Business Solutions to Scale Up and Contribute to Climate Goals

Women are disproportionately affected by climate change due to gender inequalities and limited opportunities to participate in decision-making processes.

With women entrepreneurship catching up—albeit slowly—with male entrepreneurship, ensuring women business owners have access to resources, financing, technologies, and other resources becomes more urgent given worsening risks from climate change. 

Swiss insurer Zurich said extreme weather events are already affecting businesses, with agriculture and the leisure industry among the most exposed to physical climate risks. In 2024, economic losses due to damage from disasters worldwide amounted to $368 billion. 

Apart from physical risks, businesses are also exposed to transition risks from potentially higher business costs from new policies, laws and other regulations aimed at addressing climate change, the insurer said. There are also liability risks stemming from failure to mitigate, adapt to, disclose or comply with changing legal and regulatory rules.

This webinar examines policies, financial instruments, and digital solutions that can help women entrepreneurs scale their businesses while contributing to global climate goals.

The event marks the launch of the webinar series, Propelling Women Eco-Entrepreneurship into a Sustainable Future, a collaborative effort by the United Nations Environment Programme, UN Women, and the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Gender Equality Division and Southeast Asia Development Solutions.

This webinar series is co-organized with ADB under the EmPower: Women for Climate-Resilient Societies (EmPower) Programme, a joint effort between UN Women and UNEP, supported by the Governments of Germany, New Zealand, Sweden, and Switzerland. EmPower is dedicated to empowering women and marginalized groups to take the lead in building climate-resilient communities.

Through a five-part webinar series across 2025 and 2026, the initiative will delve into pressing issues such as the importance of supporting women-led eco-businesses, innovative financing mechanisms, the impact of women entrepreneurs in building sustainable cities, and the latest technologies poised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

The kick-off webinar aims to celebrate Gender Month and and International Women's Day by spotlighting the transformative role of women eco-entrepreneurs in driving sustainable development.

Speakers 

• Samantha Hung, Director, Gender Equality Division, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Department, ADB
• Giulia Marsan, Head of Startups and Inclusion, Digital Innovation and Sustainable Economy Center, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia
• Anthea Mulakala, Project Director, APAC Cybersecurity Fund