Creating gender-responsive funding schemes

British Business Bank recently doubled its commitment to the Invest in Women Taskforce from £50m to £100m - and that alone is big news. But what I’m even happier to see is their newly announced £400m Investor Pathways Capital programme, launching in 2026. Why does this matter? Because this initiative focuses on building the pipeline of who gets to invest. For too long, venture capital has relied on closed networks and familiar faces. This programme will: • Deploy capital into small, early-stage funds • Help new investors build a track record • Back emerging talent, not just the usual suspects • Crucially, target at least 50% of investment towards female fund managers And we know what happens when women control capital: outcomes change. Capital flows differently. Diverse funders back diverse founders. For me, this is about changing the system from the inside out - making sure the next generation of investors reflects the future of the UK, not just its past. It’s a step towards the kind of inclusive, sustainable investment ecosystem we urgently need.

Cost-benefit analysis isn’t neutral—and climate change doesn’t affect everyone equally. That’s the premise behind the new UNDP Gender-Responsive and Socially Inclusive CCBA Guidelines. It’s a big step forward for anyone trying to align climate investments with real-world equity. Here’s why this matters: Women and vulnerable groups bear the brunt of climate impacts, especially in the Global South. Think: drought-displaced communities, informal sector workers, and landless farmers. Yet they’re often excluded from how projects are assessed and financed. These guidelines offer a concrete framework for Ministries of Finance, Planning, and Environment to build gender and social inclusion into climate adaptation and mitigation investment planning. It’s not just about climate-proofing infrastructure. It’s about measuring who benefits—and who doesn’t—from every climate dollar spent. What’s in it for MENA and Africa? MENA countries, increasingly climate-stressed, are pivoting from reactive spending to risk-informed planning. These tools help justify smarter, more inclusive investments. Across Africa, where adaptation needs are sky-high but resources are tight, this approach helps governments and donors prioritize resilient and just projects—not just the biggest or fastest to implement. This isn’t just a technical fix—it’s a mindset shift. One that says economic efficiency must include social equity and climate reality. If you're involved in public finance, climate policy, or sustainable development—especially in the Global South—this is essential reading.

The way capital is deployed shapes our economy and society. Women’s economic empowerment can significantly boost growth. Deployment of financial resources is key to ensuring women’s economic empowerment. Financial resources determine which priorities are addressed, what solutions reach scale, and when ideas go unexplored. Still, these resources are not evenly distributed. 👉 Less than 1.3% of the $69.1 trillion in global financial assets under management are managed by women and people of colour. 👉 Barely 2% of venture capital goes to women-led startups globally, If women and men had equal levels of entrepreneurship, global GDP could rise by 3% to 6%, boosting the world economy by $2.5–$5 trillion. As a G7 advisor and member of the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council, I participated in presenting our report on women’s economic empowerment at an international seminar in Tokyo. One vital recommendation is to encourage gender-smart investment in the private sector and provide women entrepreneurs with equal access to private funding. 👉 We recommend creating a fund of funds and back multistakeholder initiatives to provide catalytic anchor investment in women-led funds.  👉 We also recommend gender-smart investing strategies to build the market and mobilise private capital. In the report we give example the spearheading work done by 2X Global, a global industry body for gender finance. The 2X Investment Criteria set global standards for gender-smart finance that have been adopted by a wide spectrum of capital providers. Thank you to Hedwige Nuyens and Anda Sapardan for excellent cooperation in writing the section on economic empowerment, and to Jessica Espinoza and Jen Braswell from 2X Global for very valuable contributions as well as European Women in VC. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eq_gfGrN The full GEAC report is available at:  https://lnkd.in/eCUhCwrN

Amidst the conversations around bridging climate finance and gender equality, this insightful The Brookings Institution article highlights a key point: increasing access to finance is not enough. As the world focuses on boosting climate finance, a critical gap remains... the lack of attention to gender inequality. Global reform agendas often overlook barriers women face in accessing resources, leaving vital sectors like small-scale agriculture underfunded. At Grameen Foundation, we address these challenges by: 1.Investing in the power of women farmers with climate-smart tools and financing. 2. Creating gender-focused financial products like gender bonds. 3. Promoting community-based resilience through women-led initiatives. 4. Tackling structural under-investment in women-owned businesses through systemic interventions including focus on men as allies. 5. Advocating for greater focus on adaptation finance to benefit women-dominated sectors like agriculture. Climate action must include gender equality to ensure a sustainable and just transition. Let’s work together to make it happen! #ClimateFinance #GenderEquality #GrameenFoundation #InvestInHERPower

At Intellecap, we have been spending a lot of time working with financiers and women entrepreneurs to enable and increase gender lens investing, especially at the intersection with climate. And while multiple challenges emerge, two key barriers remain across financers. ➡️ Sourcing of women-led enterprises, be it microenterprises, MSEs or startups (early to growth stages) ➡️ Unconscious bias, which could seep into any and every stage of the financing lifecycle Unconscious bias one was a particular eye opener for us when we facilitated an activity to assess it in the due diligence process: to two different groups, we shared two entrepreneur profiles wherein every aspect of their professional and personal life was same except one was a women entrepreneur and another, male. We asked the groups to draft three technical and non-technical questions each and there was a significant skew – the women entrepreneur was primarily asked prevention-oriented questions on both the technical and non-technical front. And while these challenges persist, we do see financiers going above and beyond in addressing them, observing concrete and positive on-ground change. Natalie Shriber and Sana Kapadia, in their recent piece for ImpactAlpha, present such funds – the ones that go beyond deploying capital by embedding gender-inclusive practices that builds ecosystems and enables their investments to thrive while creating sustained market change. Some interesting examples: ➡️KawiSafi Ventures: invests in energy and climate companies in Africa, hosts pitch competitions and initiatives to surface and support women and underrepresented entrepreneurs ➡️EcoEnterprises Fund: invests in sustainable agriculture, land use and ecotourism in Latin America, invites its investors to portfolio visits and knowledge-sharing calls to create opportunities for shared learning Closer home, we have spoken with funds that are really going beyond: ➡️Caspian Debt: target of disbursing greater than or equal to 30% of its total disbursements to women led or women impact businesses; women make 45% of the team, and 30% of the Credit Committee ➡️UC Impower: gender-balanced leadership and investment team with an explicit focus on supporting women founders; committed 30% of its capital toward women-led enterprises Even internally, as Aavishkaar Group, we recently had an unconscious bias training. As Natalie and Sana put it, “Without intentional efforts to expand the pipeline of investable opportunities – particularly for women and underrepresented groups – and advance the tools and best practices required to mobilize capital, transformative climate solutions risk going unrealized.” Yes, gender lens investing and particularly at the nexus with climate is niche; but intentional efforts do really see a change. And we are working with stakeholders across - on identifying investible opportunities, creating and advancing tools, and disseminating best practices. Do reach out if this is of interest!