Bringing the data that moves the needle

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Subject: Bringing the data that moves the needle

2X Global: Unlocking gender-smart capital at scale

Dear Friend,

Welcome to our penultimate newsletter edition for 2025 - and what a year it’s been! It’s fair to say that even in a decade filled with upheaval, that this year has been especially unprecedented - and often in deeply challenging ways.

Our global systems have been profoundly transformed, with partnerships, alliances and standards of operating, shifted and sometimes frayed.

It is clear - 2025 has not been business as usual. Amidst all of this, one thing is increasingly clear: advancing gender lens investing will require an even stronger business case. Geopolitical upheaval, tightening capital markets, and competing priorities are putting new pressures on investors -and in moments like these, we need to be able to point to evidence that is timely, grounded, and actionable. Data that not only showcases success stories, but also maps the emerging opportunities, innovations and, yes, even the persistent barriers that shape our field.

At 2X Global, we hear every day from investors who are committed to driving capital toward women and gender-inclusive business models, but who also want - no, need - sharper insights to guide their decision-making and influence those who can help drive even more capital.

To help fill that gap, we are excited to be launching our Quarterly Industry Pulse Survey in Q1 2026. This will be a new effort to capture real-time sentiment and on-the-ground perspectives from investment decision makers across our global community.

This survey will help us better understand where momentum is building, where risks are emerging, and how market actors are responding to shifting conditions. In short, it will strengthen the evidence base we all rely on to increase and improve gender lens investing - even in unprecedented times.

Our initial intake survey is now open, and your participation will help us to establish a clear, evidence-driven picture of where the industry stands and where it’s heading.

We urge you to participate and share it with colleagues and partners who are shaping investment decisions. Your insights will help ensure we all have the data and intelligence we need to unlock more capital for women and accelerate progress where it matters most - and that is definitely something for us all to look forward to in the coming year.

In Community,

2X Global Team

Complete the intake survey

Look for 2X Global on U.S. public television

We’re thrilled to announce that 2X Global and our member organisation European Investment Bank (EIB) are appearing on the television series Empowered Hosted by Meg Ryan.

2X was selected as a featured guest for the educational documentary series for the latest season, which is focused on “Beyond the Bottom Line: Investing for Impact”, exploring how investment can be leveraged for positive impact.

2X Global CEO Jessica Espinoza and EIB President Nadia Calviño were spotlighted on the series, discussing our organisations' work together and out in the ecosystem to mobilise more capital to economically empower women and girls the world over.

The Empowered programme airs on Public Television stations across the United States and this season will be shared over the next year in hundreds of media markets across the U.S. with a mini version of the documentary airing on CNBC.

Watch here

News from the field

Mainstreaming gender lens investing. The Asian Development Bank green-lit a US$300 million policy-based loan (including US$100 million concessional) to broaden financial access for micro, small and medium enterprises especially women-led ones and strengthen Uzbekistan’s microfinance sector through new regulations, gender financing quotas, and digital-finance reforms. A recent World Bank paper outlines what is working and what doesn’t when it comes to advancing women’s leadership. Researchers found that quotas do work when designed properly but greater numerical representation does not always lead to substantive influence.

Gender and Climate Investing. Ahead of COP 30, one of the founding architects of the Paris Agreement, former UNFCCC head Christiana Figueres, argues that the climate action that will really matter in the years to come is in the Global South. Climate blended finance increased in 2024, with increasing private sector interest and appetite shows the 2025 State of Climate Blended Finance 2025 report, yet the direction of the flows remains a cause for concern for least developed nations. A bold and historic moment for nature and climate finance - the launch of the US$5 billion Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) promises to channel billions toward forest protection and restoration. The latest World Energy Outlook 2025 explores a range of possible energy futures and their implications for energy security, access and emissions. Read the report to see what’s forecast based on current factors including supply volatility, mineral chokepoints and rising demand. Another big COP30 funders announcement - the Climate and Health Funders Coalition, a group of over 35 major philanthropies which have united their efforts to improve health and save lives, working at the nexus of climate and health. For the first time, the four largest multilateral climate funds (Adaptation Fund, CIF, Global Environment Facility, and Green Climate Fund) have released a joint results report, offering a unified view of their collective impact and progress and creating a clearer view of what pooled climate dollars are achieving and what still needs to be done. The much anticipated GAP (gender action plan) was adopted at COP 30. The new GAP includes many essential elements which climate and gender advocates pushed for, including the use of disaggregated data and gender analysis for decision-making. Check out this piece from IISD on what it all means and what could be next. Our CEO Jessica Espinoza has a new essay out on Medium where she notes that women, particularly indigenous women, hold the key to unlocking scalable, community-rooted nature-based climate solutions.

Leadership, Culture and Policy, JEDI. A disturbing but insightful piece from The Persistent on how AI tools -from chatbots to avatars - are already being used to harass women and girls and spread sexist violence against women, exposing how digital tech is reinforcing real-world misogyny. Workplaces need to be designed with women’s fertility and reproduction in mind, argues 2X Global CEO Jessica Espinoza in a new essay on Medium. She posits that ignoring menstruation, fertility, pregnancy loss or menopause in workplace policy and design hurts women’s careers while embedding reproductive-health support is a concrete equity and productivity win.

Data and Tools. Interesting news on the data insights front - Equileap’s team and methodology will be integrated into Denominator, bringing together a combined client list of over 50% of the world’s 20 largest asset managers. The combined offering will cover 5.5 million companies with data points to connect workforce dynamics to financial outcomes. G-SEARCh 2.0 is launching a new research phase to explore how impact-linked incentives can accelerate gender inclusion across funds and portfolio companies, aiming to identify the most effective levers for fund managers and enterprises while building a global Community of Practice and producing practical, solutions-oriented tools. Complete the Expression of Interest survey

Care Economy. Is care more valuable than oil? A new report estimates that Nigerian women’s unpaid care work is worth as much as US$111 billion a year - equivalent to 10%–39% of Nigeria’s GDP. At the high end of the estimate, the unpaid care economy is larger than Nigeria’s oil sector. Meanwhile, a new report out finds that in the USA, men are now the majority of those juggling caregiving and work responsibilities - but it’s not quite the way it sounds. It’s because women there are leaving the workforce in record numbers due to the increasingly steep challenges of juggling work and caregiving. South Korean banks continue to lead the way in that country in closing the gender gap for their workers, with particularly coveted benefits for working mothers - a significant move in a country with the world’s lowest birth rate. Still, a persistent gender pay gap and other issues remain.

Resilience (GBVH, Financial Inclusion, Health, Security).

A new report from the McKinsey Health Institute finds that closing gender-biased health disparities, could gain an extra US$37 billion per year for Canada’s economy by 2040. If I do not file a complaint, where does that leave all Mexican women? If they do this to the president, what happens to all the other women in the country? Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, confirming she would file charges following a disturbing incident in Mexico City where a drunk man groped and attempted to kiss her during a public event.

Community Calendar

1 December

2X Global and PEWIN will bring together senior women in finance on the outskirts of Super Return Africa, in Cape Town, South Africa for a moment of grounding, clarity and connection.

Secure your spot here.

2-4 December

Investors and innovators, asset owners and allocators of capital will meet in Cape Town for Super Return Africa. More information here.

9-10 December

2X Global’s final GLI Deep Dive for the year will be held under the theme Investment Playbook - Gender Accelerating Innovation, as we spotlight how gender lens investing and financial innovation are reshaping capital markets, with a particular focus on the rise of gender-focused bonds. This event is free for all 2X Global members.

Thank you to our partners and supporters

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Subject: Bringing the data that moves the needle