From Gas to Care: Why Public Money Should Fund Women, Not Fossil Fuels скачать в хорошем качестве

From Gas to Care: Why Public Money Should Fund Women, Not Fossil Fuels

As we mark International Women’s Day, whose 2026 theme, “For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.” calls for accelerated progress toward gender equality, today’s discussion invites us to reflect on a fundamental question: how do global economic and financial decisions support—or undermine—those very goals? While this day celebrates the achievements of women and girls around the world, it is also a moment to examine the structural choices shaping women’s lives, opportunities, and livelihoods. Across the world, multilateral development banks and public finance institutions continue to channel billions of dollars into fossil gas expansion. At the same time, many countries are facing severe underinvestment in care systems, public services, and social protection—areas that are essential for advancing gender equality and supporting women’s economic participation. Today’s discussion will therefore explore a critical question: What are the opportunity costs when public finance flows to fossil fuels instead of care-centered and gender-responsive investments? This conversation brings together perspectives from feminist movements, climate finance analysts, and regional advocates to unpack how gas investments intersect with economic justice, care economies, and the prospects for a just energy transition. Brieflintroduce our speakers: 1. Tara Povey from the Bretton Woods Project. She is the Joint Project Coordinator for the Gender Equality and Macroeconomics Project at the Bretton Woods Project. Before joining BWP, she worked as an academic and researcher at SOAS University of London and Goldsmiths, University of London. Her work has focused on the policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, particularly their impacts on gender-based social movements and civil society organizations in the Global South. She has published widely on social movements, austerity, and neoliberalism in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as women’s movements in contemporary Iran 2. Mara Dolan from the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), a leading global voice advancing feminist climate justice and gender-responsive climate finance. Mara is a feminist organizer and Policy Coordinator whose work focuses on narrative strategy and synthesis, particularly at the intersection of care economies, energy justice, and just transition debates. 3. Haneen Shaheen, Ecological Justice and Campaign Advisor at MENA Fem Movement. Her work advances feminist ecological, economic, and climate justice across the Middle East and North Africa region. Today she will bring an important regional perspective on feminist organizing, ecological justice, and economic transformation in the MENA region.