Women, youth and Indigenous leaders demand direct funding and decision-making power at COP17

Women, young people and Indigenous leaders called for direct access to biodiversity finance and greater decision-making power at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP17) in Yerevan on Tuesday, arguing that conservation commitments must translate into resources and authority for communities protecting nature.

Speakers urged governments to strengthen women's rights to land and natural resources, remove funding barriers for grassroots organisations and ensure meaningful participation in environmental policymaking, according to the press release.

They also called on men and boys to share unpaid care work and become accountable allies in advancing gender equality and protecting nature.

The demands came at a side event titled "Taking Action for Nature and Health Together: Women's Leadership and Inclusive Partnerships for Biodiversity and Well-being", held on the COP17 Green Zone Main Stage.

Vital Voices Global Partnership hosted the session with MenEngage Alliance's Climate and Environmental Justice Working Group.

Moderator Marina Pisklakova-Parker, vice president of issue advocacy at Vital Voices, drew on the organisation's policy brief, "Women-Led Climate Adaptation: Investing in Women's Leadership for Climate Resilience".

Speakers said unequal access to finance, land and political influence continued to limit women's contributions to conservation and community resilience. Recognising those contributions meant little, they argued, without the resources, rights and authority to shape conservation priorities.

Participants urged governments to translate existing commitments into national biodiversity strategies, public budgets and local conservation programmes. COP17 runs until 30 October in the Armenian capital.

Men must become accountable allies

Bangladeshi youth and climate justice advocate Sohanur Rahman, representing YouthNet Global, urged men and boys to challenge unequal gender norms, share unpaid care work and actively support women's leadership in protecting nature.

"Protecting nature starts at home, with who cooks, who cares and who gets time to lead," said Sohanur, a member of MenEngage Alliance's global working group on climate and environmental justice. "Men must move from being bystanders to accountable allies."

Drawing on Bangladesh's EcoMen initiative, he explained how engaging men and boys in conversations about masculinity, care work and gender equality could challenge social norms that exclude women from environmental decision-making.

He argued that conservation efforts must address unequal power relations within households, communities and institutions.

Sohanur also called for meaningful youth participation in decisions on biodiversity finance, conservation priorities and accountability.

"Young people are mobilising for nature every day, but we are rarely in the rooms where budgets and policies are decided," he said. "Consultation is not enough. We need a seat, a share of the funding and a role in monitoring."

Vidar Vetterfalk of the Swedish organisation MÄN reinforced the call for men's accountability, urging men and boys to challenge harmful masculine norms, redistribute unpaid care work and support women's leadership in public and private life.

He linked care for people and nature to changes in everyday behaviour and institutional practices.

The panel described accountable allyship as sustained action: listening to women's priorities, respecting their leadership, sharing responsibilities and decision-making power, and accepting accountability for harmful behaviour.

Speakers also identified care work as a practical barrier. Women's disproportionate share of household and caregiving responsibilities limits their time for public meetings, training, livelihoods and leadership. Sharing that burden, they argued, could enable fuller participation in community decisions.

Indigenous women seek stronger territorial rights

Fany Kuiru Castro, general coordinator of the Coordinator of Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon Basin, called for stronger recognition of Indigenous women's leadership, traditional knowledge and territorial rights in global biodiversity policy.

A Uitoto Indigenous leader and lawyer from Colombia, Kuiru described protecting and restoring the Amazon as a legacy for future generations. She linked healthy forests and rivers to food security, livelihoods and cultural identity.

Speakers said recognising traditional knowledge must go hand in hand with respecting territorial rights and ensuring a meaningful voice in decisions on land use, conservation and development.

They also called for stronger protection for women environmental and human rights defenders facing threats linked to land disputes and extractive activities.

Money and decision-making power

Polish entrepreneur Martyna Zastawna, founder of the circular economy business woshwosh, said women's contributions to sustainability must be matched by access to investment and authority over financial decisions.

She highlighted the gap between women's involvement in sustainable enterprises and their influence over budgets, strategy and opportunities for growth.

Speakers said women-led and Indigenous organisations struggled to secure international conservation finance.

They urged predictable, long-term funding so grassroots groups could plan ahead rather than depend on short-term projects. Equitable finance, they argued, also meant a greater role in deciding how resources were allocated and outcomes assessed.

Community knowledge, health and culture

Emma Anakhasyan of Armenian Women for Health and Healthy Environment highlighted the links between biodiversity, environmental health and gender equality. She urged governments to incorporate these connections into national biodiversity strategies.

Hayasa Tahmazyan of the Armenia Corps Development Initiative called for investment to help communities turn local knowledge into collective action, identify priorities, engage decision-makers and test their own solutions.

Local leader Ezequiel Pablo Guiragossian highlighted the role of art, culture and community engagement in strengthening connections between people and nature and encouraging collective responsibility for biodiversity.

Participants also pointed to young people's contributions through environmental education, community mobilisation, biodiversity monitoring and public accountability.

They called for youth involvement throughout conservation programmes, from initial design to evaluation.

Finance and commitments under scrutiny

The calls come as governments at COP17 review progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in 2022 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

The review is taking place amid concerns over inadequate finance and slow implementation.

Three of the framework's 23 targets directly address issues raised during the session.

Target 19 calls for mobilising at least $200 billion annually for biodiversity by 2030 from all sources, including at least $30 billion a year in international financial flows to developing countries.

It establishes global financing goals rather than guaranteed allocations for individual women-led or Indigenous organisations. Speakers therefore stressed the need for fairer access alongside higher funding totals.

Target 22 calls for full, equitable, inclusive and gender-responsive participation in biodiversity decisions, including by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, women and girls, children and young people, and persons with disabilities.

It also addresses access to information and justice, respect for Indigenous rights over lands and resources, and protection of environmental human rights defenders.

Target 23 addresses gender equality in implementing the framework, including women's equal rights and access to land and natural resources, and their meaningful participation and leadership in biodiversity policy and decision-making.

Speakers said putting these commitments into practice required national policies, institutional reforms, accessible finance and monitoring.

They called for sex-disaggregated, gender-responsive data to show who receives funding, who shapes decisions and who benefits from conservation investment.

From consultation to meaningful power

The demands echo the Yerevan Declaration on Taking Action for Nature, adopted on 16 October at the Leaders for Nature Summit ahead of COP17.

The declaration reaffirmed the commitment to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and called for increased financing, stronger accountability and meaningful participation by women, young people, Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

The session highlighted a central challenge for global biodiversity action: ensuring that women, young people and Indigenous communities hold funding, influence over priorities and the authority to hold governments accountable.

Vital Voices Global Partnership, founded in 1997, invests in women leaders advancing economic empowerment, human rights and public leadership.

MenEngage Alliance's Climate and Environmental Justice Working Group examines the connections between gender inequality, harmful masculine norms and environmental destruction.