Gender, Climate Change and Energy Production & Consumption

Energy consumption takes a key role in climate debates. The energy sector counts for 60% of total greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Though there is a need for a significant reduction, energy consumption is increasing worldwide, mostly due to the rapidly growing economies in some countries like China, Brazil or India. At the same time, more than 2 billion people in developing countries lack access to modern energy infrastructures, especially in rural areas. In order to allow these countries to develop their economies and standard of living, and to meet their energy needs, industrialised countries are called upon to reduce their energy consumption. More efficient technologies and an increased use of renewable energy may contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet the targets of the Kyoto Protocol. Nevertheless, without a fundamental change in consumption patterns and lifestyle in industrialised countries the required reductions will hardly be achieved.

Gender Dimension

Due to the work of the gender & energy network ENERGIA there is a huge amount of case studies and data available documenting gender and energy issues in the global South. These studies clearly show gender differences in energy production and energy use, in access to energy and in the participation of women in energy related planning and decision-making.

Gender differentiated responsibilities result in different energy needs and attitudes towards energy production. Studies agree upon strong gender differences in the attitudes towards nuclear energy use worlwide. The strong rejection of nuclear energy by women is based on their higher risk perception. Regarding renewable energy production gender differences are less obvious.

Especially in rural areas of developing countries a lack of energy services is evident. Missing access to energy mainly affects women in their role as household managers because it is mostly their burden to provide energy for the household. Without access to convenient, affordable fuels for cooking and heating, women have to spend large amounts of time and physical energy obtaining traditional fuels (such as wood, charcoal, dung and agriculture waste) to heat water and cook meals. Furthermore, energy is a precondition for income generating activities.

In industrialized countries energy poverty is a growing problem too. The rise of oil and gas prices causes increasing energy costs, effecting in particular poor households. The share of female headed (single mothers or elderly) poor households is notably high.

Regarding energy consumption in the North, studies from various European countries show that women consume less energy than men. These is true across the different income groups as well as across different generations. It is in particular the gendered transport patterns contributing to the differences, but they can be found on a lower level also in other sectors like electronic appliances or leisure activities. Looking at preferences for energy saving measures, men tend to trust in technical solutions while women rather tend to opt for behavioural or lifestyle changes.

In developing countries, more than two billion people use traditional fuels. Indoor air pollution from burning biomass is a major problem affecting the health of women in developing countries for providing household energy, causing more than 1.6 million deaths per year, mostly women and children.

Health problems may be caused by nuclear power plants too. Radioactivity even in low doses is a risk for many illnesses like cancer and leukaemia. Some epidemiological studies reveal a statistically significant increase of childhood cancer (all malignancies) in our youngest children (0 – 4 years) living in the vicinity of commercial nuclear power plants (< 5 km) in normal operation.

Participation of women in energy planning and decision-making is extremely low. In the European Union e.g. the percentage of female employees in the energy industry is about 20%. Most of them are working in non-technical fields like administration and public relations. The share of women in decision-making positions in the energy sector is much lower, due to the technical field of work as well as due to the sphere of economical power. Because of women’s absence in energy planning it is less likely that their interests and needs are taken into account.

Response

There is a considerable gap between existing knowledge and its implementation in energy policy and budgets which need be closed urgently. Appropriate gender analysis tools and gender trainings are already developed and practiced by ENERGIA and others; their routine application is currently missing and must be mandatory.

To undertake gender analysis at each step of policy, programme and project planning and implementation will help to identify gender related impacts, to develop the right questions for providing the lacking data, and may at the same time sensitize planners for gender perspectives.

Gender-disaggregated data on energy consumption in industrialised countries are lacking and must be urgently provided. Proved measures must be identified that improve women’s participation in energy related fields of work.

These data and strategies will contribute not only to gender equality in the labour market but also to integrate women’s perspectives and needs into energy and climate change policies.