{"id":8708,"date":"2021-01-15T01:43:32","date_gmt":"2021-01-15T01:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.broadagenda.com.au\/?p=8649"},"modified":"2021-01-15T01:43:32","modified_gmt":"2021-01-15T01:43:32","slug":"leadership-doesnt-always-come-from-the-top","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/15\/leadership-doesnt-always-come-from-the-top\/","title":{"rendered":"Leadership doesn\u2019t always come from the top"},"content":{"rendered":"
As we neared the end of 2020 with great hopes for better times in 2021, we reflected not only on a year marked by a global pandemic, but also the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreement on climate change. At the time the Paris Agreement was signed, life was very different. Barack Obama was the President of the United States and it was assumed that the US and major developed economies would lead the charge in responding to the changing global climate. Yet leadership in climate negotiations and climate action has come from places where it was least expected<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our recent work<\/a> looked at the role of Pacific Island women at the UNFCCC in making the Paris Agreement.\u00a0 Climate diplomacy is an international arena of high stakes \u2013 negotiations not only have environmental implications, but also have potential major economic and security impacts \u2013 and this is particularly true for the Pacific. Yet across the Pacific women tend to be under-represented<\/a> in decision making, particularly in national level politics. Add to this that in global diplomacy<\/a>, women tend to have marginalised roles in areas of low stakes or less prestige, rather than roles that have significant economic and security claims and responsibilities, and negotiation forums have been largely designed and developed by men. Based on this we might expect that Pacific women might be poorly represented in climate negotiations, yet we found that Pacific women have been integral to capturing global interest in climate change.<\/p>\n