Climate Action
The Problem
Today, 80% of people displaced by climate change are women, yet only 0.2% of climate financing goes to women-led climate action.
Women are the key decision-makers around how households and communities use resources and also bear the brunt of the burden brought on by increasingly scarce resources. As a result, care tasks demand more time, require travel over longer distances, and become more labor-intensive. In addition, the increased insecurity and resource scarcity carry a heightened risk of gender-based violence. Virtually everywhere, gender norms that dictate social roles mean that the tasks of collecting and using water, fuel, and other household resources fall disproportionately on women and girls.
Women are engines of climate adaptation, mitigation, and employment creation at scale. Yet, there are almost no data to demonstrate their impact or evidence for funders to understand a return on their investment.
Our Solution
ICRW conducts research and generates evidence on the power of women as climate leaders, building the case for greater investment in them, and seeking to understand the best ways to support women and girls in a changing climate. We advocate for climate action that centers justice and equity by supporting women with access to and ownership over the skills, technology, and resources they need to thrive in a way that is economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable.
We are creating a database of research to assess climate challenges and identify solutions in order to drive resources to women-led climate efforts. Launched in 2022, What Works: Women and Climate Change: Building an Evidence Base and Framework for Women-led Climate Action is partnering with large-scale women’s collective climate-action projects to assess their effectiveness in addressing climate change, advancing gender equity, and creating good, resilient economic opportunity.
Data collected from the “What Works” portfolio will be elevated to major policy forums every six months and owned by women informing the research for local, regional, and national policy events.
To complement and enhance our research, we launched the Gender and Climate Learning Collaborative. The Collaborative brings together leading climate practitioners, activists, and philanthropists to engage in evidence-based, creative, and collaborative conversations on gender and climate to inform investments and policy action.
Explore Our Impact
Solar Sister
Self Employed Women's Association
African Food Changemakers
GROOTS Kenya