The Climate Change Commission joined the Mid-Year Training Institute of the 28th International Women’s Human Rights and Governance Program, highlighting the importance of putting gender at the center of climate action.

QUEZON CITY, Philippines –The Climate Change Commission (CCC) underscored the urgency of integrating gender in climate action as women bear the brunt of the climate crisis during the Mid-Year Training Institute of the 28th International Women’s Human Rights and Governance Program.

Citing World Risk Index and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction data, the CCC noted that women account for a disproportionate share of disaster and climate-related deaths, with roughly 9,000 women per 100,000 population lost to calamities and extreme weather events. In the Philippines, disasters also place a heavier burden on women - the 2021 National Household Care Survey conducted by Oxfam Pilipinas, the Philippine Commission on Women, and partners, found that women spend up to 13 hours a day on unpaid care work—significantly higher than men.

CCC Commissioner Rachel Anne S. Herrera, who also chairs the agency’s Gender and Development Focal Point System, emphasized the need to embed gender considerations across climate policies and programs.

"Climate change doesn't affect everyone equally — it intensifies the inequalities that already exist against women and girls, and other vulnerable sectors of society," Herrera said.

She stressed that without deliberate gender integration, climate policies risk reinforcing the very inequalities they seek to address.

“We cannot design climate solutions that work for all without involving women as decision-makers, not just as beneficiaries,” she added.

Herrera further highlighted that advancing gender-responsive climate action is critical to building resilience at the community level, where women play key roles in adaptation, resource management, and recovery efforts.

The training covered a range of women’s rights and governance topics,   including a dedicated session on the climate change nexus titled “Gender and Climate Nexus: From Evidence to Action in the Philippines.”

The five-day hybrid activity gathered participants from national government agencies, state universities and colleges, and the private sector.

Organized by the Women and Gender Institute of Miriam College, the program aims to strengthen capacities on women’s rights and governance and translate evidence into actionable policies.

The CCC remains committed to ensuring that gender considerations are not treated as an afterthought, but as a core element of climate action and policy development.

For more information on the CCC’s climate mainstreaming programs and partnerships, visit www.climate.gov.ph and www.facebook.com/CCCPhl.