This blog post summarizes key discussions from the UNCSW69 panel event “Powering Change: Women, Youth, and the Clean Energy Revolution” held on March 13, 2025.
On March 13th at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) we hosted an event titled “Powering Change: Women, Youth, and the Clean Energy Revolution.” The event brought together experts from various regions to address a critical challenge of our time: ensuring that women and youth are not left behind in the global transition to clean energy.
The clean energy transition represents one of the most significant economic and environmental shifts of our generation. However, we currently face a paradoxical situation of “jobs without people, people without jobs”. While employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in the clean energy sector are growing rapidly everywhere in the world, so are skill and talent shortages, mostly because working in the clean energy sector requires specific skills, training, and access to finance. Since women and youth are more likely to struggle in accessing these requirements, they are often unable to secure work in clean energy even in contexts such as Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) where they experience very high levels of unemployment. Despite the burgeoning opportunities in renewable energy sectors, women and youth—particularly in developing regions—continue to face disproportionate barriers to participation.
The numbers tell a compelling story. For instance, in some rural areas of Senegal, 43% of homes still lack access to electricity. Meanwhile, female labour force participation in the MENA region remains the lowest worldwide, despite the region’s abundant renewable energy resources. This disconnect represents not just a social inequity, but a missed economic opportunity on a massive scale.
The panel wove together perspectives from diverse geographic contexts, creating a rich tapestry of insights that transcended regional boundaries while acknowledging unique local challenges.
Evidence from Kenya paints a compelling picture of the transformative potential in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the shift from fossil fuels to clean energy delivers not just environmental benefits but opens economic doorways. Renewable energy creates cascading opportunities through entrepreneurship and jobs across entire deployment value chains, emphasizing that successful transition requires holistic capacity building at all levels, from individual skills development to supportive policies and institutions.
The MENA region poses a fascinating paradox: a region historically dependent on fossil fuels now increasingly vulnerable to climate change impacts yet simultaneously blessed with abundant renewable resources. Despite this potential, women’s participation remains strikingly low. Cultural expectations around care work, limited access to STEM education, and financial barriers create interlocking challenges that must be addressed systemically rather than piecemeal.
Senegal has an ambitious plan to increase renewable energy share to 40% by 2030, but women in rural communities face daily challenges as they navigate the impossible choice between unpaid care work and income-generating activities. Senegal’s three-pronged approach—addressing customer demand, supplier capacity, and microfinance institutions—offers a practical framework for comprehensive intervention.
What emerged across all three perspectives was the critical importance of context-specific approaches that recognize the diversity of women’s and youth’s experiences while addressing common structural barriers.
The panel identified several key barriers that disproportionately affect women and youth in the clean energy sector:
The panel offered several promising approaches to increase women and youth participation in the clean energy transition:
All panellists emphasized the critical importance of tailored training programs such as holistic skills development that addresses both technical capabilities and business acumen; gender-sensitive STEM education and mentorship programs and financial literacy and entrepreneurial management training. Michele described an innovative capacity-building program in Senegal co-developed specifically for women and youth entrepreneurs. The program includes financial literacy education, entrepreneurial management training, and technical knowledge of renewable energy technologies.
Effective policies and institutional frameworks are essential enablers and should include removal of regulatory, financial, and bureaucratic barriers; implementation of gender-sensitive policies that recognize and address women’s unique challenges; participatory approaches that involve all ecosystem actors in conversations and decision-making and evidence-based policy development that avoids generalization and addresses specific needs.
Innovative financing models are crucial to overcome traditional barriers. Programs to increase women’s and youth’s access to financing solutions are needed. It is essential to map existing financial mechanisms and identifying gaps and create partnerships with microfinance institutions to provide products and services tailored for renewable energies.
The Q&A sessions revealed that these issues resonate globally, with participants from countries as diverse as Nigeria, India, and Jordan sharing similar experiences.
One particularly thought-provoking question addressed the trade-offs of increasing women in the workforce, particularly concerning care responsibilities. This highlighted the need for holistic approaches that consider the full spectrum of women’s roles and responsibilities.
Other questions focused on practical concerns:
The panel concluded with forward-looking recommendations:
The clean energy revolution presents an unprecedented opportunity to address multiple global challenges simultaneously: climate change, energy access, gender equality, and youth unemployment. By placing women and youth at the centre of renewable energy strategies, we can create more inclusive, sustainable, and prosperous societies.
As Michele eloquently stated in her closing remarks, “by focusing on the demand side, supply side, and microfinance institutions, we can create a more inclusive energy ecosystem with capacity-building programs empowering women and youth to actively participate in the energy transition.”
The path forward requires commitment, innovation, and collaboration across sectors and borders. But as this panel demonstrated, the vision of an inclusive clean energy future is not only necessary—it’s achievable. By supporting women and youth with the right resources, skills, and policies, we can power change that benefits everyone.
In the face of climate change and its disproportionate impact on agriculture, finding sustainable solutions for smallholder farmers is more critical than ever. With agriculture being the backbone of many Sub-Saharan African economies, adopting low-carbon technologies in this sector offers immense potential to drive inclusive economic growth while ensuring environmental sustainability.
Recently, a ground-breaking field experiment on low-carbon agricultural technology was launched under the leadership of our research team at Makerere University. This initiative is part of a collaborative effort involving the Environment for Development (EfD), the Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP), and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Canada.
The research, conducted with key partners such as the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Musa Body Machinery Uganda, and SunCulture Uganda Limited, seeks to identify and address the barriers to adopting renewable energy solutions in agriculture. This work builds on the objectives of the Clean Energy for Development Call to Action (CEDCA) initiative, which strives for a just and inclusive energy transition.
Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa is predominantly small-scale, with many farmers lacking access to affordable and sustainable energy solutions. Diesel-powered irrigation systems and inefficient farming methods are still common, increasing costs and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.
Low-carbon technologies such as solar irrigation systems and renewable energy-powered machinery can transform agricultural practices. SunCulture Uganda Limited, one of the key collaborators, with its partners, provides solar irrigation kits that are not only affordable but also easy to maintain. By adopting such technologies, smallholder farmers can improve yields, reduce operational costs, and build climate resilience.
Our field experiment focuses on understanding the systemic barriers preventing widespread adoption of renewable energy solutions in agriculture. These include high upfront costs, lack of financing options for small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and limited technical knowledge among farmers.
Through this research, we also aim to identify opportunities for scaling renewable energy technologies. Collaboration with local stakeholders, such as Musa Body Machinery Uganda, ensures that these solutions are contextually relevant and accessible.
Credit: Aisha Nanyiti, PEP
For sustainable solutions to have a lasting impact, research needs to influence policy. The involvement of Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development in this project ensures that findings from the field experiment are integrated into national clean energy strategies. This collaboration will provide actionable recommendations to policymakers, emphasising the importance of investing in renewable energy for agriculture to achieve both economic and environmental goals.
The project highlights the critical role of MSMEs in driving the clean energy transition. As engines of local economic growth, these enterprises are key to delivering energy solutions to underserved communities. However, many MSMEs struggle to access financing and markets, limiting their ability to scale innovative solutions.
By partnering with organisations like PEP, which specialises in evidence-based policy research, this initiative seeks to strengthen the capacity of MSMEs to deliver renewable energy technologies. Moreover, the field experiment directly engages smallholder farmers, ensuring that their voices and experiences shape the design and implementation of these solutions.
The broader goal of this initiative aligns with the CEDCA vision of creating inclusive, low-carbon, climate-resilient economies. Renewable energy solutions for agriculture are not just about reducing emissions—they are about empowering communities, enhancing food security, and creating green jobs.
The collaboration between EfD, PEP, and IDRC demonstrates the power of partnerships in tackling complex challenges. By bringing together researchers, policymakers, and private sector actors, this initiative lays the foundation for a cleaner, more equitable future for agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa.
As field experiments progress, the findings will provide valuable insights into how renewable energy solutions can be scaled to benefit smallholder farmers and rural communities. The hope is that these efforts will serve as a blueprint for similar initiatives across Africa and beyond, demonstrating that a just clean energy transition is not only possible but also transformative.
2X Global, in collaboration with Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) and supported by Canada’s International Development Research Center (IDRC), is launching an innovative research project seeking to improve the outcomes for women-led clean energy enterprises through applied research. This applied research will focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia-Pacific.
We are looking for local and women-led fund managers across these markets with an investment thesis and strategy that has a gender and climate lens and seeks to contribute to a low carbon energy transition. 2X Global, with its 2X Ignite initiative and regional research leads, will be selecting 10-20 gender- smart fund managers who will receive support to develop case studies that demonstrate the impact potential at the nexus of gender and climate, enabling a clean energy transition.
We will be selecting local, women-led fund managers who are originally from and operating in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America & the Caribbean, or Asia-Pacific with an investment thesis and strategy that has a gender and climate lens, and seeks to contribute to a low carbon energy transition. Emerging and first-time fund managers, evergreen vehicles and non-traditional fund structures are welcome. It is desirable for the fund manager to have made some investments under its thesis but these can be early track record deals.
The project is expected to run over a period of 12-24 months during which we will co-create a new or enhance an existing Impact Management & Measurement System (IMM), and collect impact data over a meaningful time period. The fund manager must consent to share key metrics of the IMM and agree for a case study to be published open access on the 2X Global website and research publications for academic and practitioner audiences. Confidential information can be defined collaboratively and removed from publication. To learn more about the project, please contact us.
If you are interested in contributing to this research project, please complete the Expression of Interest form on the 2x Global website here. 2x Global will be accepting and reviewing expressions of interest on a rolling basis and encourage early submissions. Fund managers will be selected by year end 2024.
The CC Facility Learning Hub is seeking to build upon the knowledge within its inaugural report on gender-responsive blended climate finance transactions in the energy sector, through engaging with a local institute to collaborate on the design and implementation of a research project (“the project”).
The project will inform key data gaps in the gender-climate nexus, specifically within the blended climate finance market.
Growing evidence points to women playing a critical role in achieving climate goals, acting as benefit-multipliers and important agents of change at all levels of society. There is thus an urgent need to leverage their roles as consumers, workers, borrowers, entrepreneurs, and community leaders and increase investments into transactions that incorporate both gender and climate considerations.
Yet, mainstreaming gender in climate vehicles often encounters a myriad of barriers. This is apparent in the blended finance market, where out of the 551 climate blended finance deals in Convergence’s Historical Deals Database (HDD), only 22% were gender-responsive, a considerably lower proportion than the overall trend in the blended finance market where 31% of the deals were gender-responsive.
The project will therefore consist of conducting research with the goal of helping to mobilize higher levels of private sector capital into gender responsive climate transactions.
Click here to view the Request for Proposal (RFP) for details.
Growing evidence suggests that women play a critical role in achieving climate goals; both as leaders in advancing climate solutions, as well as beneficiaries. There is therefore an urgent need for more investments into transactions that incorporate both gender and climate considerations.
Yet, mainstreaming gender within climate vehicles often encounters a myriad of barriers. This is apparent in the blended finance market, where out of the 551 climate blended finance deals in Convergence’s Historical Deals Database (HDD), only 22% were gender-responsive, a considerably lower proportion than the overall trend in the blended finance market where 31% of the deals were gender-responsive. Recognizing this, the Catalytic Climate Finance Facility (CC Facility) Learning Hub recently released its inaugural report on gender-responsive blended climate finance transactions in the energy sector. The report provides an analysis of the data behind these transactions and highlights case study examples. It also explores the challenges to successfully launching gender-energy blended transactions and suggests recommendations for investors and practitioners to help increase their effectiveness in implementing these deals.
A commonly discussed challenge was simultaneously addressing climate and gender objectives within the same transaction. Often, investors approach each in a silo, understanding one of the objectives but failing to be proficient in the other. This is especially the case for smaller funds that do not possess large technical assistance (TA) facilities, or for institutions with limited resources that must prioritize impact measurement and monitoring for a single or small set of objectives.
A lack of standardized frameworks and metrics for these dual objectives further complicates efforts. While climate metrics, especially those for mitigation, are more established, investors and practitioners repeatedly signaled the lack of standardization in gender-related metrics as a significant challenge for structuring and investing in gender-responsive climate transactions. Moreover, limited or non-disaggregated data can also make globally recognized metrics and criteria neither useful nor relevant.
The report suggests several ways of overcoming these challenges to integrate both gender and climate within a transaction. One is through monetizing the gender co-benefits of climate vehicles through gender credits. Co-benefits are advantages that climate solutions provide above and beyond helping to fight climate change. Tacking gender co-benefits onto a climate transaction can be strategic since it capitalizes on investor demand for climate while adding a premium for gender equality. The second method is by using TA and financial incentives simultaneously to hit gender key performance indicators (KPIs) within climate transactions.
Two cases demonstrate how gender co-benefits can be monetized through the sale of gender credits.
The first is the Clean Impact Bond (CIB), launched by Sistema.bio in 2022. The CIB is a type of development impact bond that contributes to the broader use of clean cooking technologies by increasing access to clean appliances for low-income customers across Africa. It does this by drawing on upfront funding for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that manufacture and distribute these appliances. The outcome buyer will purchase the health and gender co-benefits generated from the use of these appliances, as a type of credit. Considering women are largely the demographic positively affected by clean cooking, gender co-benefits can play an important role in such a vehicle.
The CIB demonstrates that there is a viable way to monetize gender co-benefits in the climate finance market by accomplishing two crucial outcomes: i) it provides data-driven metrics for quantifying the impact and monetary value of gender and health, and ii) it demonstrates the existence of willing buyers for gender and health co-benefits. In this way, the CIB offers a starting point for determining a revenue stream for gender credits, as well as identifying the presence of outcome funders.
The second case that exemplifies the use of gender credits is the W+ Standard issued by WOCAN. The W+ Standard allows projects to certify quantifiable contributions to women’s empowerment and emissions reduction. For example, carbon emissions reduction projects that deliver benefits to women can add the W+ Standard to their existing projects, which can then be sold for a premium price to carbon buyers seeking co-benefits for gender equality/women’s empowerment, or to address SDG 5 (Gender Equality). One credit is equivalent to a 10% improvement in the lives of women in the project community.1 The W+ Standard requires that at least 20% of the price of the sold credit is provided to women of the project community, to support their self-determined goals. In general, incorporating gender credits into a transaction can encourage more rigorous tracking and reporting on gender-related outcomes, leading to greater transparency and accountability in how investments impact women and gender equality.
A further recommendation within the report for incorporating a gender-lens in climate transactions is to deploy TA and financial incentives together. One barrier to incorporating a gender-lens is the lack of knowledge of how to do so; TA can provide the necessary training to help a deal sponsor develop and measure gender outcomes. Financial incentives can then be an important tool to encourage companies to follow-through and meet these established goals.
An example of a transaction that has done this is the Beyond Finance Asia-Pacific Facility, a blended finance initiative that aims to enhance women’s access to funding and essential services in the Asia-Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa regions. Beyond Finance uses TA to help incorporate a gender-lens in the development of climate adaptation products. When KPIs are achieved, it triggers the provision of interest rate reductions for investees.
Meanwhile, Deetken Impact, a fund manager, uses TA to improve the gender scores of its portfolio companies. As part of its due diligence process, Deetken devised a gender scorecard that covers five main principles: women in leadership and governance; workplace equity; professional development programs for women; value chain and advocacy; and community engagement. Through their TA training programs, they have been able to improve outcomes across each of these focus areas, deepening impacts and moving beyond simple headcounts. Deetken also uses TA to improve gender outcomes within large-scale solar projects while partnering with Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Invest, which provides financial incentives in the form of lower interest rates to encourage a transaction to hit its climate and gender milestones.
These cases demonstrates that while financial incentives can be a powerful motivator for prioritizing gender outcomes, TA-enabled advisory support is a necessary precursor to creating and reaching reasonable and customized targets.
Whether a transaction uses gender credits to monetize the co-benefits of gender in climate transactions or incentivizes gender-lens investing through deploying financial instruments and TA simultaneously, there are opportunities for blended finance deal sponsors to break down silos to achieve dual social goals. Gender credits can help create a scalable, standardized framework for investors to understand the impacts of gender-lens investing. Meanwhile, gender advisory support can help transactions meet KPIs, and even unlock financial incentives such as reduced interest rates, that create momentum for reaching gender goals. By adopting these strategies, investors can more effectively align their financial goals with broader social and environmental impacts, driving progress towards a just and resilient transition.