Belém Gender Action Plan at COP30: A New Global Push for Women-Led Climate Action

At COP30 in Belém, Brazil, countries took a historic step by adopting the Belém Gender Action Plan — a 9-year global roadmap to put women and girls at the centre of climate action.

This video explains what the Plan means for climate justice, gender equality, and frontline communities across the Global South. It highlights why women face climate impacts differently and how the agreement focuses on Indigenous women, women in rural areas, women with disabilities, and women of African descent.

What’s inside the Belém Gender Action Plan?
• Recognition of women’s health, decent work, care responsibilities, and safety
• Protection of women environmental defenders
• Stronger financing, technical support and accountability
• Leadership roles for women in mitigation, adaptation and just transition
• Direct access to climate funds
• Rights-based and inclusive decision making

UN Women has called this Plan a blueprint for more effective climate solutions, but its success depends on real implementation. Communities need funding, governments must track progress, and women must be included in every level of climate governance.

Across the Global South, women are already leading solutions — from water management to crop adaptation and ecosystem restoration. The Belém Plan aims to strengthen and scale these efforts.

If countries act now, the next nine years could transform global climate action — making it more just, effective and grounded in lived experience.