Redefining Roles: Why Carbon Finance is a Catalyst for Women

In rural Kenya, women have always been the heartbeat of the home and the quiet guardians of community resilience. But today, through the lens of carbon finance, a powerful new story is unfolding, one where women are not just maintaining traditions but driving global climate solutions.

This International Women’s Day 2026, under the theme “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls”, we want to celebrate the real, community-driven solutions that are advancing women’s empowerment. The Jiko Sawa Improved Cookstove Project in Embu County in Kenya stands as a powerful example of this transformation.

Carbon projects do more than just offset emissions; they channel vital resources directly into the hands of those who feel climate change the most. Through improved cookstove initiatives, we are witnessing a profound transformation. We are breaking down the outdated stereotype that women are “only cooking”. Today, these same women are the engineers, the manufacturers, the decision-makers. They are not just the recipients of efficient technology, they are gaining economic independence and confidently taking their rightful seats at the leadership table. This shift from household management to professional empowerment is precisely how we turn rights on paper into justice in practice for women and girls everywhere.

From day one, women from the project communities have actively shaped Jiko Sawa’s design. Their lived experience has been the primary force driving of the stove’s evolution. They have ensured it truly fits local cooking practices, works with available fuel, respects household dynamics, and honours cultural traditions. By sharing what actually works on the ground, these women have guaranteed that this project is one that genuinely transforms daily life.

Women are the backbone of delivery. In the factory, they’re manufacturing the cookstoves themselves, taking pride in production and ensuring quality. Within the implementing partner’s structure, Climate Pal, women hold key management and project coordination roles, overseeing from distribution to monitoring and reporting. Community ambassadors, many recruited directly from the project areas, serve as the vital bridge between the project and families, strengthening accountability and building trust that makes real change possible.

With 25,000 improved biomass cookstoves being distributed, households are reducing fuelwood consumption by around 60% compared to traditional cooking methods. The stoves cook faster and produce significantly less smoke, protecting health and giving women back precious hours once lost to firewood collection and tending fires. But what happens with that reclaimed time? It’s flowing into income-generating activities, education, and community leadership. Many women have turned necessity into entrepreneurship; setting up seamstress services, catching and drying fish, or investing in premium goats to breed and sell at local markets. Others are contributing to family farming, finding ways to improve crop yields and strengthen household food security.

And beyond economic gain, women are choosing to spend their now free time caring for village elders, honouring a tradition of respect that busy days once made difficult to sustain.

“From awareness to action, the Jiko Sawa project shows us the incredible impact of small, collective actions. You can feel it in healthier communities, economically empowered people and a better environment for everyone. At the heart of it all are women whose involvement means communities don’t just survive. They thrive.”

– Lucy Munyi, Jiko Sawa Project Manager, Climate Pal

This transformation is made possible through the vision of the SETOSPHERE Endowment Fund, created by SETO, the Tour Operator Business Association, in 2023 with the primary objective of financing environmental projects to reduce the climate impact of tourism. By channelling carbon finance into community-led initiatives like Jiko Sawa, they are providing the essential foundation needed to amplify women’s leadership and deliver lasting climate justice in Embu County.

This International Women’s Day, Jiko Sawa proves that when women are trusted as decision-makers, producers, managers, and beneficiaries, climate action becomes far more than environmental protection. It becomes a pathway to rights, justice, and lasting opportunities.

Not long ago, many of these women were rarely part of formal decision-making. Today, they sit confidently on village committees, help determine how project revenues are used, and lead as supervisors and mentors. Other women seek them out, knowing they will be heard and truly understood.

Climate finance may have opened the door, but what followed was something profound and lasting. It has given confidence, amplified voices and created space to lead. Women are not just participating in these projects; they are reimagining them, strengthening them, and carrying their impact into every corner of their homes and communities.

This is what “Rights. Justice. Action.” means to us in practice. We may start by providing tools, resources, and support, but what communities gain reaches far greater: empowered leaders, resilient local institutions, and a future shaped by voices that were too long excluded from the conversation.

And in the end, that may be the most lasting impact of all: women stepping into their power and reshaping the world around them, one cookstove at a time.