2X Forum announced, 2X Global joins New Global Financing Pact summit

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Subject: 2X Forum announced, 2X Global joins New Global Financing Pact summit

2X Global: Unlocking gender-smart capital at scale

Dear Friend,

As we greet the Summer Solstice with open arms in the Northern Hemisphere, the 2x Global community has had another busy month. We kicked off June with a high-energy 2X Global Meet-up in Toronto, partnered with Cadwalader and our 2X Global Board Chair on the launch of the Women in ESG network in London.

We are excited to announce the members of 2X Forum. The Forum is a long-term strategic engagement pillar to bring in the voices, inspiration, concerns, and perspectives of 2X Global’s broader and more diverse stakeholders to 2X leadership. Meanwhile, the 2X Certification team will be sharing an updated framework and methodology in early July following the co-creation and expert feedback sessions held in the past months. Stay updated on this progress through our website and LinkedIn page.

We were delighted and proud to see our Board member and Chair Sukhvir Basran represent 2X Global at the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris where she moderated two panels led by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

In Community,

2X Global team

Meet the 2X Global Team

The 2X Global team met in person for a week-long retreat focused on team building, strategy development, and planning for the future.

News from the field

Mainstreaming gender lens investing. Tackling the gender credit gap through the 10,000 Women business education programme. Steps to creating a more inclusive investment landscape in Africa. Mongolian bank Khan receives a USD 10 million gender-focused bond to address gender-related challenges such as unemployment stemming from socio-economic crises. Developments and policies to address gender inequality in OECD countries. Closing the gender equity gap is one of the key issues influencing development policy and practice in Africa throughout this year. On the many benefits of gender smart investing and why it is just that: smart (a piece authored by our Director of Strategy, Sana Kapadia & members of Tiime). Norway plans to mandate a quota of 40% for women on boards to meet gender equity targets.

Gender and Climate Investing. Water and Energy for Food’s (WE4F) annual report found an enhanced focus on gender mainstreaming efforts with WE4F-supported innovators creating solutions that reach and benefit women smallholder farmers and end-users. The importance of integrating gender and social inclusion in nature-based solutions that have gained traction in recent years because of their potential to promote sustainable development and reduce disaster risks. How gender-responsive budgeting can be integrated into national budgets to advance gender-responsive climate policies, plans, strategies and action. Investment platform AWE Funds secured USD 15 million in the first close of its maiden fund in India to scale innovation across climate and sustainability, food and agriculture, healthcare, education and fintech sectors while promoting gender equity and climate action. How financial services can empower women to manage climate risks and build resilience. Recommendations for development practitioners, policymakers, and businesses on how they can place gender equality at the centre of climate action. Oxfam’s Climate Finance 2023 report highlighted that high-income countries failed to deliver on their climate finance goals, but loan provision is resulting in greater indebtedness, making the move to a just transition further out of reach. This thought piece from WRI outlines pragmatic steps to scale up climate finance, including a focus on more inclusive and gender-smart approaches.

Leadership, Culture and Policy. The Gender Social Norms Index quantifies biases against women; covering 85 percent of the global population, the index captures people’s attitudes on women’s roles along four key dimensions: political, educational, economic and physical integrity. Reforming Ethiopia’s policies on maternity and paternity leave, and key lessons to other countries seeking to enhance their own leave policies for parents. The role of laws and regulations in safeguarding women’s economic opportunities, exploring the barriers that hinder women’s economic participation and showcasing successful reforms. Diving into co-leadership models as well as the role of men as allies as we build the future of workspaces and advance equitable leadership approaches.

Resilience (GBV, Financial Inclusion, Security). A recent study of online behaviour in four Pacific Island countries found that people search more frequently for terms relating to gender-based violence (GBV) during times of crisis. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) & the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) launch new strategic partnership and $240 mn funding plan to support mother and child’s health, sexual and reproductive health, social protection, water and sanitation, nutrition, and climate resilience.

Data and Tools. Disappointing global headlines of persistent gender bias and stunted progress on closing the gender gap, with a persistent 131 year timeline. A new survey provides investment strategies and tools that fund managers are using to address diverse challenges of risk, size, and governance of small business finance in Africa and the Middle East. Deepening support towards first-time and diverse fund managers to bridge the annual $ 4 trillion SDG financing gaps. Further details emerge on the EU Taxonomy regulatory requirements for investors (noting these are climate finance focused, while gender metrics are yet to be integrated). US gender pay gap persists.

Care Economy. Improving family-friendly workplace policies in Nigeria could boost private sector productivity and benefit employees, children, and businesses in the country. Criterion Institute recently launched a stream of work with UNICEF to build the field of child lens investing and help connect the dots between finance and child wellbeing. ILO’s Future of Work Podcast on why domestic work is part of care work and needs to be properly valued. Spain launches an app to illustrate invisible domestic labour and encourage greater male participation in care responsibilities.

JEDI, Power, and New Economic Systems. The Investment Integration Project releases a new report on how investors can act on racial equity as a systemic risk. The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) - in consortium with the Criterion Institute and 2X Global - seeks innovative proposals driven by organizational expertise on gender equality and local context that aims to change the way local communities think about and engage with financial actors. Crunchbase is starting to track the amount of venture capital dollars invested in founders who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. The Black Innovation Lab is a groundbreaking initiative that aims to empower marginalised founders and drive impactful change through entrepreneurship. A new recruitment process in West and Central Africa showcases a commitment to child participation and empowerment. The transformative potential to change the system of finance through blended finance strategies that place communities at the centre. Shifting taxonomy from LGBTQIA+ to SOGIESC, with this proposed term reframing sexuality, gender, and human rights in a more inclusive and universal fashion.

Community Calendar

27-30 August, 2023

Latimpacto - Impact Minds: Standing Together will convene the Latin America and Caribbean impact ecosystem to promote innovative proposals and alliances to attract more capital. Register here.

6 September, 2023

Convergence XX: Systemic Risk and the Future of Justice is a virtual month-long convening that will unite thought leaders from across the fields of finance and social change to explore social injustices as a systemic investment risk. Register here.

12-14 September, 2023

ANDE Annual Conference hosts this year's event in Accra, Ghana with the theme Accelerating Action: Small Business Solutions and the SDGs. The West Africa Regional Conference is scheduled on the second day of the conference. Register here.

18-19 September, 2023

UN SDG Summit 2023, New York. At the mid-point implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development, the summit will follow-up and review the progress made towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more.

28-29 September 2023

The 2X Annual Members’ Meeting 2023, hosted by 2X Global in partnership with the European Investment Bank (EIB), will be held in Luxembourg this year. 2X Global members can RSVP here.

2-5 October 2023

Building Bridges is a collaborative initiative that gives a voice to a large community of decision-makers, advocates, experts, and financial actors from both the Global North and South. RSVP here.

3-5 October 2023

PRI in Person 2023 will focus on responsible investment practices and debate the impact of emerging ESG issues and global trends. Register to join the conference in Tokyo here.

4-5 October 2023

The GIIN Impact Forum 2023 is designed to advance and scale the impact investing market by bringing all of the crucial elements of the world’s impact ecosystem together in one place. Register to join the event in Denmark.

16-20 October, 2023

The 8th World Investment Forum will be held in Abu Dhabi this year. The Empretec Women in Business Awards will also be held during the Forum, acknowledging the contributions of inspiring women entrepreneurs to the implementation of the Global Goals. Learn more.

2X Ignite is launching an introductory and acceleration programme for 25 female-led or gender-balanced fund managers across the Asia-Pacific region. If you are interested in becoming a fund manager, or if you already have a fund and would like to accelerate your timeline, join our programme. Applications close on June 30th.

Join the programme

Welcome new 2X Global Members

We are pleased to welcome Accial Capital, Arowana, ABC Impact, Linea Capital, Triodos Investment Management, Sawari Ventures, Cardinal Stone Advisors, Roots of Impact, Just as 2X Global’s new members for this quarter.