We contributed to the submission presented by the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC), calling for a Gender Action Plan (GAP) at COP30 that confronts the rollbacks threatening environmental protection and human rights. Our contribution focuses on ensuring that the new GAP is not only a shield against regressive forces but also a force for transformative, rights-based climate action.

The world is facing compounding crises. Each year brings more extreme weather while conflicts intensify and inequalities deepen. In 2024, a historic election super-cycle has reshaped global geopolitics, fuelling the rise of conservative, anti-rights and climate-denialist governments. These shifts are accelerating attacks on fundamental rights, especially gender equality and environmental justice.

Against this backdrop, this joint submission aims to underscore the relevance of adopting a Gender Action Plan (GAP) that not only safeguards the rights already won but also pushes forward transformative, rights-based solutions in the face of the climate emergency. The submission highlights how now, more than ever, a strong and intersectional GAP is essential to ensuring that climate action upholds gender justice, centers the leadership of frontline communities, and resists the growing influence of anti-rights actors seeking to undermine progress. This submission therefore aims to provide the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC) perceptions and concrete recommendations on the content, format and scope of the in-session technical workshop to be held at the sixty-second session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SB62), to facilitate the design of Gender Action Plan activities, taking into account, inter alia, progress, challenges, gaps and priorities.

The submission is structured in four sections: first outlining what the GAP must deliver; then detailing eleven critical elements with specific activity recommendations; followed by proposed workshop formats; and concluding with final recommendations.