International legal dimension of gender integration into climate policy

Abstract

The article examines the gender-differentiated impact of climate measures in the context of assessing the admissibility, justification and proportionality of climate policy in international climate law. The main emphasis is placed on the fact that formally neutral measures of decarbonisation, energy transition, tariff regulation, adaptation and recovery may produce different effects for population groups depending on income, access to resources, energy vulnerability, participation in decision-making and the ability to benefit from support mechanisms. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the possibility of legally qualifying such impact as a criterion for assessing the lawfulness of climate measures. Particular attention is paid to the conditions under which empirically established gender asymmetry may acquire legal significance and be taken into account in the assessment of climate decisions. The methodological basis of the study consists of formal legal, systemic and analytical approaches, which made it possible to compare the provisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992, the Paris Agreement of 2015 and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights in Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland with the standards of non-discrimination, proportionality and due diligence.

It is substantiated that indirect discrimination, proportionality and due diligence provide the legal framework for transforming gender-differentiated impact from an empirical finding into a criterion for assessing climate measures. On this basis, the article develops a legal criterion that includes impact assessment at the policy-design stage, a proportionality test, the use of disaggregated data and monitoring, and the link between the identified disproportionate burden and financing or support. The proposed criterion may be applied in the preparation of nationally determined contributions, climate strategies, strategic environmental assessment, budget planning, energy efficiency programmes, adaptation and recovery. It is concluded that gender integration in climate governance should be regarded as a legal instrument for assessing climate decisions.