Gender-Responsive Climate Action Cannot Wait

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Subject: Gender-Responsive Climate Action Cannot Wait

2X Global: Unlocking gender-smart capital at scale

Dear Friend,

The real-life impacts of the climate crisis have felt particularly acute this week, underscoring the need for sustained, targeted climate action.

As this newsletter enters your inboxes, Hurricane Melissa is still charting a path of destruction through the Caribbean, having ravaged Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba and The Bahamas and headed for Bermuda.

One of the strongest Atlantic storms to make landfall in history, Melissa went from a tropical storm to a deadly and historic Category 5 hurricane in less than 48 hours - a rapid intensification that is becoming increasingly more likely in recent decades, as oceans warm.

Against this backdrop, we are reminded that not everyone experiences these impacts equally. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) such as those in the Caribbean, are disproportionately and devastatingly affected, despite emitting a small and ever-decreasing proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions.

And around the world, women and girls are more exposed to the economic, social, and physical risks of climate change — yet too often excluded from the resources, capital, and decision-making that drive resilience.

That’s why gender-responsive climate action is such an urgent need.

As we look ahead to COP 30 in Brazil, 2X Global is pushing to center the conversation on solutions that recognise and respond to these disparities — and on how we measure what matters.

At the start of this week, we introduced the Resilient Futures Fund (RFF) a new initiative that aims to strengthen resilience and increase opportunities for climate solutions led by, involving or benefiting women and girls. Supported by Amazon, Reckitt, the Skoll Foundation, UPS Foundation and Visa Foundation, the RFF provides catalytic capital and ecosystem support for solutions that are tackling climate mitigation and adaptation where it is needed most.

And today, Thursday, October 30, we invite you to join us for a LinkedIn Live webinar — Keeping Score: Standardised Frameworks for Measuring Gender Performance and Impact in Climate Action. We’ll explore how investors, policymakers, and practitioners can use shared metrics to drive accountability and scale gender-smart climate investments.

Because it is clearer than ever - the time for targeted, inclusive climate action is now.

In Community,

2X Global Team

Leadership update

As part of 2X Global’s next chapter, our Director of People & Programmes, Stella McKenna, will be stepping down from her role at the end of December 2025 after six years, three with GenderSmart and then three with 2X Global.

Stella has played a pivotal role in shaping 2X Global’s programmes, culture, and systems for delivery, and will remain involved into early 2026 to support a smooth transition.

We’re now recruiting a new Director of Programmes to help lead the next phase of our strategy and continue building on the strong foundations established over recent years.

Learn more about the role and how to apply here.

News from the field

Mainstreaming gender lens investing. The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has launched a CAD 50 million fund to help women entrepreneurs acquire and grow established businesses through equity investments. What happens when 15 funds invest with women in mind? This case study, developed by Value for Women (VfW) with the Dutch Good Growth Fund and Tetra Tech, showcases how targeted technical assistance helped fifteen funds across Africa, Asia, and Latin America formalise gender strategies, embed 2X-aligned criteria, and mobilise over USD 50 million. Explore how practical, low-cost actions can create measurable gender impact in the manufacturing sector in this case study from VfW and FMO. It examines a partnership with Eswaran Brothers Exports, one of Sri Lanka’s largest tea exporters which doubled women’s promotions within six months and strengthened leadership accountability through inclusive management practices. A new study from the ICR Facility reveals the persistent finance gap faced by women-led SMEs in the Caribbean and recommends collaborative ecosystem interventions. ARUWA Capital explains the business case for gender-lens investing, showing how supporting female-led enterprises results in measurable value and impact. 2X Global CEO Jessica Espinoza is featured on the Women Changing Finance podcast, sharing how gender lens investing is transforming the financial system, from grassroots women entrepreneurs to global capital markets. The G7’s Development Finance Institutions launched a new Infrastructure Investment Council to mobilise private capital at scale, coordinating DFIs and institutional investors under Canada’s G7 presidency. The EIB Group formally endorsed the European Union’s Declaration of Principles for a Gender-Equal Society, reinforcing its commitment to gender mainstreaming in finance.

Gender and Climate Investing.The Nature Conservancy’s new guide distils a decade of innovation into ten bold models to unlock finance for climate and nature-based solutions. IDB Invest has anchored a USD 75 million stake in Banistmo S.A.’s first sustainable bond to fund women-led SMEs and green projects in Panama. Climate Fund Managers closed its second blended finance fund at USD 1.065 billion, surpassing its USD 1 bn target and becoming the largest climate adaptation infrastructure fund in emerging markets. Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies has developed a “Heat Justice Compass”, a proposed framework for philanthropic action to better align climate resilience, equity and social justice in global giving strategies.

Leadership, Culture and Policy, JEDI. Luxembourg’s national gender gender equality observatory has published its latest Equality Report, showing a mixed bag in progress on gender equality. The report showed the country had improved its standing in the EU Gender Equality Index, placing it 7th out of 27 countries in the bloc, but also flagged increased police call outs for domestic violence incidents and flagged a significant gender gap in digital proficiency. Is there a glass ceiling in the IFIs? A new blog from the Center for Global Development draws on their research to make the point that while women are recruited at near-parity in international financial institutions, they are significantly under-represented in senior roles, and calls for better tracking and promotion systems. Women’s World Banking has launched a leadership development programme tailored for regulators to strengthen gender capacity in financial supervision.

Data and Tools. McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace Study, covering 324 organisations and 1.4 million employees, finds women face persistent entry and leadership barriers in India, Nigeria, and Kenya. The report highlights targeted interventions that can accelerate gender parity. A new report from IRENA shows that women’s share of full-time jobs in the global renewables sector (32%) has not changed significantly since 2019, despite the growth of the sector. Representation drops further in STEM‐positions (28%) and trades (22%) in the sector. A new paper in the Annals of Finance delves into regional differences in gender parity regarding firms’ access to finance to see where sub-Saharan Africa stands. Using data from 133,525 firms across 113 developing countries (2006-2023) the study examines whether female-owned firms experience greater financial constraints than male‐owned firms. New research from KPMG, the Women Chief Executives Hong Kong and The Women’s Foundation finds that in Hong Kong’s financial sector, women now hold more than 45% of senior leadership roles and over 37% of board director positions - substantial increases since 2018.

Care Economy. In the UK, the lost labour of unpaid carers - many of whom are women - cost the economy up to GBP 47.7 billion a year (or 1.7% of UK GDP) because they are locked out of paid employment. Meanwhile in Bangladesh, a landmark new report from the country’s Bureau of Statistics shows unpaid domestic and care work in Bangladesh was estimated at BDT 6.7 trillion in 2021, equal to 18.9% of GDP, with women accounting for over 85% of that contribution.

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

Karnataka has become the first Indian state to introduce a comprehensive menstrual leave policy. Under the new policy, covering both government and private sector employees, women will be entitled to one paid leave day per month of menstrual leave. Deal Source Africa is addressing Africa’s USD 331 billion SME funding gap with a hybrid platform combining digital deal-rooms, transaction advisory and investor matchmaking to support high-growth enterprises.

Community Calendar

4-6 November

PRI In Person, the world's leading responsible investment conference will take place in Brazil next month. Learn more.

5 November

The Loan Market Association’s Sustainable Finance Conference will take place in London, gathering industry leaders to discuss the latest developments, challenges, and opportunities in sustainable finance.

5-7 November

The All Africa Pension Summit takes place in Kampala, Uganda, with decision makers from African pension funds, international finance institutions, private equity and more, gathered to discuss unlocking the full potential of Africa’s pension capital to tackle the continent’s most pressing challenges.

12-14 November

Inclusive Finance 25 will take place in Luxembourg, providing unique convening for microfinance and financial inclusion professionals working worldwide.

17-18 November

‘From the South: For the Future’ is the theme for this year’s Orange Forum which will take place in Jakarta and focus on how emerging economies are leading from the front on advancing inclusive, sustainable growth strategies. Register your interest on their website.

18-20 November

Impact Week Malmö will bring together impact investors and capital providers to accelerate funding for people and planet, forge essential connections and spotlight the innovative Nordic impact ecosystem. Read more and register.

1 December

2X Global and PEWIN will bring together senior women in finance on the sidelines of Super Return Africa, in Cape Town, South Africa.

Thank you to our partners and supporters

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Subject: Gender-Responsive Climate Action Cannot Wait