In the News
June 26, 2024
In a world with diverse needs and perspectives, women bring unique leadership, social change capabilities, and entrepreneurial spirit that are essential to innovation. Research shows that women-led companies have higher ESG (environmental, social, and governance) scores, and companies with a higher percentage of women in leadership positions are more likely to adopt environmentally friendly practices. Additionally, women-led ventures generate more revenue.
Nevertheless, inequalities in climate innovation persist, with the field dominated by men, both in the number of climate change start-ups founded by men and the amount of funding provided to male-founded versus female-founded companies.
To foster stronger ideas and solutions in climate innovation, we must increase support for women as agents of change in developing start-ups and products that serve the female community.
So how can climate change startups become gender-sensitive?
The handbook, “WeClim Equally: A Gender-Sensitive Handbook for Climate Entrepreneurs”, developed in collaboration with Bopinc, supports climate change start-ups in integrating a gender perspective into all aspects of their business.
The programme will involve exercises for start-ups to assess the strength of gender sensitivity within their organisations and implement interventions across four key areas:
- leadershipStrategies for fostering gender-balanced leadership and decision-making structures.
- Organizational Culture: Best practices for fostering an inclusive and equitable work environment.
- market: An approach to ensure gender considerations are integrated into product development, marketing and customer engagement.
- community: Ideas to support gender equality within the broader community and ecosystem.
By addressing these areas, start-ups can advance gender equality and drive innovation and business success in the climate innovation sector.
Download the Handbook
EIT Climate-KIC is committed to driving systemic change for gender equality across the climate innovation sector. Supported by Irish Aid, CATAL1.5°T and IDB Lab, the programme helps partners identify gaps in their understanding of gender inequality and implement concrete actions to embed a gender perspective into their daily work. The initiative is part of a campaign launched by EIT Climate-KIC that outlines five actions to address gender inequality in climate entrepreneurship: Action 1: Reflect internally; Action 2: Show your finances; Action 3: Update your marketing and communications materials; Action 4: Intensive data collection; Action 5: Get men on your side.
