This paper responds to recent calls to study the role that board gender diversity plays in shaping corporate responses to climate change. It examines whether female board representation is associated with greater climate change innovation and whether its effect is determined by the presence of a greater number of independent female directors or the existence of a critical mass of female directors. The results obtained for a panel data of 3,928 companies over the period 2010–2020 (35,199 observations) confirm that companies with a greater female board representation (both in number and in percentage) are more proactive in terms of investments in climate change innovation. This positive effect does not require a critical mass of female directors and diminishes when the percentage of female directors is higher than 46.78%, a proportion associated with the presence of five or more female directors. Furthermore, female directors influence climate change innovation mainly through their involvement in management as executive directors, rather than through the monitoring and advisory roles that characterize independent directors. The theoretical and practical implications derived from this research are robust to different considerations and methodological approaches.

本文回应了最近的呼吁，即研究董事会性别多元化在塑造企业应对气候变化方面的作用。它检查女性董事会代表是否与更大的气候变化创新相关，以及其影响是否取决于更多独立女性董事的存在或女性董事的临界数量。对 2010 年至 2020 年期间 3,928 家公司的面板数据（35,199 次观察）获得的结果证实，女性董事会代表（数量和百分比）较多的公司在气候变化创新投资方面更加积极主动。这种积极影响并不需要一定数量的女性董事，当女性董事的比例高于 46.78% 时会减弱，与五名或更多女性董事的存在有关的比例。此外，女性董事主要通过作为执行董事参与管理来影响气候变化创新，而不是通过独立董事特有的监督和咨询角色。从这项研究中得出的理论和实践意义对于不同的考虑因素和方法论方法都是稳健的。