COP21, also known as the 2015 Paris Climate Conference, will, for the first time in over 20 years of United Nations (UN) negotiations, aim to achieve a global, legally binding agreement on climate with the aim of keeping global warming below 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the conference is expected to engage 50,000 participants in this discussion on climate. Roughly 25,000 of these participants will include official delegates from various government and UN agencies, as well as intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

In previous years, the UN identified the following sectors as vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change: agriculture and food security, biodiversity and ecosystems, water resources, human health, human settlements and migration patterns, and energy, transport and industry. In many of these contexts, women are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than men. In fact, a 2007 study found that natural disasters are more likely to kill women than men, and that this disparity is largest where women’s socioeconomic status is lowest.

Available at: http://www.concordy.com/opinions/2015/10/conference-on-climate-change-excludes-gender/