ISLAMABAD: The third edition of the Gender Climate Award (GCA) concluded in the capital on Thursday, celebrating individuals and initiatives that were driving gender-responsive climate action across Pakistan.

This year`s winners were recognised in two categories: climate action and climate journalism. The Climate Action Award was designed to honour individuals or organisations that were 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 were Anusha Fatima (climate action) and Aisha Farrukh (climate journalism). Each winner received a cash award of Rs1.2 million as recognition for their contributions to help them take their work forward.

GCA 2025 was a continuation of the initiative launched by the embassy of France in 2023 in Pakistan to recognise 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 and Environmental Coordination (MoCC&EC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), Aga Khan Foundation andUN Women. The Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change (CS CCC) served as the implementing agency for organising and executing the GCA activities.

The Pakistan Gender Climate Award ceremony held at the Serena Hotel was attended by officials from the ministry of climate change, diplomats, civil society, academia, youth and the media.

The ceremony opened with welcome remarks by 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 exploring the transformative potential of gender-inclusive climate policies and grassroots leadership.

The first featured representatives from the collaborating partner organisations, 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, 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.

Dr Shezra Mansab Ali Khan Kharal, Minister of State for Climate Change, presented the winners with recognition and a cash prize.