The latest Project Sage data, released in late December, reveals a rise in the number of private funds investing with both gender and climate in mind. This month we share a few of these funds’ approaches and learnings, supplemented with findings from our own working group. These are not investment recommendations, just illustrations of how other investors are approaching this theme.

In 2019/20, 28 percent of Project Sage respondents, or 39 funds, had a focus on SDG 13 (Climate Action) alongside gender. In 2020-21, it was 39 percent, or 81 funds. What’s more, while many funds are early-stage or first-time funds with innovative, high-impact theses, there was also a notable jump in the number of SDG13 funds managing over $100 million — from 5 to 18.

And if you add in the funds that explicitly mention sectors such as energy or cleantech, this brings the total up to 50 percent of the Project Sage universe. This suggests that climate and gender finance is indeed gaining mainstream traction, with influential allocators of all stripes.

Just looking through the lens of a single SDG or sector, however, doesn’t tell the whole story about gender lens funds and climate investments. For one thing, to be considered for inclusion in Project Sage 4.0, the gender lens had to be explicit. Yet there are other funds out there I’ve spoken to that are investing in climate with a gender lens but don’t talk about it, for reasons that could make for another article.

There are also a number of investors seeking to have climate impact through less obvious leverage points, such as investing in girls’ education or digital inclusion. This is a holistic approach where there is a less-explicit focus on climate in their investment thesis, but climate outcomes are still part of the consideration.

Read the full article about private equity funds, gender, and climate by Suzanne Biegel at GreenBiz.