Focus Area

Gender-Inclusive Climate Investment

Ensuring that all private sector climate investments are gender inclusive and reduce inequalities between women and men.

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Accelerating effective and inclusive climate transitions is impossible without addressing the inequalities that exist between women and men.

IFC’s pioneering Gender x Climate program focuses on advancing investments in climate mitigation and adaptation. IFC recognizes that business transformations at the speed and scale required to meet the goals for the Paris Agreement are not possible without addressing the socioeconomic barriers experienced by women and individuals at the base of the pyramid.  

The Gender x Climate program is focused on business case research, capacity building for investors, and client solutions that advance women in the green economy as leaders, employees, entrepreneurs, and community stakeholders. Research shows that women leaders take more robust corporate actions to confront the climate crisis.

Please find out more in IFC's Gender-Inclusive Climate Investment Factsheet.

Statistics

Sectors that attract the most climate capital are also sectors where women are most underrepresented in business leadership (IFC, 2023). For example, only 7% of startup founders in the energy sector are women (IEA, 2022).

A 1% increase in the share of female managers leads to a 0.5% decrease in CO2 emissions (ECB, 2022). Lending volumes to more polluting industries are 10% lower when banks have at least 37% membership of women on their boards (Gambacorta et al., 2022).

Companies with greater board gender diversity are 60 percent more likely to reduce the intensity of energy consumption, 39 percent more likely to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and 46 percent more likely to reduce water use (FP Analytics, 2022).

 

What is gender-inclusive climate action?

Gender-inclusive climate action recognizes that the effects of climate change differ for individuals based on their gender identity. It acknowledges and integrates these differences into policy frameworks, corporate strategies, and project design and implementation, while simultaneously seeking to address gender inequalities in the context of climate change. 

Why is gender-inclusive climate action important?

  1. Women and other disadvantaged groups are likely to be more negatively impacted by the effects of climate change. For example, climate change can increase gender-based violence (GBV), compounding risks for women and girls’ safety. Climate solutions must address these differentiated vulnerabilities in their design and implementation or risk undoing progress on gender equality.
  2. Existing gaps between women and men across leadership, employment, and entrepreneurship will likely widen in the green transition without concerted efforts to address them. This is because the sectors poised for the most growth in net-zero transitions, such as renewable energy, are also sectors where women are least represented as workers and leaders
  3. Women’s voices, and those of racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTI individuals, persons with disabilities, refugees and displaced persons, indigenous peoples, and other marginalized groups, are essential for securing a just and inclusive low-carbon future. Women’s business leadership has been linked to more robust climate targets and improved outcomes.

Featured Program: She Wins Climate

She Wins Climate seeks to accelerate women-led climate startups and increase their access to climate investment in emerging markets and developing economies.

Are you a woman-led climate startup in an emerging market in Eastern Europe or Asia?

Our Approach

IFC champions Gender-Inclusive Climate Investment by creating solutions for clients, developing inclusive strategies, and delivering thought leadership.

Creating Solutions for Clients

IFC works with private sector clients to help them address climate risks and take up new climate-related opportunities, while also expanding project impacts for women and disadvantaged groups. IFC is exploring new financing innovations to deliver impact for both climate and gender.

Developing Inclusive Strategies

IFC advances a gender lens across its investments and advisory services. It is working to develop sector-based tools and frameworks to help identify opportunities for addressing gender gaps through climate business.

Delivering Thought Leadership

To inform operations, address client needs, and contribute to the global dialogue on inclusive climate investment, IFC delivers thought leadership and research at the intersection of climate change and gender inclusion. 

Contacts

Evangelia Tsiftsi
Communications Specialist, Gender and Economic Inclusion
+1 202-473-4159