International Women’s Day: the Kita view

International Women’s Day (IWD) generates mixed feelings at Kita. It’s great that there is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. However, we are still living in a world where the gender divide is cavernous enough to warrant an event that simultaneously celebrates women and highlights the ongoing need to accelerate gender parity. 

In this blog post, we explore the current landscape when it comes to gender equality and we also hear from Kita team members about their own views and experiences.

Straddling both insurance and climate, Kita has multiple ways of considering and thinking about the experience of women - both in the workplace and in terms of how climate change disproportionately affects women and girls. 

The impact of the climate crisis on women and girls 

The climate crisis is not ‘gender neutral’. For example: “Across the world, women depend more on, yet have less access to, natural resources. In many regions, women bear a disproportionate responsibility for securing food, water, and fuel. Agriculture is the most important employment sector for women in low- and lower-middle income countries, [and] during periods of drought and erratic rainfall, women, as agricultural workers and primary procurers, work harder to secure income and resources for their families. This puts added pressure on girls, who often have to leave school to help their mothers manage the increased burden.” (Link to original article here) 

Climate change is a ‘threat multiplier’ and it increases the already present risks to women in fragile and conflict-affected regions. We hope that as part of the huge sector developing services, products and projects that tackle climate change, Kita can contribute to lessening climate-related impact on women and girls.  

Gender disparity in the workplace 

From a business perspective, there is also still a long way to go when it comes to equity in the workplace. In the insurance space, only around 23% of re/insurance company executives are women, with just 10% holding CEO roles in 2019. But simultaneously, it has been shown that a higher ratio of senior women leaders in re/insurance companies correlates with higher company profitability.

“I’ve worked in the insurance and financial services industries for ~14 years and only ever had 1 female boss - and that was sadly for only 1 year. The sector needs to continue to adapt and evolve to create the conditions for more women to attain roles at executive level.”

- James Kench, Head of Insurance, Kita

In the tech start-up sector, it is a similar story: Just 5% of UK CTOs are women and 8% are CEOs. Explanations for this disparity range from unconscious bias, to issues related to women in heterosexual relationships handling the majority of childcare, to systemic issues within education that exclude girls from undertaking STEM subjects. 

Meanwhile, research shows that having better gender equality within a company correlates with the company itself having less climate impact: Following the Paris Agreement, companies with more gender diversity reduced their CO2 emissions by 5% more than those with more men in management.

Furthermore, the European Central Bank, published a paper that finds that a 1 percentage point increase in the percentage of female managers within the firm leads to a 0.5% decrease in CO2 emissions.

“Greater diversity of thinking leads to better results. That is the same no matter the industry. However in the fields of climate change and carbon removal, where the breakthroughs and partnerships are so hugely important across the world, it is even more essential that we broaden the mindsets and skillsets of those involved.” 

- Natalia Dorfman, CEO and co-founder, Kita 

What we are doing 

At Kita, we are constantly assessing our working conditions, hiring processes and workplace environment to do what we can to promote equity (in terms of gender and many other factors). We currently have an even percentage of men and women across the team.  

"Kita is a success precisely because of the contribution of both the women and men across the company. We benefit from the views of team members who approach challenges with different perspectives and lived experiences. I often tell my daughters what wonderful role models my female colleagues are and how I hope more companies can be like Kita”.

- Paul Young, CTO and co-founder, Kita

We still find that we have fewer female than male applicants when hiring for roles, and we are aware that research shows that women are less likely to apply for a job if they feel that they do not possess all of the required skills. We are now trying to include messaging in our job descriptions to explain that we are open to considering transferable skills, alternative experience and other demonstrations of understanding, with a view to encouraging more female applicants. We are also part of a scheme that places under-represented candidates in climate-related internships.  

Within our existing team, we are also doing what we can to place our female team members in the spotlight through blogs, speaking engagements and other opportunities. Some of our female employees are active members of the Women in Carbon cohort - a network set up to amplify the voices of women in the carbon industry through collaboration and connection.   

There is always more that we can do and we welcome input and guidance about what other systems we can put in place to address gender disparity within our fields.  

I love this quote from poet, Rupi Kaur: ‘I stand on the sacrifices of a million women before me thinking what can I do to make this mountain taller so the women after me can see farther’. I like the idea that collaboration (between both men and women) can help us to break boundaries and create new opportunities which were not previously available to women. All of us working together to make that mountain higher! I think Kita is a great example of how important women are in creating new areas of industry and I hope we can inspire other women to enter the climate tech/insurance space”.

- Eilis O’Keefe, Carbon Markets & Partnerships Analyst, Kita