RFF Day: Financing climate, gender and nature

One message ran through the day: gender-smart climate finance will scale only if the ecosystem can turn stated intent into investable opportunities. Evidence and relationships were seen as the catalyst to make this happen.

• One participant compared a funding relationship to a marriage. Long-term relationship building came up repeatedly as what lowers perceived risk and helps align deals with funder priorities. When the panel turned to performance, a teams' shared track record and how well it works together carried more weight than gender composition or branding.

• Several fund managers said they now open pitches with portfolio construction and expected returns, and bring in the gender angle once there is interest. Raising gender language too early tends to trigger hesitation and inherited bias, and fixating on particular terminology can end up narrowing investor focus.

• There was clear consensus that the industry needs to move away from treating women as a risk factor and towards seeing them as risk mitigators.

• A gender lens has to be visible in how a fund is implemented and in its outcomes; superficial or pinkwashed versions were called out. The funds that perform tend to have gender considerations built into their structures, and a weak grasp of GLI usually surfaces early in screening, where investors read it as an alignment risk.

• Investors flagged a disconnect between what funders say they will back and the capital they commit, and pointed to money flowing towards those who present well, over those delivering measurable impact. Better data, financial literacy and clearer distinctions within climate finance would improve access and accountability. Intermediaries came up as critical for helping ventures become ready to raise from mainstream investors, beyond the pool of already-aligned funders. Investors also said they don't want to load costs onto fund managers, yet the long negotiations they run push those costs up anyway.

• No clear preference emerged between technical assistance and direct funding. The demand was for credible data, workable capital mechanisms and evidence that models are locally grounded, with pathways into larger mechanisms such as the GCF. RFF was valued as a rare space for candid questions, and the next step raised was connecting those conversations to clearer deployment routes.

From the room:

“We will stop being a development process. We will be the mainstream way of doing things.”

“A funding relationship is like a marriage.”

2X Challenge Working Group

In parallel, the 2X Challenge Working Group convened. The coalition has mobilised over USD 34B in financing for women as of 2023, and now brings together more than a dozen private sector participants alongside the development and multilateral finance institutions.

We are grateful to the following investor partners who shaped today's 2X Challenge Working Group conversation:

Asian Development Bank, British International Investment, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), EBRD, European Investment Bank, FinDev Canada, FinDev Canada, Finnfund, FMO (Netherlands Development Finance Company), IFC/World Bank Group, JICA, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), PIDG - Private Infrastructure Development Group, PROPARCO, Acumen, Advance Global Capital, Altree Capital, Deetken Impact, Developing World Markets, FSDAi, Global Innovation Fund, Global Gender-Smart Fund (GGSF), I&P, Mirova, responsAbility, Sarona Asset Management, and Triple Jump.

From the room:
“Gender is like baking powder. Add it after the cake is baked and you won't get the same result as adding it from the start.”

Ecosystem cocktail reception

The day closed with an informal reception at BDC Square, co-hosted by 2X Global, BDC, CAFIID, FINCA and IDRC. It brought Summit attendees together with funders, investors and ecosystem builders from across the Canadian investment and development community for networking over drinks.

Jessica Espinoza, CEO of 2X Global, opened with welcome remarks and thanked the Summit supporters, followed by a welcome from Karen Kastner, VP of Corporate Strategies and Priorities at BDC, as host. Opening remarks came from Santiago Alba-Corral, Vice-President, Programs and Partnerships at IDRC, and Lindsay Wallace, Executive Director of FINCA Canada and Managing Director of Social Investment Strategies at FINCA International. The evening was built for connection, giving members and Canadian stakeholders space to meet and explore collaborations.