A Gendered Reality of the Climate Crisis

Jul 7
2 min read

Monday, 07th July 2025

By Paula Perrelli dos Anjos

During London Climate Action Week 2025 (#LCAW2025), Amazonia Impact Ventures (AIV) was proud to join a powerful dialogue on gender investing at the British International Investment (BII) headquarters on 24th June. Three panels brought together thought leaders and impact investors to examine why gender-inclusive investment strategies are crucial to building climate resilience, especially for women farmers.

At AIV, we believe that empowering women is a huge part of sustainability for the forest, and 36% of our investees are women.

Our focus is:

Invest in women-led ethical companies and women-only cooperatives
Promote gender equality at the board level of cooperatives
Incentivise more women farmers to join cooperatives

Throughout Peru, Colombia and Ecuador, female farmers are champions of many of the projects of agroforestry and community resilience we support. These local and Indigenous women not only feed their communities, but they reinvent the forest economy and defend biodiversity.

The panels emphasised that climate change is not gender-neutral. UN Women reports that by 2050, climate change could push 158 million more women and girls into poverty and plunge an additional 236 million into hunger.

Soaring heat has already slashed women’s incomes by 60% in tropical regions like the rainforests. To combat this, the participants stressed the urgency of building sustainable food systems that confront structural inequality and climate injustice.

Speakers argued that women-led enterprises need flexible capital “wrap-around” services, combining finance, technical support, and market access. They were adamant about defending that gender-smart investing isn’t charity: it’s a strategic opportunity because women control 47% of Europe’s and 30% of the US’s investable wealth (Global Impact Investing Network).

Yet the credit gap for women-owned SMEs globally remains as high as USD 1.7 trillion (IFC, 2022), limiting their ability to invest in climate-smart innovations. A good example of AIV’s gender strategy is the first women-only cooperative in the region of Villa Rica, in Peru. For a few years, we have invested in CEMCAVIR, which is formed by 61 women farmers producing 100% organic Arabica coffee.

CEMCAVIR ensures fair prices for members, promotes agroecological methods (no pesticides, water-source protection, biodiversity conservation), and reinvests profits to improve livelihoods. The impact-linked measures are based on the preservation of over 200 hectares of forest.

Check the Gender Equality Strategy of FinDev Canada:

A Gendered Reality of the Climate Crisis

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