Giving Compass' Take:

• Ting Nan Wang illuminates the multi-layered benefits of impact investing in climate change resilience through a gender equity lens.

• How can we invest in women as leaders in climate change resilience? What can you do to take an in-depth look into the impact of your investing?

• Read more about what you can do right now to address climate change.

Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the destructive nature of global crises without immediate resolutions. Likewise, the effects of climate change are slated to be even more devastating and far-ranging. These crises have the potential to widen inequality due to disproportional effects along demographic lines.

Especially in rural or impoverished communities, the effects of climate change can be intricately tied with gender identity as agricultural income and land ownership are distinct along gender lines.

In adopting a climate change resilient framework, investors can consider how their portfolio will impact marginalised communities, including women. This correlates with an area of growing prominence in the impact investing sector: gender lens investing. In this instance, it will entail that women-led businesses or those supporting women beneficiaries are supported by green financing while driving climate action.

A vibrant social investment ecosystem, with the right players and infrastructure in place, is imperative for impact investing to thrive. As pointed out by Joanna Messing, Executive Director, Growald Family Fund, “No individual foundation can take on an issue as large as climate change”, highlighting the importance of multi-sector collaboration.

Fundamentally, financial and impact outcomes are prioritised by investors. Hence, a measurement index to coordinate and quantify investment outcomes have been cited as essential for decision making. In this area, efforts have been made to initiate these processes to draw private investors into the sector.

While it has yet to be widely adopted, the introduction of a measurement standard is promising – and a useful tool to quantify returns while justifying investment decisions beyond traditional methods of measurement in monetary terms. The alignment of financial and impact goals, alongside the social causes of gender and climate, will allow the unique and multi-dimensional nature of this sector to be quantified.

Read the full article about gender equity in climate change resilience by Ting Nan Wang at AVPN.