AFD & SIDBI launch Professional Network, GroW- Greening of Finance for Women

By: WE Staff | Thursday, 6 April 2023

The Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), and the Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, as part of the Green Indian Financial System (GIFS) Initiative, announce the launch of GroW - Greening of Finance by Women, a professional network seeking to advance and leverage women's participation, leadership, and knowledge in green and climate finance at an event today in Mumbai.

Comprehensive climate action cannot take place without the integration of gender considerations in finance. However, financial systems and instruments across the globe continue to remain inadequate in this aspect. Global evidence suggests that increased participation of women at all levels of the financial sector, the younger and middle managers and leaders alike, holds immense potential for improved and highly effective climate action. This will result in exemplifying their role in the greening of financial systems.

 Diane Jegam, Proparco South Asia Regional Director said, “Women have to play an essential role in greening financial systems. Representation matters and India counts many inspirational, brilliant women in the financial sector. The GroW network will enable the federation and the support of a strong community of women leaders in the space of the financial sector in order to further accelerate the transformation of the climate finance landscape in the future.”

GroW envisions transforming the green and climate finance sector to be more gender equitable. It is a first-of-its-kind network uniquely positioned to create a transformative impact for enhancing the visibility of women in green and climate finance. The activities of GroW will be geared towards achieving an increase in women’s participation in the green and climate finance sector, an increase in women in leadership roles in organizations undertaking green and climate finance, improve gender integration into green and climate finance & improve access, usage, and quality of knowledge and resources on green and climate finance for women.

Speaking about the role the initiative can play, Shri S Ramann, CMD, SIDBI said “The Greening of Finance by Women (GRoW) Network seeks to advance the role of and integrate women in the green finance landscape as a part of the Green Indian Financial System (GIFS) Initiative. It is expected that the network will facilitate Stand Up India Womenpreneurs to look up the value chain and also shall provide much-needed mentorship to Startups and MSEs. SIDBI has prioritized Women’s Entrepreneurship Promotion through its developmental initiatives and also by launching the “ARJANA” scheme as a direct engagement product. GRoW is poised to add value to the role of women experts in enterprise promotion and   will help reinforce and capitalize on the gender axis of the sector.”

“Evidence suggests that increased participation and leadership of women have substantially contributed to better risk management, increased stability, and lower emission intensity among businesses and financial institutions. The Greening of Finance by Women (GroW) initiative seeks to promote women experts, knowledge networks, and green champions in the financial sector. The initiative will allow for increased scale and pace of green growth while attempting to rebalance the current and persistent gender gap.” says Koyel Mandal, Chief of Programmes, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation about the larger impact the network can have in combating climate change.

GroW offers membership to women who share the network’s mission of ‘leveraging and promoting women’s participation, leadership, and knowledge for the greening of the financial systems’. Members can avail of the following benefits by joining GroW:

• Members-only knowledge sessions, including closed-door workshops and masterclasses
• Networking opportunities with members’ directory of women working across roles in the sector
• Collaboration for business enhancement and ecosystem development
• Providing a platform for demonstrating expertise and experience