) and Sciences Po describes the connections between climate and
gender as one of the central issues in development today. What is becoming
increasingly clear is that in our efforts to realize the Sustainable Development Goals,
one priority need not be pursued at the expense of another.
What do the reduction of gender inequalities and the fight against climate
change have in common? Both are central to the 2030 Agenda and the
17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in September 2015: SDG
5 and SDG 13 are dedicated to them. Logically, these two issues are also
central to the discourses, commitments and strategies of the main national
and transnational actors in development assistance and the fight against the
effects of climate change.
In a way, the challenge of the SDGs can be seen with these two objectives.
How to reconcile them? Can they be interconnected? How do these two
issues fit in with the strategies and discourses of the many stakeholders
involved?

Two major development issues - linked

The purpose of the ambitious and innovative research initiated in 2020 by
Agence Française de Développement (AFD), with the French Economic
Observatory (OFCE) and Sciences Po Gender Research Program (Presage),
is to answer these questions. “An analysis of the discourses on gender issues
has been conducted by a number of social science researchers for years,”
says Serge Rabier, a social demographer responsible for research at AFD.
“This has given a better understanding of the typologies of discourses, which
refer to different visions and more or less extensive objectives for the
transformation of social gender relations.”  
The fight against climate change is based on an international framework that
has been structured since 1992 and the Rio Earth Summit, while gender
issues were added to the international agenda a few years later, during the
4th World Conference on Women organized in Beijing in 1995. “Up until now
there has been very little research on the two issues and their crossovers,”
says Rabier, who is also a specialist in gender issues. “This is why we wanted
to make an initial assessment to better inform these issues, which have
become very important today. However, it’s interesting to start with what the
institutions and organizations in the development field say, write and declare.”

A new field of research 

The OFCE has expertise in this area and has therefore been commissioned to
conduct an analysis of the discourses of the various categories of
stakeholders on quite an extensive set of documentary production. Some 800
documents in French, English and Spanish from 54 structures, including
international institutions, non-governmental organizations, multilateral and
bilateral institutions and public development banks, have been filtered through
150 keywords and semantic fields related to action for the climate and
gender, in order to gain a better understanding of them. 

At the intersection of gender and climate, eight interpretative frameworks

(also called narrative frameworks) have been built, each illustrating a different
approach in order to establish a convergence between them. The initial
findings of this research, which were submitted on the eve of the Generation
Equality Forum, show that women and girls should be prioritized in the fight
against climate change in terms of their vulnerability.
On the other hand, they can gain from the transition of our economies towards
more sustainable models. In many regions, young women and girls require
better access to education and training. 

“It is extremely valuable initial research which has allowed us to create a

baseline and lines of analysis to take things further,” says Serge Rabier. “We
haven’t explored everything yet.” Starting with how these discourses are
perceived in developing and emerging countries, if they are accepted or if
there is resistance to them and, of course, their implementation.”

Will the talk be followed by action? Will they translate into practice a more
effective reconciliation of gender issues with the fight against climate change
and thereby bring about far-reaching transformations? Fulfilling the Paris
Accord and instilling social cohesion are pillars of AFD’s strategy. Cutting-
edge research is making an essential contribution.
Whether as vast sources of biodiversity, carbon sinks, or as food sources, forests are
vital for life on Earth. But they’re under constant threat by human activities and
climate change. In this feature report, we’ll see what’s happening under the forest
canopy, to better understand the issues linked to forest conservation – as well as the
solutions at hand.
Seeing the forests for the trees: a vital and vulnerable life force 
“A large tract of land covered by trees.” This dictionary definition of the word
“forest” seems outdated today, as science continues to reveal its rich and
multifaceted nature. Forests are in fact a complex ecosystem composed of
mammals, birds, insects, plants, fungi, subterranean microorganisms, organic
matter, water and gases. 

In other words, it cannot simply be reduced to a group of trunks standing

proudly up to the sky. “The forest is a group of trees that has grown
spontaneously,” as Francis Hallé, a botanist and biologist specializing in
tropical forests, puts it nicely. 

Of course, forests aren’t just that. Today, forests are our top ally against
climate change, as they absorb nearly 2 billion tons of CO2 each year, or 5%
of our greenhouse gas emissions. And likewise our top ally against decline of
living species, forests being home to nearly 80% of terrestrial biodiversity.
Forests have other virtues, as well: they play a major role in purifying fresh
water; producing oxygen; and providing wood, food, and other services to
nearly 1.6 billion people.

The problem is that, in this current time of ecological emergency, this

reservoir of life and carbon faces multiple threats. These include agricultural
expansion (land for crops and livestock), large-scale construction projects,
unsustainable logging, global warming, and other threats. 

Between 1990 and 2015, the world’s forests shrank by 130 million hectares—
twice the size of France—according to the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO). Deforestation has even speeded up since
2010, especially in South America and Africa. “If we continue at the current
rate, there will be no more tropical forest by the end of this century,” warns
Gilles Boeuf, biologist and professor at Sorbonne University. Like the lost
people of Easter Island, we are slowly sawing off branches, with the risk of
exacerbating biodiversity loss, intensifying climate change, and releasing new
and potentially devastating diseases.

Bringing a halt to logging in every corner of the globe seems impossible

today. So why not do our best to make it more responsible and more
sustainable for ecosystems? That is one of the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs): “Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of
terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification,
and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.”

This is also the goal that AFD has been pursuing for 30 years now, via our
continued support for dozens of projects aimed at establishing responsible
forest management in the Congo Basin, with as much involvement by local
and indigenous people as possible.

Faced with such challenges, there are no simple solutions. But what we do
know is that if we don’t take care of nature’s standing giants, we will no longer
see the forest for the trees – because they will be gone. 
Whether it’s durable walnut to make a table, or rich and robust oak for the beams of a home,
good quality wood can fetch a high price. But thriving markets have contributed to high
levels of deforestation. Certification systems seek to verify the origins of wood and make
forests more sustainable. How effective have they been? We look back at the origins and
impact of some of the world's major certification systems.

“Forest resources and forest lands should be sustainably managed to meet

the social, economic, ecological, cultural and spiritual needs of present and
future generations.” So read the Rio Earth Summit declaration  in 1992. By
then the world’s deforestation rate had reached 15.4 million hectares per
year. The world came to realize that management of forests—and especially
tropical forests, which represent half of the globe’s forest area and are
sensitive to human pressures—must be carried out sustainably.
Several eco-certification initiatives for the sector had been launched prior to
that milestone. One example was the Good Wood Guide , published in the
mid-1980s by the NGO Friends of the Earth , which focused attention on
ethically minded operators. Another was the certification program of the
NGO Rainforest Alliance , launched in 1990, which identified wood from
sustainable operations. 
The FSC label: setting a global standard
Following the Rio Summit, a group that included DIY and tool retailers as well
as environmental NGOs such as Greenpeace , WWF   and Rainforest Alliance
decided to go one step further. They thought up a system by which
sustainable forest management would be certified by an international trusted
third party and in which the various economic, social and environmental
interests would be represented. This is how in 1993, the Forest Stewardship
Council  (FSC) label was created. 
The FSC label upholds 10 principles of responsible management, including
the establishment of a forest management plan, respect for the rights of
indigenous peoples and local communities, regular assessment of the state of
the forest area, and the maintenance of ecosystems.

See also: AFD in action to protect the Amazon

The management plans set up by each country establish a number of rules in

forest concessions, from the prohibition of converting forests to other uses to
the protection of certain plots of land that are home to large mammals in
danger of extinction, for instance. They also specify the conditions under
which forest-exploitation operations must take place: a tree too close to a
river or swamp, for example, will not be felled.

Fewer harmful effects

In addition to offering consumers the guarantee that their purchase has fewer
negative consequences for the planet than competing products, eco-labels
provide real impact for the local people. A study conducted by the Center for
International Forestry Research (CIFOR ) on the Congo Basin reveals that
living and working conditions and distribution of wealth are better in FSC-
certified forest areas than in areas that are non-certified but do benefit from a
management plan. As CIFOR observes, “Certification in the Congo Basin has
been able to incite companies to make significant social progress.”
The forestry and wood sector, made up of forest owners and the lumber
industry, developed its own certification system in 1999: the Programme for
the Endorsement of Forest Certification  schemes, known as PEFC. Its
purpose is likewise to ensure that forestry operations are economically,
socially, and environmentally sound.
Both FSC and PEFC are based on voluntary participation. Certification is
issued only to operators that apply for it. They also prohibit the use of GMO
trees, even though they grow 20% faster. The two separate systems thus
have similar goals.

A standard adapted to each country

One of the major differences between the two systems is the way in which
they develop national standards. For PEFC, the generic certification standard
is established at the regional or national level and then approved by the
international body. In contrast, the FSC has established a generic
international standard that is then adapted to each country. 

See also: Protecting Forests in Turkey: Climate change adaptation and

biodiversity protection

The FSC also has an independent body that accredits audit offices around the
world and performs unannounced checks on them. As for the PEFC, it
ensures that a credible and viable national accreditation system is set up in
each country. About 13% of the world’s forests are now eco-certified,
compared to 9% 10 years ago. Of these, two-thirds are certified by the PEFC
(325 million hectares) or the FSC (207 million). FSC certification is the most
common type in natural tropical forests. The remaining 87% of the world’s
forests are not subject to any reliable external socio-environmental
management controls.

Encouraging certification
Agence Française de Développement has been providing technical and
financial support for nearly 30 years to establish sustainable forest
management in the Congo Basin, a geographical area that includes
Cameroon, Gabon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, and the Republic of the Congo. It supported 33 projects in this
sector between 1999 and 2015.
This support helped bring about the first FSC certifications in the region in
2005. Fourteen years later, 4.3 million hectares are FSC-certified. But there is
still a long way to go, as this figure represents only 10% of the forests
exploited in the Congo Basin.

Tree loss and wildfires in Latin America have become so extreme that the Amazon is
contributing to carbon emissions, rather than absorbing them, according to a July report in
the journal Nature. AFD is supporting efforts to combat deforestation and make the
transition towards sustainable development models, such as in Ecuador, where protected
areas help preserve the wealth of biodiversity. Edison Gabriel Mejía Valenzuela, Director of
Yasuní National Park, tells us more.

Protected areas are obviously vital

for the environment. But how much can they achieve? 
Edison Gabriel Mejía Valenzuela: Protected areas are allow for the
conservation of most of the planet’s biodiversity . Biodiversity includes all
fauna and flora, ecosystems and landscapes, as well as human and cultural
diversity, such as indigenous cultures, which are important stakeholders in the
conservation of protected areas.
Protected areas not only help to slow environmental degradation, they are
also vital because of the benefits they provide to communities. They represent
immense banks of diverse genetic resources that provide ecosystem services,
such as supplying water to communities  or capturing CO2, and offer
sustainable development alternatives, such as ecotourism. In addition,
protected areas serve as incredible resources for scientific and educational
exploration. And, although they already provide humans with many services,
we are still not fully aware of all their benefits.
Creating protected areas is also important because they can be used as a
basis for developing different conservation strategies. It is about adopting a
perspective where the protection of large territories can establish a balance
between humans, nature and development, as is the case with biosphere
reserves or ecological corridors, which are key sites for wetland conservation,
for example.

How is biodiversity monitoring carried out in Yasuni National Park?

E. M.: Yasuni National Park is one of the most biodiverse protected areas in
the world. It is home to many endemic and endangered species. For this
reason, the scientific community is investing more and more resources into
research to protect the park. Two scientific laboratories are working there: the
Yasuni scientific station of the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador and
the Tiputini biodiversity station of the Universidad San Francisco de Quito.
They collect data on the protected areas and help to better identify the park’s
needs. 
In recent years, new research laboratories such as the IKIAM Amazon
Regional University and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which have
extensive experience in research and conservation projects, have been
working on the park, which has helped to improve decision-making and
management, in order to ensure the protection of ecosystems.
We have also launched a biodiversity management program, led by a
technical specialist and supported in the field by the park rangers, who have
undergone specific training. They are currently working on the front line, for
example, monitoring lepidopterans, conducting the national primate census
and the turtle conservation project and, since last year, monitoring dolphins,
caimans, manatees and arapaima fish.

This monitoring allows data and information to be generated in keeping with

our conservation values. We assess all impacts on biodiversity caused by
activities, such as road building or oil and gas extraction. More recently, we
signed an agreement with the National Institute for Biodiversity, which will be
involved in the monitoring of the park. 

Via two projects, TerrAmaz and TerrIndigena, which border Yasuni

National Park in Ecuador, AFD is financing both the protection of
indigenous territories and biodiversity. How does protecting indigenous
territories help to protect biodiversity?
E. M.:  There is no doubt that community territories are areas where there is
significant biological diversity. This is because these territories are often
protected areas, and the communities there rely on this biodiversity to feed
themselves, to obtain water and raw materials and to grow medicinal plants. 
Protected areas of territories must provide benefits for present and future
generations and promote the planning and management of these territories,
for example, by developing management plans that define the tools required
for sustainable development. The aim is to ensure that the environment
remains healthy and is protected, and that communities can make optimal use
of their territories and their potential natural and cultural wealth. 
The world’s second largest rainforest is threatened by deforestation. On the ground, AFD is
stepping up its support for sustainable management projects for forest ecosystems.

The Congo Basin is home to the world’s second largest tropical forest after
the Amazon. It’s an incredible reserve of biodiversity , with over 400 species of
mammals, 1,000 species of birds, and 10,000 species of plants. It’s also a
huge carbon sink —10% of CO2 captured by the world’s plants— as well as a
vital source of food for more than 60 million people.
This huge forest covering 286 million hectares is currently suffering
degradation and deforestation due to expansion of agricultural land, the
needs of local populations for firewood and construction, mining, and the
illegal wood trade.

Authorizing exploitation for better protection

To deal with this situation, AFD and many other stakeholders (governments,
donors, NGOs) are supporting responsible forest management models. These
are implemented by forestry companies and monitored by certification
bodies. 

Authorizing logging to protect a tropical forest may seem paradoxical. “It’s

nonetheless the best way to do so today,” says Christophe du Castel, AFD’s
biodiversity advisor. “Responsible forestry is a happy medium among the
needs of local populations, economic development, and forest conservation.”

“The population numbers of large African mammals threatened with extinction,

like gorillas or forest elephants, are sometimes higher in responsibly managed
forest concessions than in neighboring national parks,” says Mathieu Auger-
Schwartzenberg, project team leader at the Agriculture, Rural Development
and Biodiversity Division of AFD. “Parks don’t have the same financial
resources, whereas good forest managers are above all a viable economic
and social model—provided they work to improve their practices.”
A binding legal framework
Sustainable forest exploitation seeks to replace traditional logging practices,
which in any event have had little impact on local people. When the State is
the owner of a forest area, sustainable forest exploitation consists in
allocating its management to a private operator that is obliged to manage it
according to a binding legal and normative framework. Within that framework,
the operator is required to execute a forest management plan covering the
activities that will take place on the concession.

Different activities will take place in different sectors: those dedicated to

protection of local species, those dedicated to the needs of nearby
communities, and also those reserved for wood exploitation. In the latter
sectors, a precise inventory is carried out to identify which trees can be cut
and which ones must continue to grow in order to ensure the ecosystem’s
biological diversity.

Once the quota is reached in a given plot, the operator does not cut any more
trees for 25 to 30 years. This rest period allows the forest and biodiversity to
recover naturally. “In the Congo Basin, a forestry operator that applies the
proposed standards cuts an average of 1.3 trees per hectare every 25 to 30
years,” says Christophe du Castel.

Low rate of deforestation

Supervision of forest exploitation using management plans has been
successful in the region. In the Central African Republic, where all
concessions are managed in this way, yearly deforestation became stable
between 1990 and 2005. In Gabon, where 44% of forest territory is covered
by such concessions, the rate of deforestation did not exceed 0.04% per year
between 2000 and 2010, according to a study by the Central Africa Forest
Observatory (Ofac).
“The Congo Basin has the lowest deforestation rate of all tropical forests,”
says Mathieu Auger-Schwartzenberg. An international team of 22 researchers
also showed that gross deforestation by forestry companies not subject to a
forest management plan was twice as high as that of companies that followed
one.

Unfortunately, the situation could get worse. Scientific models published by

Ofac predict that deforestation linked to the expansion of agricultural land for
crops and livestock in the Congo Basin will result in a total loss of 26 million
hectares of forest between 2010 and 2030, representing 10% of regional
forest cover. The countries in the area will have to choose between
agricultural development and forest protection.

Biodiversity and economic development

“The Democratic Republic of Congo has recently become the number two
country in terms of loss of intact tropical forests. It’s now important to
anticipate the threats that will weigh on these areas, which until now have
hardly been affected by large-scale agro-industrial developments,” says
Mathieu Auger-Schwartzenberg.

See also: Impact evaluation study  of forest management systems on the

forest cover in the Congo basin
Responsible forest exploitation seeks not only to protect the environment, but
also to involve local people more. The forest management plans established
in countries with AFD support now put more priority on local populations,
particularly in terms of socio-economic benefits.
“The forest is a place of biodiversity and economic development for the
people living nearby. That’s why they must have a role in forest management
plans,” says Christophe du Castel. “For example, special rules of use can be
written in, such as the right to cut the wood they need for heating and
cooking, the right to hunt game, and a better sharing of the benefits derived
from forest exploitation.”

Benefit sharing
For Agence Française de Développement, these mechanisms for sharing
benefits with the populations must be improved. Some recently funded
projects are contributing to this, such as one on the forest landscape in
Northern Congo: AFD has committed €6 million to ensure biodiversity
conservation and a more equitable sharing of the benefits of forestry revenue.

Some forestry operators have also undertaken to build roads and to finance
schools and healthcare centers to improve the daily lives of the inhabitants.
And of course they also create jobs. “In the Congo Basin, forestry companies
are the second biggest providers of jobs after State governments. A report by
the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR ) shows they make a
mostly positive contribution to improving the living conditions of local
populations when there is responsible management of plots,” says Mathieu
Auger-Schwartzenberg.
Support from Agence Française de Développement has been decisive in
enabling States to set up a regulatory framework adapted to companies and
to make a change in their practices.  “States do not always have the means to
encourage responsible foresters, monitor their practices or those of informal
loggers, and curb the demand for agricultural land in these vast natural
areas,” says Christophe du Castel.

Concessions on a massive scale

But it must be said in their defense that sustainably managed concessions are
huge in size in the Congo Basin: it’s common for a single operator to exploit
300,000, 600,000 or even 1 million hectares—an area the size of Lebanon. 

To ensure reasonable use of forests in Cameroon, AFD has supported a

project to provide the country with the capacity to monitor forest cover using
satellite images. In Gabon, we have provided the Ministry of Forestry,
Environment and Protection of Natural Resources with equipment and training
in forest-exploitation control methods, and we assisted the ministry in setting
up an independent verification mechanism for field controls. We have also
financed another project there, with the goal of mobilizing civil society
organizations to better monitor the practices of forest operators.

“There are now 4.5 million hectares of FSC (Forest Stewardship Council )
certified forests in the Congo Basin. Some of this achievement is thanks to
projects supported by Agence Française de Développement,” says Mathieu
Auger-Schwartzenberg. “However, much remains to be done to strengthen
forest governance.”
And this is true not just in the Congo Basin, but also in the tropical basin of
Southeast Asia and in the Amazon, where, in Brazil, barely 1 million hectares
of natural tropical forest are certified as sustainably managed. And yet, the
forests there are likewise under increasing pressure from human activities.
 
The 4 pillars of a forest management plan:
1. Rules of use for each area under the plan

2. Usage rights for local populations

3. Forest-exploitation rules

4. Monitoring and control measures