What is the Relationship Between Gender Equality in the Workplace and Climate Sustainability?

Photo by Karolina Grabowska

The report from UN Women found that women are disproportionately impacted by the challenges included in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, many policies and initiatives that are designed to address the SDGs issue actually ignore or even harm women.

While women are particularly vulnerable in this crisis, they are also uniquely positioned to act as powerful agents of change. Research shows that organizations with more women executives and board members perform better in terms of environmental impact and corporate social responsibility.

In several other studies, women in leadership positions have shown differences in overcoming crises. Unfortunately, currently, women are still under-represented in decision-making processes. Whereas technological developments and crisis management must also pay attention to the needs, roles and knowledge, and expertise of women.

Therefore, to address climate change and various other sustainability challenges faced by organizations, it is necessary to consider the gender factor in the solution.

Based on the Harvard Business Review’s extensive and comprehensive research on the intersection of two sustainability points – Gender Equality and Climate Sustainability, six recommendations are made for leaders:

• Educate yourself to be able to identify and fill gaps in knowledge, and be aware of data related to gender equality and climate change.
• Promote women’s representation, including selecting, nominating, and sponsoring women candidates, to be in top positions in companies.
• Avoiding meetings and conferences being represented by a majority of men to make decisions more equal and fairer.
• Create narratives that inspire girls and women to pursue careers in the STEM field so that more women can directly contribute to activities related to engineering and climate science.
• Start reporting on social elements of ESG especially on gender to capture inclusive growth opportunities.

30 January 2023 | Tiara Tri Hapsari