Gender & Energy Nexus: World Environment Day 2022

South Asia Women in Energy (SAWIE), in partnership with United States Agency for International Development and South Asia Regional Energy Hub (SAREH), hosted “Demystifying the Gender, Energy and Environment Nexus” – a webinar to mark World Environment Day 2022. The event was held on June 10, 2022, from 15:00-16:30 IST (+5.30 GMT) | 15:30-17:00 BDT (+6.00 GMT) | 17:30 – 19:00 PHT (GMT + 8 hours). 

Evidence shows that on a mass scale, cutting-edge technology alone doesn’t have the positive impact it is designed to have if it isn’t inclusive in its design, inception and deployment. When gender equity and social inclusion are omitted from energy planning and access, the environmental and social costs are high.

Various actors can act as sectoral influencers on gender and inclusion. Utilities, financing agencies, academic experts, and entrepreneurs are different spokes to the same wheel. Their approaches are varied, and their success stories are a testimony to the benefits the energy sector and environment gains from improved inclusion and gender.
This webinar brought together experts from multilateral agencies, regional academia, and the private sector to highlight the inter-related issues or wicked problems that emerge with inequitable access to energy and its subsequent consequences on gender and the environment. They presented their unique solution-oriented approaches and a host of lively exchange of insights and experiences.

Some of the key highlights that emerged were:

• Understanding quantifiable indicators that the The World Bank sets as its gender equity targets that include asset ownership, formal economic inclusion, as well as addressing emissions
• TATA Power has moved the needle for women in energy, and particularly in a utility set up, changing the way women perceive male-dominated roles. They continue to push the envelope on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) as well as Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) goals
• Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s operations in South Asia are impacting inclusion regarding disabilities and working towards a deeper understanding of intersectionality between gender and exclusion
• Sri Lanka’s experience was focused on the cross-sectionality of inequality and poverty magnified by energy poverty. This is unequally borne by women both at the industry and household level

Futuristic perspectives were introduced by the Bangladeshi representative who encouraged including women in the design and deployment of climate-friendly technology, renewable energy, and decarbonization