The Annual Parliamentary Meeting at the 66th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66) took place virtually on March 14, 2022. Co-organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UN Women, it brought together legislators from around the globe to discuss the theme, “The role of women’s leadership and gender-responsive parliaments in climate action.” The Canadian Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (UIPU) was represented by the Hon. Salma Ataullahjan, Senator, the Hon. Rosa Galvez, Senator, the Hon. Amina Gerba, Senator, the Hon. Patti LaBoucane-Benson, Senator, the Hon. Marilou McPhedran, Senator, the Hon. Julie Miville-Dechêne, Senator, the Hon. Rosemary Moodie, Senator, the Hon. Kim Pate, Senator, Ms. Iqra Khalid, M.P., Ms. Andréanne Larouche, M.P., Ms. Lindsay Mathyssen, M.P., the Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner, P.C., M.P., and Mr. Francesco Sorbara, M.P.
Participants shared their experiences regarding women’s leadership and political participation in climate action, green parliaments, as well as legal and policy reforms for gender-responsive climate action. Senator McPhedran emphasized the role that informal networks among women parliamentarians can play in advancing discussions on gender-responsive parliaments in climate action and achieving all of the Sustainable Development Goals, given their intersectionality. Senator McPhedran joined her voice to that of other participants in expressing solidarity with Ukraine’s women parliamentarians following the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine.