Blog Post
COP30 Reflections: Why Gender-Responsive, Locally Led Climate Finance Is Gaining Momentum

WOCAN’s team was present in Belém, Brazil, where more than 60,000 delegates gathered in the heart of the Amazon for COP30. While global headlines have focused on the shortcomings of this so-called “COP of truth,” including limited progress on fossil fuel phase-out, a different and more hopeful trend was clearly emerging: the growing commitment to climate finance that is gender-responsive, locally led, and outcomes-based.

From our engagement as speakers and moderators in seven sessions—and through numerous conversations with climate finance leaders, funders, and implementers—it became clear that WOCAN’s W+ Standard is strongly aligned with the direction climate finance is heading.

Here are three key themes that stood out:

1. Locally Led, Gender-Responsive Climate Action Is a Priority

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) launched its new Framework for Locally Led Climate Action (LLCA), reinforcing a commitment to channel funding to community-driven, context-specific solutions. One woman leader from the Amazon captured this powerfully: “We get technical assistance, but the leadership is ours.”

Other signals of this shift included:

• The UK emphasizing the importance of benefit sharing
• Sweden calling for innovations that ensure gender outcomes
• Australia’s DFAT announcing that 80% of its investments must deliver both climate and gender outcomes by 2029
• The Climate Bonds Initiative highlighting that investing in women strengthens financial resilience
• BRAC demonstrating that impact is greatest when funds are placed in the hands of those closest to the challenge

This is exactly where the W+ Standard delivers value—by measuring women’s empowerment outcomes in climate projects and ensuring benefits flow back to women and their communities.

2. Carbon Markets Can Drive Women’s Empowerment

Carbon markets are increasingly being recognized as tools not just for emissions reduction, but for income generation and resilience building for women and smallholder farmers.

At COP30, we saw examples including:

• Boomitra enabling farmers in six countries to earn revenue from soil carbon credits
• AJA Climate Solutions supporting women-led forest regeneration in Ghana
• The Gates Foundation planning to use soil carbon credits to provide direct payments to women farmers

An Indigenous leader from the Amazon summarized the opportunity clearly: “We want carbon markets to contribute to us, not as beneficiaries, but as partners.”

WOCAN shared how the W+ Standard can be used alongside carbon standards and highlighted early projects already doing this in partnership with Value Network Ventures and the Global Carbon Council.

3. Companies Are Recognizing the Value of Women in Supply Chains

A visit to a community near Belém working with the Brazilian company Natura demonstrated what is possible when women’s leadership is placed at the center of a supply chain. Natura engages over 3.5 million women across 10,000 families as suppliers of nuts, fruits, and oils for beauty products.

The company measures carbon impacts, biodiversity conservation, and well-being outcomes (including income for women’s health, education, and leadership). Profit-sharing is only possible if communities include women in leadership roles, and local processing is supported to increase value by up to 60%.

For every $1 of revenue, Natura generates an estimated $2.50 in social and environmental impact—and the company has expressed interest in using the W+ Standard to communicate and verify this story.

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A Clear Direction Forward

Despite the political challenges surrounding COP30, the momentum is undeniable: the future of climate finance is locally led, gender-responsive, and focused on verified outcomes. WOCAN’s W+ Standard is not just keeping pace with this shift—it is helping to lead it.

If climate action is to be truly effective, equitable, and lasting, women must be positioned not at the margins, but at the center of solutions.

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