Masterclass to Understand Impact of Systems Changes in Climate Space

Earlier last week, Climate Asia conducted a masterclass on Systems Change to understand the elements of Systems Change, more about Co-Impact, solutions-based approach to make systems more effective and significance of dynamic systems in the climate space.

Beginning the session, Moutushi Sengupta, Director, Asia at Co-Impact said: "Systems are interrelated elements that are working with each other, often based on a set of rules to form a unified whole.”

Societal systems are norms, policies, laws, and institutions that determine millions of people's access to resources and opportunities.

The predicament of systems is that they are often unjust, inequitable, and inefficient and don’t provide the type of benefit to the marginalized groups while benefiting certain stakeholder groups far better than others.

Henceforth, the failure of systems essentially depends upon the power distribution among the stakeholders, making it challenging to be beneficial.

Another feature of it is that systems working in different orbits and levels are also interlinked, especially in the case of climate and gender justice.

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Therefore, it is essential to have a dynamic approach to keep it relevant. Systems are the source for policy, resource deployment, service delivery, and leadership attitude. Impact on a scale is achievable by fixing and transforming those systems.

The solution lies in moving forward with the levers of change and finding a new equilibrium. Here the power structures are moved so that the majority of stakeholders benefit.

Following this, Moutushi touched upon the work of Co-Impact, a global philanthropic collaborative. The work of Co-Impact involves two large funds, namely the Foundational Fund for just and inclusive systems and Gender Fund for women to exercise power, agency, and leadership at all levels.

They aim to provide equitable systems change at scale to tackle social inequalities. The ultimate vision of Co-Impact is to build a society where people live fulfilling lives that can be achieved through inclusive systems.

The Co-Impact focuses on three sectors: Health, Education, and economic systems. It also focuses on the adverse impact of climate change on women.

They also focus on deepening strategic coherence and strengthening key capabilities for partners while learning and adapting. Additionally, Co-Impact also works with organizations with a strategic vision that demonstrates great leadership.

Moreover, its agenda is to find “winning coalitions” where one's capabilities are intermingled with others to come to a holistic solution that benefits the sum.

The session was also followed by an interaction with the audience, highlighting some crucial points.

Answering one of the questions regarding the skills required to join this space, Moutushi mentioned that “taking an ecosystem’s view while also looking at the larger play of actors is at the core of the selection process.”

Additionally, “understanding of the political economy, honesty in the present competencies and acknowledging that the solutions are for long-term along with resilience and diligence” are the essential skills one needs to have to be a part of the space.

The session concluded with the key message on the importance of having diverse stakeholders on board while also building partnerships on trust to bring out the benefit at the intersection of many, if not all, marginalized groups.

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