International Women's Day
is an opportunity to recognise
and celebrate the tremendous achievements
of women and girls around the world,
but also to consider
how we accelerate
the further change needed
to build a better and more equitable future.
The theme this year is
'Changing Climates: Equality today for a sustainable tomorrow'.
And when we think about sustainability,
we often focus on the planet.
But our future sustainability also depends on us
building a society
that empowers women and girls
and offers them the chance to deliver to their full potential.
Now four months ago, I attended the United Nations
Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow.
And what was striking was
how far the debate on climate change had advanced
beyond whether there's a need to act
and yet how much further
we still need to go to reach our required destination.
That's something that's just as applicable
to the topic of gender equality.
While the need for urgent, widespread action to mitigate
further climate change and manage
the impacts of existing change is now broadly accepted
and there's a growing impetus behind delivering it,
the same cannot be said for gender equality.
According to the World Economic Forum's
most recent Global Gender Gap report,
another generation of women
will have to wait for gender parity,
which will now
not be attained for 135 years, up from 99 years in 2020
as some of the hard won gains
have been eroded by the COVID-19 pandemic.
And yet, overcoming gender
inequality is critical to overcoming the broader challenges
we face as a society, including climate change.
Talking with clients, partners,
colleagues and governments in Glasgow,
we agreed that the answer to climate change does not lie
in off-the-shelf solutions.
If it did, we'd have made much more progress well before now.
Instead, this key challenge of our generation
requires the imagination, ideas
and innovation that emerge
when you bring together diversity of thought.
Without equal representation of women
in the development and implementation of solutions
to this and other issues
we are restricting our scope of ideas from the outset.
Now as a services business at Macquarie,
we've long recognised the importance of a diverse workforce
and view it as one of our greatest strengths.
Having an inclusive and equitable workplace
enables us to deliver more innovative, sustainable solutions
for our people, for our clients, our shareholders
and our communities.
Now we understand also that not everyone
has the same starting point
or journey to get to where they're going
and we work hard to embrace a culture of equity.
One that starts understanding the barriers that people face
and provides
support in breaking them down, allowing them each
to reach their full potential.
That's why we actively participate in women’s sponsorship,
mentoring and networking
programs around the world, have established and participated
in initiatives to inspire
and educate women and girls
about the many opportunities
that can come from a career in finance,
and are committed to balanced hiring
in our intern and graduate programs.
So when we look at the future growth areas also,
like technology and the green energy transition,
the gender balance challenge is even greater.
This means there's more work to do
to equip women with the skills needed for jobs in these areas
and to support them in those roles,
including by showcasing the great opportunities
that can come from studying STEM subjects.
So as we look to pursue equality today
for a sustainable tomorrow,
just as the world's
nations and companies are coming together to devise
creative solutions to tackle climate change,
building a resilient
future society and dynamic future
economy requires us to do the same for those barriers
encumbering gender equality.
Empowering all people to achieve their full potential
will not only drive the best outcomes to climate change,
but to a broad range of societal issues.