Pakistan Gender Climate Award 2025 celebrates Women Climate Champions

ISLAMABAD, MAY 22 (DNA): The 3rd edition of the Gender Climate Award (GCA)concluded today in Islamabad, celebrating individuals and initiatives that are driving gender-responsive climate action across Pakistan.

This year’s winners were recognized in two categories: Climate Action and Climate Journalism. The Climate Action award was designed to honor individuals or organizations that are implementing gender responsive solutions to build climate resilience in multidisciplinary domains. The Climate Journalism award acknowledged the role of media professionals in bringing visibility to climate-gender linkages and

amplifying the voices of those most affected by climate change.

The nation-wide call for applications made in February 2025 for the Gender Climate Award received 275 applications with 211 under the category of climate action and 64 under climate journalism. All applications were evaluated by a six-member selection committee to select the winners. The Pakistan GCA 2025 winners are Anusha Fatima (Climate Action) and Aisha Farrukh (Climate Journalism).

Each winner received a cash award of PKR 1.2 million as a recognition for their contributions to help them take their work forward.GCA 2025 is a continuation of the initiative launched by the Embassy of France in 2023 in Pakistan to recognize outstanding contributions at the intersection of climate change and gender.

This year’s edition, coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, was celebrated by the Embassy of France in collaboration with the Ministry of Climate Change & Environmental Coordination (MoCC&EC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), Aga Khan Foundation, UN Women. The Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change (CSCCC) served as the implementing agency for organizing and executing the GCA activities.

The Pakistan Gender Climate Award ceremony held at the Serena Hotel was attended by dignitaries from the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, diplomats, civil society, academia, youth and the media.

The ceremony opened with welcome remarks by H.E. Mr. Nicolas Galey, Ambassador of France to Pakistan, who reaffirmed France’s commitment to inclusive and equitable climate action. On the 10th anniversary of the Paris agreement, Ambassador Nicolas Galey underlined the importance of gender inclusivity and climate action in France’s foreign policy, with the Gender and Climate Award being a key initiative initiated by France in Pakistan, and reaffirmed France’s commitment to support Pakistani government and civil society in their efforts against climate change.

This was followed by two moderated panel discussions explored the transformative potential of gender-inclusive climate policies and grassroots leadership. The first featured representatives from the collaborating partner organizations, highlighting the contributions of their organizations, and rationale behind supporting the GCA initiative.

The second panel brought together winners from all three editions of the Award, who shared personal stories, challenges, and lessons learned from their frontline climate work. In his concluding remarks, Mr. Samuel Rizk, UNDP Resident Representative in Pakistan, lauded the Award as a model for promoting intersectional climate leadership and advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The event concluded with an award distribution ceremony where Dr. Shezra Mansab Ali Khan Kharal, Minister of State for Climate Change, honored the winners with recognition and a cash prize. In her closing keynote, the Minister lauded the initiative taken by the Embassy of France, in collaboration with partner organizations, in spotlighting the achievements and contributions of women across Pakistan. She emphasized the impactful role of women in transforming societies and making Pakistan resilient.

The Minister assured the partners of the support and ownership of the government in taking this agenda forward to ensure its sustainability. Aisha Khan (CEO, CSCCC) thanked the Embassy of France and collaborating partners for their support in making GCA2025 possible. She affirmed the commitment of civil society in ambitiously and audaciously supporting the role of gender in making Pakistan climate resilient.