The Relevance of Gender in Fighting Climate Change

Climate change is a topic that affects us all - or so we believe. While this might be true in general, women are disproportionately affected by climate change. For instance, climate events such as droughts expose women to water collection, cooking, and hygiene risks in frontier markets.   

At the same time, women are critical change agents when fighting climate change. Women are more accepting of new processes such as sustainable agricultural practices or energy-efficient stoves and pumps. They are also essential decision-makers for household purchasing, making them highly relevant for sustainable products and services. Research shows that large corporations with more women in leadership positions have better environmental performance, demonstrating a correlation between gender equity and environmental impact.   

For our first physical event in a long time, we will discuss the relevance of gender in fighting climate change. Harriet Jackson, Investment Officer from responsAbility, and Simone Ruiz-Vergote, Global Head of ESG & Climate Policy from MSCI, will discuss how they see the relationship between gender and climate change in both smaller enterprises in frontier markets and large multinationals.

Harriet Jackson is an Investment Officer at responsAbility Investments AG; a leading impact investor focused on private debt and private equity across emerging markets. Harriet was in the Climate Finance investment team for five years, where she co-launched the inclusion of gender aspects in investment analysis and covered investments in the Caucasus and Asia. Since 2020 she has led agriculture investments in West Africa for the Sustainable Food debt team. She is also a member of the Gender and Diversity Advisory Group at responsAbility.

Simone Ruiz-Vergote has over 15 years of experience in sustainable finance and regulatory affairs and was involved in some of the very early developments of carbon-risk-related financial toolsets and standards. She is the Global Head of ESG & Climate Policy at MSCI – a global provider of equity, fixed income, real estate indexes, multi-asset portfolio analysis tools, and ESG and climate products. In this role, she leads MSCI's global engagement on ESG and climate-related regulatory initiatives and related product development. Before joining MSCI, she led the Allianz Group competence center on renewable energy and climate change, pioneering climate-related financial disclosure, developing carbon risk metrics for portfolio management, and engaging with public partners on climate risk insurance in vulnerable countries.

Event agenda

17:30 - 18:00  Door open

18:00 - 19:00 Discussion

19:00 - 20:00 Mingling and networking