COP26: What was missing in the discussion?

The writing is on the wall. COP26 has failed to institute a path for real change. That’s not all, the number one factor that can impact climate change, empowering women, was reduced to a footnote during the proceedings.

No Clear Mandate on Financing

First, the facts— the cover decision of the Glasgow Climate Pact puts no real measures in place to ensure that developed countries make financial commitments to those in the developing world that will be severely affected by the growing climate crisis. Without putting funding mechanisms in place, the Pact simply urges developed countries to act while leaving contributions to loss and damage voluntary and urging “multilateral development banks, other financial institutions and the private sector to enhance finance mobilization to deliver the scale of resources needed to achieve climate plans” [Glasgow Climate Pact]. The Pact encourages stakeholders to continue to explore innovative approaches and instruments for mobilizing finance for adaptation from private sources. 

The Exclusion of Women and Girls

Not only this, women and girls were reduced once again to a single day on the program supplemented by one panel the following day; a Dialogue on Gender, Innovation and Technology [View the overview of gender conversations at COP26 here].

Not only were there reports of civil society organizations being shut out of negotiations, but women from the Global South were denied a voice at the summit through the denial of visitor visas and those that lack technological connectivity being left out from virtual events [Read more from Forbes here].

However, it is precisely this group of women, who are often reduced to a demographic, that will be displaced by the catastrophic events waiting in the wings as global leaders quibble over divesting in fossil fuels and prioritizing their own expanding economies over women's livelihoods.

Meanwhile, the UNDP reports that 80% of the people displaced by climate change are women [UNDP, Gender and Climate Change]. Let’s break this down to the three main reasons why climate-related shocks and land-use changes will be disproportionately felt by women, specifically those from underserved communities. 

• Women tend to have a higher reliance on natural environments and around two-thirds of the female labor force in low-income countries work in agriculture— an inherently climate-sensitive livelihood.
• Women and girls are more likely to carry the burden of energy poverty and experience the adverse effects of a lack of safe, reliable, affordable, and clean energy.
• As a result of weather patterns becoming increasingly unpredictable and more frequent extreme weather events, the livelihoods of women are more at stake than ever before.  

[Source UN Women]

Beyond the pledges and carbon quotas, the world needs to see action. More specifically— action that recognizes we are not working on a level playing field. The fight for climate justice needs to be a fight for gender equality and an acknowledgment that the systemic forces that have oppressed women in the Global South continue unabated. 

Women are the Future of Climate Action

Women are not reducible to being victims of climate change; in fact, they are the powerhouses of systemic change. Climate adaptation must take the livelihoods and the economic power of harnessing women’s economic empowerment seriously. That way governments, financial institutions, and impact investors can come together to ensure that the actions of women will create a wave of change by providing them with the finance and know-how to grow their livelihoods with sustainable, climate-friendly impact enterprises.

[Read more about how IIX has contributed to insights on financing the gender gap for over a decade and download insights here]

Empowering Climate Action with Innovative Finance and Impact Investing

IIX's Women’s Livelihood Bond Series™ makes this possible by putting global finance to work for this mission by accelerating the race to zero emissions through supporting low-income women and grassroots enterprises with climate-adaptive business models in agriculture, fishing, solar, off-grid energy, and water management. By empowering and equipping women with the technical and financial assistance needed to adapt to climate change, the WLB™ Series makes the transition towards a more sustainable economy a not-so-distant reality. [Learn more about the world’s first gender-lens impact investment instrument and how to get involved]

In many countries, government-led initiatives tend to finance large-scale infrastructure projects or traditional development efforts that may take years to trickle down to reach underserved women and communities in rural areas. The portfolio of enterprises in IIX’s Women’s Livelihood Bond Series™ reaches them now by identifying Impact Enterprises that empower women and girls to advance climate action and then mobilizing Innovative Finance to provide them with the resources they need to succeed.

One of the thousands of women who has been living the WLB™Series vision is Bopha, a smallholder rice farmer who has been sourcing to Amru Rice, a Cambodian impact enterprise featured in our WLB3™ portfolio. Amru Rice provides her with access to training programs on organic and sustainable rice farming, which helps increase her yield per harvest by 20%. By working with Amru Rice, Bopha has not only increased her income by receiving a larger proportion of the premium placed on organically farmed products, but the sustainable farming practice has also reduced the environmental damage to her local environment.

Taking Action

If the successes and failures of COP26 are to teach us one thing it’s that we can no longer afford to sit back and do nothing while we wait for a top-down approach to work. It’s time for private finance to step up and it must be done right by:

• Enabling Women. Connecting capital with women-led enterprises that really give back to their communities and the planet will create the greatest impact as women create a new ecosystem of environmental and communal change. IIX has developed a deep pipeline of Impact Enterprises worldwide and built Impact Partners, the world’s largest crowdfunding platform to facilitate their access to investment opportunities.
• Rejecting Greenwashing. With a plethora of data collection tools available, it is now easier than ever to measure and verify the social impact of investments to ensure that capital is truly going to where it is most impactful. Investors should have a right to demand access to the real details of their impact.
• Listening to the Underserved. There is no excuse for dictating terms or making ineffective investments. IIX’s Values™ has proven that taking on the feedback from the beneficiaries creates a feedback mechanism to create lasting change in making finance work for the 99%.

We are in this crucible together. If we don't find a way for the world to become more sustainable while also being inclusively profitable, we are doomed to repeat the failed approaches of the past and delay our shared responsibility to leave this world better than we found it. 

Join our effort to get women the resources they need to impact the planet today!

Authors: Sorelle Henricus, Anisha Chandrasekar