The Women Climate Leaders Network was inaugurated by the European Investment Bank in February 2024 and is co-chaired by EIB secretary general Barbara Balke, European Investment Fund chief executive and director general of the EIB projects directorate Laura Piovesan. So far, it counts 47 female leaders from private sector from across all 27 EU member states. The network aims to foster innovative, green, and financial solutions that promote inclusivity, and offers perspectives on climate action and women’s leadership.
The EIB aims to leverage the WCLN, Balke told Delano, “to gain new [gender-informed] market insights. Are there any structural issues that we need to change to better reach women’s financial and non-financial needs? Do we need to market ourselves differently, offer different repayment schedules, different loan packages that could work better in specific industries?”
We need all hands on deck to address climate change.
Meeting the world’s climate goals
Balke emphasised that “this is ultimately all about meeting the climate goals, and that the EIB Group is “the EU’s climate bank,” highlighting the significance of establishing the WCLN to support the fight against climate change. “All projects financed by the EIB Group are in line with the Paris Agreement. We are on track to deliver on our commitment to support €1trn in climate and environmental sustainability investment in the decade to 2030 as pledged in our .”
“Over half of the EIB Group’s annual financing supports projects that directly contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation, and to a healthier environment,” she added.
“This new network was launched in response to the urgent challenge of advancing the green transition and building climate resilience. We need all hands on deck to address climate change.”
Climate agenda forward
“Narrowing the gender gap in labour markets could increase GDP in emerging markets and developing economies by almost 8%. The gains from fully closing the gender gap would be even higher, lifting GDP in those countries by 23% on average,” Balke noted.
Additionally, “This network is for the purpose of accelerating action-oriented exchanges that will bring forward the climate agenda, that will help us identify gender-informed climate solutions, projects, new initiatives, and finance initiatives that then contribute to the Paris agenda.”
Women driving climate action better
Highlighting the importance of women’s leadership, Balke stated that research findings show that businesses run by women are often contributing more to achieving climate goals. “Women are the ones that more often are clearly alert to the topic, who are more conscious, who are pushing climate action more. As a result, we committed to bringing these women climate leaders together, because we should enable this possibility for them to network in order to catalyse promising solutions from one sector to the other, and from one country to another--while exploring innovative approaches as well.”
Balke pointed out the EIB “Support for female entrepreneurs: Survey evidence for why it makes sense”, which revealed that female-led firms achieved higher ESG (environmental, social, and governance) scores. “The higher ESG scores attest to the broader benefits of female-led firms. For example, they are more likely to support the green transition by monitoring carbon emissions or by setting energy targets,” she explained.
“Women have this on their agenda, and they go for it and achieve it. That’s why we want to bring women climate leaders together and support the agenda, because we feel we can leverage women’s knowledge and experience more towards more inclusive and impactful climate solutions.”
Concrete outcomes expected
Balke stressed the importance of raising awareness and creating visibility around the WCLN. “Since the WCLN launch, more people have been drawn in, and I thought it was fantastic.” Following “the inaugural meeting that generated quite a bit of social media coverage, we started to get requests from other women leaders out there, who were congratulating us on the initiative and wanted to contribute their knowledge and experience, thus wondering how they can join in the WCLN’s efforts. So, I think that in itself is already the first short-term success, that we’re actually mobilising more women, more people, in the fight against climate change.”
Mentoring and coaching others may well be among the various activities the WCLN may support
Regarding the role of WCLN in monitoring and supporting aspiring women, which was discussed at the launch meeting in February, Balke said that “mentoring and coaching others may well be among the various activities the WCLN may support, including in partnership with others. There was agreement that the entire ecosystem could benefit from supporting businesswomen who want to start-up and/or grow their sustainable, climate-solutions focused businesses including on accessing finance.”
“And there is also opportunity to support women who can and want to make their way up in the corporate world and take on leadership positions,” she added.
“Having created this climate leaders network already has had a huge role modelling effect for younger women, but also men, who can now see themselves in taking on such leadership positions. And indeed, some of our network members in influential positions may want to further offer to become a sponsor or coach for others to bring them along on this journey of gender-informed climate solutions.”
Co-chairs of the Women Climate Leaders Network video message
This article was published for the Delano Finance newsletter, the weekly source for financial news in Luxembourg. .