A feminist climate policy? Examining Canada’s climate commitments

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Canadian government recently oriented its foreign policy in a ‘feminist’ direction, including the launch of Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP). At the same time, the Trudeau government has also reoriented Canada’s efforts to address climate change, ratifying the Paris Agreement in 2016. This article reviews Canada’s Paris Agreement commitments, formalized in Canada’s Nationally Determined Contributions and National Communications, through the lens of feminist analysis. While Canada has made significant efforts to mainstream gender into its climate commitments, these commitments emphasize a focus on women in the Global South and the reinforcement of common assumptions about women, climate change and development. In doing so, Canada’s efforts to integrate gender into its global climate commitments overlook the realities of gender and climate change in the Global North, as well as areas in which feminist analysis is needed, specifically in technological development and strategies to mitigate climate change.