Gender equality and biodiversity use, management, and conservation are strongly interconnected. Globally, women and girls in all their diversity, and particularly those from Indigenous Peoples and local communities, rely on healthy ecosystems and play vital roles in the management and conservation of biodiversity. Yet, gender inequalities limit women’s rights to land and resources, access to decision-making processes, and access to benefits derived from the use of biodiversity. Addressing gender inequalities and enabling a gender-responsive approach is crucial for achieving long-term goals on biodiversity and the CBD’s 2050 Vision of Living in Harmony with Nature.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF) includes Target 23, which focuses on ensuring gender equality in the implementation of the Framework through a gender-responsive approach. Alongside the KM-GBF, Parties also adopted the Gender Plan of Action, which addresses all elements of Target 23. As such, implementing the Gender Plan of Action will significantly contribute to the achievement of Target 23, and accelerate progress towards all other targets.
This session presents examples of effective approaches and means for implementing the Gender Plan of Action, as demonstrated through the experience of diverse stakeholders. Parties to the Convention, Indigenous Peoples’ and women’s organizations, donors, multilateral organizations, and researchers, as well as discussions with the audience, will shine a light on gender-responsive action on biodiversity, including:
- Capacity strengthening for gender-responsive biodiversity conservation and sustainable use;
- Financing the gender-biodiversity nexus;
- Gender-responsive data collection, analysis, and monitoring;
- Platforms, networks, and forums to support the full participation and leadership of women in all their diversity in biodiversity management.
The session will offer an opportunity to launch a policy brief that provides recommendations to support Parties to the CBD in the gender-responsive implementation of the KM-GBF.
Amelia is a dedicated professional bringing the voices and experiences of grassroots women and girls around the world to the forefront of biodiversity policy and action. Her work continues to inspire and drive meaningful change at the intersection of gender and environmental justice. Currently the Coordinator of the CBD Women's Caucus, the women's major group at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Amelia leverages her extensive experience in research, policy, and advocacy, along with an intersectional and intercultural approach, to advance women's rights in the biodiversity sector, including women's land rights and their right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. Amelia's commitment to creating a more just and sustainable world is reflected in her various roles, including Regional Vice Chair of IUCN CEESP for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean; Project Officer for the Forest Peoples Programme; Escazú Agreement Champion; Founder and former Director of Eco Maxei AC; and Co-Founder and former Coordinator of GYBN Mexico and GYBN LAC. She earned an MSc in Environment and International Development at the University of East Anglia as a Chevening Scholar; and holds a BA with honours in Political Communication from the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
Is a policy analyst at the Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Ocean Team in the Policies and Networks division, within the OECD’s Development Co-operation Directorate, where she focuses on development finance and policies related to biodiversity and nature-dependent sectors. With expertise in environmental and sustainable development strategies, Dominique provides support to governments and development banks on policy coherence and mainstreaming biodiversity across development co-operation portfolios. She has been actively involved in research and co-authoring reports on biodiversity-related development finance, including analysis across various dimensions such as illegal wildlife trade, nature-based solutions, climate change, and mobilization of private finance. Dominique has extensive experience in analyzing Official Development Assistance (ODA) financial flows, Rio Markers, and SDGs tags, contributing to monitoring the performance and policies of countries in different sectors.
(She/her) is UNDP’s Senior Advisor on Gender Equality and deputy of the global Gender Equality Team, anchored in the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support in HQ. She has over two decades of experience working to advance women’s human rights and gender equality across policy, programming and institutional spheres, especially related to environment, climate and sustainable development. At UNDP she oversees the Gender Equality Global Programme; provides policy and programming guidance across teams, especially on environment-related issues; builds partnerships to accelerate gender equality and channel resources to country offices; leads on gender equality communication from the global team, and much more. In 2024, she served as the agency focal point for the Spotlight Initiative to end gender-based violence, one of the UN’s High-Impact Initiatives. Before joining the UN in 2022, Cate managed the gender equality programme at IUCN (the International Union for Conservation of Nature), including the USAID-IUCN partnership AGENT, and prior to that had the extraordinary privilege to serve as the executive director of WEDO – the Women’s Environment and Development Organization.
CBD Women’s Caucus
Cicilia is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. She has worked with local organizations in Kenya in providing guidance on matters relating to traditional knowledge, benefit sharing, conservation and customary use. She has vast experience in matters relating to the environment and environmental justice, law and regulation, having worked as In-house Counsel at the National Environment Management Authority for over 8 years, where she was also Litigation Counsel in addition to other duties. She has offered technical and legal advice on environmental matters and implementation of various multilateral environmental agreements at both national and international levels, particularly under the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Protocols, with particular emphasis on matters involving the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefits Sharing (ABS) while in her capacity as In-house Counsel. She is currently a Board Member of the CBD Women’s Caucus.
Red de Mujeres Indígenas sobre Biodiversidad de América Latina y El Caribe (RMIB-LAC).
Hortencia Hidalgo Cáceres is from the Aymara people of northern Chile. She is a member of the Chasquinayrampi Indigenous Communication and Research Center, and an Aymara leader with an outstanding track record for promoting and defending the fundamental rights of Indigenous Peoples. A member of the Red de Mujeres Indígenas Sobre Biodiversidad de América Latina y El Caribe (RMIB-LAC) (Indigenous Women Network on Biodiversity from Latin America and the Caribbean), she has experience in international Indigenous diplomacy, participating in the negotiations of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Among multiple other positions, she is a teacher and university expert in the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Human Rights and International Cooperation. She holds several diplomas, including a Latin American Regional Diploma on Indigenous Peoples, Forests and REDD+, an International and European Diploma in Gender Equality and Reconciliation, and a Diploma in Social and Community Leadership.
She is a Senior Specialist in Nature, Gender and Rights. She leads a programme of work on gender equality and human rights at the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). She is an expert on data and gender-specific indicators. Recently, she has been busy leading a technical team at UNEP-WCMC to support Parties to the CBD with the co-development of the indicator on national implementation of the Gender Plan of Action, which is now available for use.
Is the Gender and Social Inclusion Lead at the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture. She leads the Alliances Module of the CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform and capacity development for the CGIAR initiative on NEXUS Gains. Marlène has a BSc in Biology and Environmental Sciences, and an MA and PhD in Geography. Rooted in a feminist political ecology approach, her research focuses on gendered dimensions of forest management and restoration, the gender equality-biodiversity nexus, and women’s resource rights, predominantly in West Africa and South and Central Asia. Among other positions, Marlène has worked in UNESCO’s Division for Gender Equality and as a Fellow in the Department of Anthropology of Université Laval in Canada. She is the founder of the NGO Association Burkina Canada.
Tanya McGregor has been engaged as a Programme Officer with the GBF Early Action Support project at UNEP in Nairobi since September 2023. With a background in biological science and environmental studies, Tanya has over twenty years of experience working on environment, sustainable development and international cooperation issues in policy and programming capacities.
As the Gender Programme Officer for the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Tanya built engagement from Parties and other relevant stakeholders to advance gender responsive biodiversity action, including through the development and adoption of the new gender plan of action and a gender responsive approach to the global biodiversity framework. Tanya has also previously served as the Acting Head of the Peoples and Biodiversity Unit for the CBD Secretariat and in the role of Acting Programme Coordinator of the Monitoring Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme.
Phetlasy is a botanist and lecturer on Botany and Field dendrology at the Faculty of Forest Science, National University of Laos, with over 15 years of experience in plant taxonomy and utilization. She has successfully led projects for establishing the Lao flora, focusing on diversity in higher plants.
