COP27: On Gender Day, the African Development Bank is rallying global support for women to build climate resilience | African Development Bank

Former Irish President Mary Robinson led a panel discussion to mark ‘Gender Day’ on the 27^e United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt. She called for a tailor-made climate fund to support grassroots women in tackling climate change and building resilience.

The African Development Bank organized the session during COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh with the theme: Gender sensitive and climate finance mechanisms.

The panelists said facilities tailored to support women, helping to build climate resilience, should be visible, simple and easy to access.

“There is a problem with visibility, transparency and accountability, and while there is some money floating around, we don’t have a good specific climate fund or a permanent climate fund to support women entrepreneurs in fighting climate change,” Robinson said.

Robinson gave the example of some women-led projects in Uganda that could do ten times more if they had access to targeted climate resources. “They had no prospects of getting the money that might be available to their industry — they didn’t even know who was getting the money or where it was going.”

Opening the session, Kevin Kariuki, Vice President of Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth of the African Development Bank Group, said the bank had earmarked funds for ten capacity-building projects, focusing on gender and climate through the Africa Climate Change Fund.

“In addition, we are providing $100 million in loans to public and private sector projects to address gender and climate issues,” said Kariuki. “The Bank is also developing an adjustment mechanism to enable individuals and groups, including women and children, to borrow money for climate adaptation projects,” he added.

The African Development Bank organized other side events to mark Gender Day at COP27 to highlight the successes, challenges and issues surrounding gender equality and climate change. They include the launch of the Gender in climate action acceleratora tool to support private sector companies in improving the gender responsiveness of their business climate management.

The Accelerator will support governments in advancing gender-sensitive policies for the climate sector and accelerating their green transition to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. It is a joint initiative of the Egyptian government, the African Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the French Development Agency AFD.

At a session opened by Kenya’s First Lady Rachel Ruto, experts agreed that as efforts towards greener economies grow, the focus should be on upskilling and reskilling to help women and girls access green jobs. The panel, titled “Enabling and tracking gender-responsive green job recovery”, also stressed access to information for women and strengthening gender-responsive capacity building.

The Bank also held a session on “Accelerating gender-sensitive climate investments for a resilient Saheldiscussing good practices to step up gender-responsive climate finance in the Sahel.

In his remarks, Al Hamndou Dorsouma, acting director of climate change and green growth at the African Development Bank called for a more equitable distribution of climate resources in the Sahel.

Sidi Mohamed EL Wavi, Director of Climate and Green Economy at the Ministry of Environment in Mauritania, underlined the importance of removing barriers to quality education for women to strengthen their representation at all levels.