From Watts Up With That?

Essay by Eric Worrall

One of the goals of the COP30 climate conference is helping women allegedly affected by climate change.

Row over definition of ‘gender’ hangs over Cop30 plans to support women

Advocates say conservative states’ push to define gender as ‘biological sex’ would backslide on decade-old language within the UN

Chloé Farand
Fri 14 Nov 2025 02.19 AEDT

A row over the definition of the term “gender” threatens to bog down pivotal talks at the Cop30 climate summit.

Before the UN talks in Brazil, hardline conservative states have pushed to define gender as “biological sex” over their concerns trans and non-binary people could be included in a major plan to ensure climate action addresses gender inequality and empowers women.

Gender rights advocates said the move would backslide on decade-old language within the UN system.
“These are unprecedented times to negotiate on gender equality and women’s empowerment,” said Lorena Aguilar, the executive director of the US-based Kaschak Institute for Social Justice for Women and Girls, and Costa Rica’s former vice minister for foreign affairs.

“There are some countries that want to push us back to 30 years ago. But we will not accept anything less than what we already have.”

…Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/13/row-over-definition-of-gender-hangs-over-cop30-plans-to-support-women

Could this climate conference possibly get more absurd? Wouldn’t it be hilarious if the entire conference broke down over this issue?

I’ve no doubt if the UN parachuted millions of dollars into a poverty-stricken disaster zone, only available to people who identify as a woman, pretty soon everyone would identify as a woman – at least while they were queuing up for the handout.