* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Business will be much more effective in fighting global warming if it addresses the ingrained biases that hold back women's contribution to climate-smart solutions
Sanda Ojiambo is CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact.
Female entrepreneurs do things differently. They employ six times more women than companies led by men, according to the Kauffman Fellows mentoring program in SiliconValley. They are more likely than their male counterparts to innovate to address social needs, and women also score better than men in key skills such as leadership, problem-solving and innovation. When allowed to work, women invest 90% of their income in their families, compared to just 35% for men.
And yet, women still face enormous barriers when it comes to setting up businesses of their own. One of the biggest is discrimination in access to finance. A study reported by the World Bank found substantial evidence of discrimination by banks against women entrepreneurs.
We urgently need to close the gender wealth gap. We need to educate investors, bankers and venture capitalists to understand their inbuilt biases, and train them to integrate a gender lens into their investment portfolios. It’s also essential that women are enabled to reach leadership positions in this field.
Nowhere is this needed more than in the fight against climate change, which is hurting women and girls far more than men. According to the United Nations, 80% of people displaced by climate change are female. That’s because women and girls are more likely to live in poverty than men; they face greater hurdles to gain an education; to move independently; to own property; and they are more vulnerable in situations of instability or social strife. The gender barriers faced by women limit their capacity to adapt to climate impacts.
Of course, fighting climate change is an effort that should involve everyone, all genders alike. But right now women’s voices are not being given equal weight.
We already have inspiring examples of female business leaders stepping up to the climate challenge. Women like Marisol Villalobos, founder of Amasar in Puerto Rico , a pioneering regenerative agribusiness which promotes the superfood breadfruit.
Or Nidhi Pant, an Indian chemist still in her twenties, who is the co-founder of S4S Technologies, a company that helps farmers, particularly landless women farmers, earn extra income by extending the shelf-life of their produce with an award-winning solar dryer. Food waste is a huge problem in India—up to 40% of produce is lost between farm and market. Pant’s solar dryer reduces food waste and the carbon emissions from rotting food and generates an additional income stream for farmers. We need more of these triple wins to make a dent in our global carbon emissions.
Climate solutions with a specific focus on women can unlock many business benefits. They drive productivity and innovation; protect natural resources; increase financial stability and returns; and strengthen the resilience of local communities.
For this to happen, we need to support women entrepreneurs more effectively, especially in vulnerable communities. On the ground, they need equitable access to financial and technical support to bring climate innovations to market. Higher up, their voices need to be heard, too. The average representation of women in national and global climate-negotiating bodies is below 30%. We will not have climate justice until women have an equal say in decision-making—whether in shaping climate policy or taking investment decisions.
Business will be much more effective in fighting climate change if it addresses the ingrained biases that hold back female entrepreneurs and climate-resilient solutions with a focus on women. We are working with companies to set and reach targets on women’s representation and leadership in business through the Target Gender Equality programme.
In the future, the Global Compact will be expanding support for business across the marketplace by offering learning materials on the integral role business has to play in working with more women-owned businesses in their supply chain, as well as supporting suppliers to adopt more gender-responsive business practices. On March 15, we are convening leaders from business, government, civil society and academia to a TARGET GENDER EQUALITY LIVE event, where we aim to discuss and demonstrate how the private sector has been working to bring down barriers to gender equality by respecting and supporting the rights of women and girls.
As early adopters of innovation, first responders in crises, entrepreneurs of green energy and decision-makers at home, women are agents of change who must equally be part of the solution toward a sustainable future.
Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland and UN Human Rights Commissioner, describes climate change as a man-made disaster needing a feminist solution. I couldn’t agree more.
