The role of investment in climate change mitigation, adaptation, building environmental and socioeconomic resilience, and in developing frameworks for an equitable future has continued to develop over the past decades, but it is not yet gender-smart; it has tended to underestimate the importance of gender in building longterm climate solutions. The mission of GenderSmart is to drive the deployment of gender-smart capital at scale and at pace, and embed gender analysis into the investment process for better business, social, environmental, and investment outcomes. Gender-smart investment is not just about empowering women at the surface level, nor is it another screen to add to a list. Rather, it is a way of rethinking what we value as we invest, and who is at the investment table as an investor, to bring about systems-level change.
GenderSmart hopes this report will inspire more investors to enter the field, revisit portfolios, and consider more deeply how to link climate and gender through their investment processes. It is also hoped that this report will support investors who are already on this journey; to bolster the business case with compelling narratives, datasets, and ways to spread the word.