Scaling Gender Change in Canadian Climate Finance in Developing Economies

Global Affairs Canada has released a new report entitled A Journey of Purpose: Learning to Scale Gender Change in Canadian Climate Finance in Developing Economies. Authored by Dr. Edward Jackson for the Department’s Climate Finance Division, the discussion paper examines Canada’s USD 3B long-term debt portfolio with multilateral banks and funds aimed at financing major projects in solar and wind energy, sustainable agriculture, water, and transport in developing and emerging markets. “While there are formidable obstacles to optimizing women’s gains in climate finance, not least from patriarchy’s discriminatory and exclusionary norms,” Dr. Jackson finds, “Canada’s portfolio demonstrates increasing innovation at the climate-gender nexus.” His assessment points to ten strategies for scaling benefits for women in climate finance: with women’s organizations, communities, and households, 1) authentic community engagement and 2) access to affordable services; with borrowing companies and institutions, 3) gender performance incentives, 4) targeted employment and training programs, 5) procurement policies, and 6) corporate policies and practices; and, for lending institutions, 7) board-endorsed policies and practices, 8) gender-targeted climate investment funds, 9) gender-integrated investment teams, and 10) meso-level (institution-wide) technical assistance mechanisms. The report also highlights three strategies for mobilizing private finance for gender-responsive climate mitigation and adaptation, including co-investing, de-risking, and corporate bond issuance. To read the full report in English, click HERE. To access the French version, click HERE