December 2025 — The 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) made important progress in integrating gender equality, health, and human rights into global climate action. But systemic challenges remain, threatening the lives, rights, and wellbeing of women and girls on the front lines of the climate crisis.
“COP30 moved us forward, but the data show that climate action is still not meeting the needs of women, girls and front-line communities,” said Julia Bunting, UNFPA Programme Director. “Addressing the climate crisis requires protecting rights, expanding access to health services, and ensuring that climate finance reaches those who need it most. UNFPA is dedicated to ensuring these commitments translate into meaningful action.”
As we approach a new year of climate action, here are four critical takeaways from COP30 to take into the new year.
1. The Belém Gender Action Plan marks a major step forward
Member States adopted the Belém Gender Action Plan (GAP), a nine-year framework to strengthen gender-responsive climate action. The GAP is notable for recognizing historically excluded groups, including Indigenous women and women with disabilities, and for introducing commitments on violence against women and girls, health, care work, and protection guidelines for female environmental defenders – a first for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This is a needed corrective, as most national climate plans still fail to address gendered impacts. Yet the removal of human-rights language from the preambular text suggests global political resistance; without sustained financial resources, these commitments risk not being fully implemented.
2. The Belém Health Action Plan elevates health within climate governance
COP30’s Health Day launched the Belém Health Action Plan (BHAP). For the first time, countries endorsed a global roadmap to integrate health into climate adaptation, which was organized across three areas: surveillance, policy and capacity building, and innovation. The BHAP is grounded in equity and justice, addressing the continuity of sexual and reproductive health and rights, preventing violence, and psychosocial care during and after climate emergencies. It has received 80 endorsements and US $300 million in pledges. Yet, as a voluntary plan, its success relies on countries integrating this guidance into their often-overstretched national climate plans and health systems.
3. Agreement on Global Goal on Adaptation indicators brings long-needed clarity
A significant outcome was the adoption of 59 indicators for the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), which provides a structured basis for assessing climate adaptation progress. However, many low- and middle-income countries lack the necessary data systems, demographic intelligence or monitoring capacity to operationalize these indicators. Scaling up technical guidance, like UNFPA’s knowledge products launched at COP30 – for example integrating sexual and reproductive health and rights into climate policies, the impacts of climate change in South Sudan, and demographic intelligence in Latin America and the Caribbean – requires targeted investment and coordinated support.
4. Momentum is growing, but financing remains the biggest barrier
Some 92 countries reaffirmed the need to integrate gender equality, rights and social inclusion in climate action. But there are stark financial gaps to realising this ambition, with just over 2 per cent of climate finance allocated to gender equality. There is no direct financing mechanism for the Belém GAP, and health systems are severely underfunded for adaptation, despite data showing extreme weather degrades essential services. Without financing, these commitments remain symbolic.
A Way Forward: Turning commitments into results
UNFPA remains committed to work with governments, civil society and young leaders as they translate these frameworks into concrete results, centring the dignity, agency and well-being of women and girls in the most vulnerable communities. A just and sustainable future depends not only on the policies adopted in Belém, but on the world’s ability to deliver on them.
