Only 17% of the Indian delegation at the recently concluded COP26 climate summit were women. This proportion is lower than 169 other countries of the 195 that attended. Since the first COP summit in 1995, India has sent four all-male delegations (COP3, COP5, COP6.2 and COP7). The proportion of women in the Indian delegation, at 33%, was highest during COP23 and COP25. Overall, women are underrepresented in most country delegations. At COP26, women constituted more than 50% of country delegations in only 35 of the 195 nations. Nearly half of the countries had less than 33% female delegates.
Women were only three in every 10 delegates at COP26. Turkmenistan, Yemen, Holy See and North Korea were the only nations with no women on board. Mexico, Samoa and Moldova had the highest representation of women, crossing the 70% mark.
For COP26, Brazil sent 159 women delegates, 33% of the entire contingent. Russia sent 100 women, 32% of the total. China sent 26 women, 43% of the total. And South Africa sent 24 women, 43% of the total.
For COP26, Nepal sent 13 women, 17% of the total. Bhutan sent 12 women, which formed 39% of the total. Sri Lanka sent nine women, which formed 17% of the total. Pakistan sent one woman, 10% of the total. And Bangladesh sent 56 women, 19% of the total.
Representation across years
The chart depicts the share of women delegates in the Indian delegation across various COP summits. Women have never constituted more than one-third of India’s delegation at COP summits.
Chart 1 COP26 gender imbalance
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GDP vs women delegates
The chart depicts the share of women delegates at the COP26 summit across participating nations against their latest GDP per capita (current $). Richer nations tend to send more women as part of their delegation than poorer ones.
Chart 2 COP26 gender imbalance
Men spoke longer
The chart shows the speaking times of participants in plenaries and meetings on technology and finance held virtually, during the first sessional period, between May 21 and June 17, 2021. All roles include chairs and co-facilitators. Speakers refer to participants only. Men, in general, dominated speaking time.
Chart 3 COP26 gender imbalance
More in tech
The chart shows the speaking times of party delegates at meetings held during the May–June 2021 sessional period by meeting theme. Women contributed more during technology meetings than finance meetings. Overall, men spoke for a total of 560 minutes, more than double the time than women did (230 minutes).
Chart 4 COP26 gender imbalance
Surbhi Bhatia and Shreya Raman are data fellows with Equal Measures 2030 and the Tableau Foundation.
Source: UNFCCC, Carbonbrief
