UN Women has warned that the climate crisis is deepening gender inequality, with women and girls, particularly those living in poverty, bearing some of its harshest consequences despite contributing the least to the problem.
According to UN Women, the climate crisis has largely been driven by the world’s wealthiest populations, who are overwhelmingly male, while its consequences disproportionately affect women and girls.
The organisation is set to launch its flagship report, Progress of the World’s Women 2026: Gender Equality in the Age of Climate Crisis, at the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) in Antalya, Türkiye.
The report will be unveiled during a press conference titled “Burning Inequalities: The Gender Cost of Climate Change: Who Pays, Who Profits and What Must Change?”
The report examines the drivers of the climate crisis, its unequal impact on different populations and the measures needed to ensure that the transition to a greener economy also advances gender equality.
The report highlights how droughts can increase women’s and girls’ vulnerability to violence and child marriage, while rising temperatures make pregnancy more dangerous. Water scarcity and extreme weather events also increase the time women spend on unpaid care and domestic work.
It examines the effects of climate change on women’s safety, health, employment and livelihoods, while assessing how effectively governments are incorporating gender considerations into their national climate plans.
The report also documents the contributions of women environmental defenders, Indigenous leaders and feminist movements to climate action. It proposes a framework for feminist climate justice based on fair responsibility for emissions, adequate climate finance, and investment in care systems and gender equality.
Ahead of the negotiations in Antalya, where just transitions are expected to feature prominently, UN Women is calling on world leaders to place women and girls at the centre of efforts to move away from fossil fuels.
The organisation is urging governments to ensure that major emitters contribute their fair share, climate finance reaches communities most affected by climate change, and women have the rights, resources and decision-making power to lead climate solutions.
The event is scheduled for Tuesday, November 10, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Türkiye time (TRT), corresponding to 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Central European Time (CET) and 2 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST).
Participants will include Sarah Hendriks, Director of the Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division at UN Women and Head of its delegation to COP31, and Laura Turquet, Acting Chief of the Research and Data Section at UN Women.
Janine Kandel, Deputy Director of the Division of Communications and Advocacy at UN Women, will moderate the session. An additional speaker, potentially a woman environmental defender or youth climate leader, may also participate.
The press conference will take place at Press Conference Room 1 (Mevlana), Area D2–D3, at the COP31 venue in Antalya.
The event will be livestreamed through the “UNFCCC event page” (https://unfccc.int/event/un-women-the-gender-cost-of-climate-change-who-pays-who-profits-and-what-must-change-un-women).
UN Women representatives, including Hendriks and Turquet, will also be available for media interviews in Antalya and New York.
