AltGen at the 2024 South African Sustainable Finance Intensive
Not the article you were looking for? Browse our other resources here.
On the 24th of July, 2024, AltGen’s Head of Recruitment, Kerryn Calitz participated in a panel discussion at the South African Sustainable Finance Intensive event. Alongside Kerryn, the panel entitled, Accelerating Climate Action and Resilience through Gender-responsive Finance, comprised several highly influential women in the finance industry. With the minds of Mbali Kubheka (Netbank CIB), Jenni Chamberlain (Altree Capital), Louise Gardener (IFC), Lwandle Mqadi (IDC), and Kerryn Calitz in one room, they suggested incredibly valuable solutions in the discussion.
The panel considered the linkages between sustainable finance and greater consideration of gender in the designs of national finance taxonomies. AltGen’s value-add comes in, however, through our on-site experience and extensive community work with women across Africa.
Why we need gender-responsive climate action mechanisms:
Climate change affects everyone, regardless of gender, however, the impact that its effects have on individual genders differs in several ways. Many women and girls across the world, are subject to entrenched and systemic prejudices that make them more vulnerable to the consequences of climate change.
According to UN Women, the impact of environmental, economic, and social shocks or crises often results in women and girls being the last to eat, facing greater health and safety risks, and taking on increased domestic and care work. This is particularly true for women in rural communities where support infrastructure is lacking.
Participating in discussions like those facilitated by ASFI at the SASFI July conference, is crucial to developing more effective climate action mechanisms. They acknowledge the role that both women in affected communities and women in the climate finance industry play in developing solutions to climate consequences. The panel discussed the potential of a comprehensive gender-responsive finance strategy to improve climate action, scale capital for sustainable innovations, and enhance systemic value creation. Kerryn highlighted the fact that AltGen’s approach to adopting a more gender-inclusive approach to climate action rests not only in our 70% female workforce or our recruitment strategy but also in our Workforce Management initiatives.
AltGen’s approach:
AltGen’s approach to community development in the Northern Cape regions of Pofadder, Pella, Aggenys, Witbank, and Onseepkans for example, is largely influenced by the fact they are primarily made up of women and children. With few job opportunities in the region, many men in the area must travel to mines for work and often only return home over weekends. This leaves the women in charge of building their communities – running the household, providing for their children, and caring for the elderly.
The panel emphasised the importance of companies mirroring the demographic of the communities in which they operate, suggesting that companies can maximise their development impact through job-creation initiatives that promote an inclusive economy. In her explanation of how, through our Solar Works Programme, AltGen has assisted clients in achieving their community development milestones and fostered community relationships, Kerryn highlighted how AltGen has seen first-hand the social and financial value this hiring approach has on both a community and company level.
Our team has been involved in several community development projects that successfully contributed to creating sustainable employment ecosystems. Kerryn raised the example of AltGen’s upskilling initiative in Pofadder.
To kick-start sustainable growth in the Pofadder employment ecosystem, our team employed a seamstress to teach the women in the community to sew. The results were spectacular and exceeded our team’s expectations. The women sewed and sold required PPE kits, used onsite at the Solar Plants, consequently contributing to ensuring that the solar sites were compliant with HSE regulations. These women not only played a direct role in improving the well-being of their community members but were also able to develop and improve their technical capabilities!
Through providing use-case scenarios of how AltGen has witnessed the success of this type of approach, Kerryn brought an important real-world perspective to the discussion.
Adopting a global strategy of inclusion:
This example shows the knock-on effect of simple initiatives on an entire community. Now imagine what companies and communities could achieve if a similar strategy of inclusion was adopted on a global scale.
Although the panel discussion emphasised the long and expensive road to the development of an effective climate strategy ahead, it also highlighted the impressive work that is already being done in the climate finance space to align both the public and private sectors with this solution-development model.
As time progresses and humanity continues to learn, to develop more comprehensive ways of moving through the changing world, solutions are being found through discussion and collaboration, both things that women are particularly good at.
