"Gender must be at the heart of climate action," 30 August 2017

Gender often remains the untold story behind climate change... While climate change is a global phenomenon, its impact is not spread across a level playing field... and poor people suffer the most. Among the world’s 1.3 billion poor people, the majority are women... Across the global spectrum, women tend to be marginalised from economic and political power, and have limited access to financial and material resources. This increases their vulnerability to climate change and limits their potential to adapt... [Yet] women have the right to, and need to be, at the forefront of efforts to deal with climate change... The climate agenda can also help advance gender equality. There are numerous examples where renewable energy investments also contribute to increased employment opportunities for women that foster female entrepreneurship... [such as a project] supported by the Green Climate Fund in East Africa... [which shows] how women can be at the forefront of moves to leapfrog fossil fuels to use solar energy. The USD 110 million KawiSafi project has dedicated funds to train women to become solar technicians, while also supporting women-led micro-finance groups generate demand for solar energy in Rwanda and Kenya... Devising ways to consider gender in climate action will not always be easy or obvious... [b]ut continuing efforts to place gender consideration at the center of climate finance are necessary.