Phoebe Amelia Bower
(KCL) -
2024-25 Students
phoebe.bower@kcl.ac.uk
Sustainable Finance: A pathway to greater gender equality and empowerment?
Despite gains that have been made in policy and practice in recent decades, gender inequality persists and will only worsen with the escalating climate crisis due to increased violence, mortality, and economic loss that predominantly impacts women. Addressing this requires substantial investment in resources and projects, yet the relationship between climate change, finance, gender and policy have received little scholarly attention to date and thus the possibilities and limitations of this relationship are under-theorised. This Project employs empirical social science research methods, underpinned by human rights and gender theories, within the framework of environmental policy to explore the key research question: “How and to what extent can climate finance address gendered climate-related harms?” It will analyse existing sustainable finance systems by examining current law and policy interventions, identifying inclusivity gaps, and proposing innovative and effective ways forward. The Project utilises a human rights-based approach focused on gender rights, which will involve empirical and theoretical research of financial distributional practices compared to climate harm. Ultimately, this Project seeks to create a roadmap that connects finance to climate mitigation and adaptation for the purpose of boosting climate funding, ensuring fair distribution, and improving accessibility for improved gender equality. Primary Supervisor: Prof Megan Bowman |