November 14, 2022

By Bhavya George
Programme Coordinator – Climate Change

After over 24 hours of travel, I arrived at the 27th United Nations Conference of Parties in Sharm-al-Sheikh, Egypt. As the first team member of Keystone’s newly launched Climate Change programme, I was honoured to be at the most influential global forum on the climate crisis. Here’s a few pages from my travel journal during my time here!

Day 1 at COP27: November 11, 2022

As always, the first day offered an overwhelming experience.

The Women and Gender Constituency, which is sponsoring my attendance here, met me at the entrance of the venue and walked me in. I was grateful for their courtesy and guidance on the first day, when I needed it the most, as there was so much happening all at once – from transformative innovation in climate solutions to adaptation and disaster risk management tools, and lots more.

The highlight of the day was the event on gender-just climate solutions, which lauded Keystone’s affiliate, Aadhimalai Pazhangudiyinar Producer Company Ltd, a NTFP producer’s group led by tribal communities. The event recognised Aadhimalai as a social enterprise that empowers women tribal community members in the Nilgiris, paving a path for them to earn a living through traditional livelihoods while facilitating their inherited knowledge of the forests.

I attended an insightful session on community-led solutions for developing climate resilience and climate mobility. It drew me in with its adoption of an approach that I had been looking forward to seeing at COP – the role of traditional, indigenous and local knowledge in the climate crisis. The event was organized by the wonderful team at Global Climate Mobility Organisation.

At the Indian pavilion, I met my college seniors from Forest Research Institute in Dehradun, some of whom are part of YOUNGO (the youth constituency of the UN), Climate Action Network and other groups.

The day ended with a hearty, celebratory dinner with the awardees of the gender-just climate solutions along with the leads of the Women and Gender Constituency of the UN, a first meet of the alumni.

On the right: the wonderful teams of Both ENDS and NTFP-EP and me!

Day 2 at COP27: November 12, 2022

My day began with a morning session with the Women and Gender Constituency, who reminded me of the power of solidarity in everything from learning to advocacy and action.

The highlight of the day was meeting our partner NTFP-EP (Non-Timber Forest Products – Exchange Programme) and Both ENDS at their event on gender-just climate finance, a heated session that saw panelists and speakers passionately share their thoughts on the reality of climate issues and solutions within finance, challenges and what the future could look like.

Day 3 at COP27: November 14, 2022

A big day for Keystone, and the highlight of my experience at this year’s COP: the day of the Gender Just Climate Solutions (GJCS) Award, which was launched in in 2016 following the Paris Agreement. Every year, three awards are handed out: technical, non-technical and transformational. This year witnessed 259 applications from 70 countries. The venue was filled with a majority of women and very few men – a heartening sight to see! Sascha Gabizon, Executive Director of Women Engage for a Common Future (WECF), delivered a vote of thanks and announced the release of the GJCS publication.

I received the award from the transformational category on behalf of Keystone from the Minister of Environment and Forestry (Cabinet Secretary) of Kenya, Soipan Tuya. Our inspiring, dedicated women Barefoot Ecologists are the ones who moved the mountains and brought us this award. Harnessing their traditional knowledge of ecosystems to observe change brought upon the Nilgiris by the climate crises, they provided a vital gender-just climate solution that deserves no less of a platform than COP27! Along with me, the other two awardees were Javed from Pakistan and Delali from Togo.

Following the event, I met with with several inspiring women like Kalyani Raj from All India Womens’ Conference and Ayuska from FAWCO. With November 14 being Gender Day, there was a celebration at the African Pavilion, where discussions arose, on African feminist demands for COP27 and ongoing work done by the Feminist Task Force of Africa.

The day ended by dinner together with alumni of awardees and WECF team.

Day 4 at COP27: November 15, 2022

The morning began with a Women and Gender Constituency meet, followed by sessions on Climate Education Beyond Classrooms by United Nations University. It was interesting to see how apprenticeship on skill-based work like carpentry incorporates sustainability. There was also an example of green campus initiatives by students, quite similar to the work we do with on Climate Smart Schools. I also attended a side event moderated by IUCN Deputy Director on nature-based solutions, with Wanjira Mathai was one of the panelists. It touched upon the criteria of the projects that offer such solutions.

Presenting our work on women Barefoot Ecologists at a side event, I felt a sense of pride for the women we work with, having brought their work to a global platform.

Day 5 at COP27: November 16, 2022

WECF organised a workshop for the cohort of awardees on advocacy, discussing the negotiation process, and their agenda. WECF also elaborated on its work and the role of women and gender constituency at COP. Despite the importance of a gender lens, adopting it in reality is challenging, without the human and financial resources to back it up. This year’s priority topic was Loss and Damage.

A WGC-led side event on transformative pathways gave award alumni a chance to speak about upscaling their work post-award and their experience of utilising mentorship opportunities. I also got the chance to meet

This day, I also finally met Mrinalini Rai, lead of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Women Caucus, who I had known now for two years virtually. It was nice to learn about linkages between Climate Change COP and CBD COP. She explained the importance of interventions in negotiations through country delegation.

Day 6 at COP27: November 17, 2022

WECF held a second workshop on advocacy today, discussing lessons learned from trial and error by awardees, some of whom presented on their work and the role of advocacy. We proceeded into group discussions on challenges and solutions. It was interesting to note the uniqueness of many challenges faced by different countries. Andrea from Guatemala opened up about the difficulty in engaging with their government owing to corruption and the absence of legal backup. I spoke about legal issues faced by Keystone in different states.

Aside from the serious and very necessary conversations, there is fun at COP too! I enjoyed the virtual reality show on the coral reef documentary by Conservation International. Technology can truly create wonders in the education sphere.

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Over the years, it is uplifting to see a rich network of people grow steadily through the awards – united by our diversity and our mission, working to bring the gender and climate lenses into social work projects in various landscapes across the world. And who knows what we may achieve together, in solidarity!