Climate Solutions Awards for Gender Equality

In 2015, the WGC launched its first ‘Gender-Just Climate Solutions’ Awards. These awards aim to showcase real solutions for a more just, equal and healthy planet. Previous initiatives recognized have included women-owned and operated energy cooperatives in Germany, female entrepreneurial “energy shop” initiatives in Mozambique and human rights-based relocation planning in the Carteret Islands.

Winning initiatives are showcased across three different project types, please review our previous award winners for examples:

1. Non-technical climate solutions with a women or gender perspective (e.g. in area of efficiency, consumption changes, resilience and capacity building etc.)
2. Technical climate solutions with a women or gender perspective (e.g. in area of renewables, energy or adaptation technologies etc.)
3. Transformational climate initiatives with a women or gender perspective (e.g. addressing governance, institutional / societal change etc.)

Criteria

Initiatives will be weighed against the following criteria aimed to measure contributions to gender equality, resilience and sustainability. Winning projects will ideally work across all of the key result areas, though the organizers note that not all projects will be in a position / stage to meet each and every criteria. Due to existing inequalities and a lack of available resources globally, priority will be given to women-led initiatives, recognizing that programmes do not necessarily need to be women-led to be gender just.

Result Area 1: Women’s rights and gender equality

• Provides equal access to benefits for women, men and youth
• Aims to alleviate and/or does not add additional burden to women’s workload (such as via additional natural resource management or care responsibilities without compensation)
• Empowers women through better mobility/accessibility, enhanced livelihood security, enhanced food security, improved health, access to safe water, etc. (as many benefits as possible)
• Promotes women’s democratic rights and participation by ensuring decision making by local women, men, women’s groups, cooperatives and communities

Result Area 2: Climate Resilience

• Locally led and/or locally driven (decentralised and appropriate)
• Ensures self-sufficiency & a low input of resources (safe, affordable and sustainable)
• Contributes to climate change mitigation, emissions reduction and/or climate adaptation (the project is sustainable)

Result Area 3: Scaling-up and transfer

• Results can be shared, spread & scaled up (replicable elsewhere, not just benefiting one individual)
• Shows interlinkages to cross-cutting issues, such as (including, but not restricted to) peace-building, natural resources management, food security and/or health, water and sanitation

Selection & Award

Initiatives will be reviewed by an international jury with members of the Women and Gender Constituency. Two tiers of ‘Awardees’ will be selected:

1. Three top ‘Award Winners’ will be identified, one per project type. These three winners will each receive prize money of 5000 Euros; travel for one representative to attend the Awards Ceremony held during UNFCCC climate conferences (COPs); and mentorship activities from the members of the Women and Gender Constituency.
2. The ‘Award Winners’ are invited to a capacity building workshop during COPs with the previous award winners of the Gender Just Climate Solutions. The workshops are organized together with Climate Technology Centre & Network (CTCN) and include training to up-scale solutions, share experience and expertise with each other, as well as to network.
3. Up to 30 additional ‘Runners-Up’ (Honorees) will be featured in a full color-publication which will be showcased in a high-level international awards ceremony at COPs, as well as be highlighted on the WGC website.

Eligibility

All types of activist, grassroots and women-led organizations and groups working on issues related to climate change from all over the world are encouraged to apply. Only non-governmental initiatives are eligible (local or national government initiatives cannot be considered). The activity/initiative should either already have been completed or should be in current operation. The initiative must fit within one of the 3 award types of projects.