Greening Gender Equity: Microfinance and the Sustainable Development Agenda

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and multiple natural disasters, the sustainable development agenda has regained popularity, although the meaning of the term sustainable development remains contested. I follow the conceptualization emerging from the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012 of three interlocking dimensions: economic, environmental, and social. Focusing on the social-environmental nexus of sustainable development, I consider the relationship between gender equity and the environment before turning to one of the most popular interventions for gender equity in the developing world, microfinance. Although microfinance typically is examined along the social-economic nexus (improving gender empowerment via earned income opportunities), I explore its relationship to environmental sustainability and make suggestions for improving the capacity of microfinance in this area.