Both ENDS

News / 8 March 2018

Only 0.2 % of all foundation funding for women & environment

Women around the globe are at the forefront of addressing the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation, designing, implementing, and scaling up their own solutions. Socially defined gender roles often position women and girls as stewards of the physical, economic, and cultural well-being of their communities. 

As a result, they are disproportionately impacted by climate change and the subsequent damage to water, land, and clean air. This dynamic places the responsibility for natural resource management and use squarely on women and girls.The impacts of climate change and environmental degradation are not gender neutral and, thus, funding cannot be either. 

Yet only 0.2 percent of all foundation funding focuses explicitly on women and the environment—a missed opportunity for funders committed to ensuring a healthy environment and equitable world.

 

International Women's Day

Today, on international Women's Day, a new report is released: 'Our Voices, our environment: the state of funding for women's environmental action'.

It represents the first-ever benchmarking of philanthropic funding in support of women and the environment. Produced by Global Greengrants Fund and Prospera International Network of Women’s Funds, in partnership with the Wallace Global Fund and the Global Alliance for Green andGender Action (GAGGA), Our Community, Our Environment offers:

  • Mapping of funding levels and existing initiatives in support of women and the environment;
  • Case studies illustrating the impact of women-led strategies to address environmental challenges, from protecting ancestral lands against gold-mining contamination in Indonesia to reforestation in Kenya’s Rift Valley;
  • Lessons learned and funding strategies from peer grantmakers active at this nexus;
  • Issue-specific entry points for funders already engaged in environmental grantmaking;
  • Opportunities and guidance from women’srights activists for funders that want to strengthen their existing grantmaking and take further action.

 

For more information:

Executive Summary of the report

Information about GAGGA

Website Global Greengrants Fund

Website Prospera

Website Wallace Global Fund

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