As in the energy sector, the integration of gender and social justice themes into climate-change related policies and programs was slow and limited, as was the participation of civil society organisations in the formal climate change negotiations. Already in 2005, the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) undertook an in-depth discussion on how best to ‘engender’ the climate change debate.

The Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-15) provided an important opportunity to disseminate the outputs of ENERGIA and its partners’ efforts to mainstream gender in projects and policies. These dissemination activities strengthened ENERGIA’s position both in Africa and globally, showing how gender-specific impacts could be duplicated through gender-sensitive projects and policies.