Women are powerful.

WHAT IS EMPOWERMENT?

Women are powerful. This is Empower Co.’s foundational belief, but we also know that empowerment is an ecosystem that requires corporations, governments, and investors to recognize and accurately value women’s contributions to the global economy, community, and climate.

This means investing in initiatives that give women the tools, resources, access, and agency to make their own choices and exercise their power.

  • Traditional markets have ignored and undervalued women’s contributions. Globally, women do 12.5 billion hours of unpaid care and domestic work per day — a contribution to the world economy worth US $10.8 trillion a year. For work that is paid, on average, women earn only 68% of what men do for the same work.

    And the gender gap is growing. Women are disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a staggering blow to women’s economic output. Within one year, women globally lost US $800 billion in income and 64 million jobs.

    Women’s contributions to the economy, community, and climate have immense value that creates positive social, economic, and environmental impacts. Research shows that when women control a greater share of household income, education, nutrition, and health improve for all household members. If women farmers in developing countries had access to the same resources as men, they could increase agricultural yields by 20-30%, ending hunger for over 100 million people.

“Empowering women is not only the ‘right thing’ to do to honor the world’s commitments to human rights. It is also the ‘smart thing’ to do for development, economic growth, and business.”

— UN HLP on Women’s Economic Empowerment

WOMEN AND CLIMATE

Women’s empowerment is critical to combating climate change. Around the world, women are already doing essential climate work, from restoring natural ecosystems and reducing conversion to farmland, to increasing carbon sequestration in agriculture. The most recent IPCC report shows that these are some of the most promising ways to scale up climate action.

Women are not just more vulnerable to a changing climate — they’re also the key to mitigation, adaptation and, ultimately, ending the climate crisis.

  • Multiple studies have shown that companies with gender-balanced leadership achieve better outcomes from climate-related projects and policies. Women in leadership positions are more likely to proactively pursue energy efficiency, invest in renewable energies, and measure and reduce carbon emissions.

    On the local level, women are essential to enhancing climate and disaster resilience. Women are experts at identifying sources of vulnerability in households, communities, and broader society, and grassroots women’s organizations use this knowledge to collaborate with local governments to ensure better resource allocation.

    Climate finance and markets can enable women entrepreneurs and women’s organizations to benefit from climate mitigation and adaptation projects, while de-risking activities for environmental project developers and impact investors. By addressing gender and climate jointly, we can amplify the positive impacts of both.