Energy

Lone female-headed households, and lone women and older women are all at a higher risk of fuel poverty than men.

Energy poverty is a problem that is on the rise in industrialised countries. When there is an increase in oil and gas prices there is a rise in energy costs, and this particularly affects poor households. Over the past decades, the proportion of lone-parent households has increased in the EU. Most of these lone-parent households are headed by mothers. Lone parents are considered to be a group significantly at risk of living in poverty.

The most recent Guidance Document on Vulnerable Consumers recognises that retirement and unemployment have an impact on the time spent at home. This affects heating or air conditioning costs. Older women have been identified as being at greater risk of energy poverty due to lower pensions. This guidance document also draws attention to the higher risk of fuel poverty among people who live alone in large homes, as heating/air conditioning costs will be high. These circumstances tend to apply to older people who often stay in the family home after their children have left. Women are also disproportionally affected due to their higher life expectancy.

The assumption that older women are more exposed to energy poverty can be supported by the figures for excess winter mortality (EWM). For instance, at the end of 2013 the UK Office for National Statistics published a Statistical Bulletin on EWM, which points out that women constitute 58% of the total number of excess winter deaths. The greatest number of excess winter deaths – for all age groups and both sexes – is found among women aged 85 and over. It should be borne in mind that older women outnumber older men two to one, because women have a higher life expectancy. In addition, compared to the previous period, the greatest increase in EWM was seen in women under 65 (where the EWM index increased from 8.2% in 2011/2012 to 12.4% in 2012/2013).

Energy poverty is not confined to the elderly, and elderly women in particular. Nearly 11% of the EU’s population are not able to adequately heat their homes at an affordable cost. This situation is estimated to affect around 54 million people in Europe (figures for 2012). The scale of the problem can be attributed to rising energy prices, low income and energy-inefficient homes, and is particularly prevalent in central, eastern and southern Europe.

In Europe, the energy sector workforce is composed mainly of men (77.9%) with women representing only 22.1%. The same trend seems to apply to the renewable energies sector, where women are also underrepresented. In the renewable energy sector, women represent less than 30% of positions in manufacturing (e.g. fuel for vehicles, pollution-control equipment), construction (e.g. retrofitting buildings) and energy production. The more skilled jobs in these areas – metal workers, insulation specialists, plumbers and pipe fitters, electricians, heating and cooling experts – are mostly male-dominated. Other sectors, such as engineering and financial and business services (where the better-paid jobs are concentrated), are also dominated by men. When working in the renewable energy sector, women are generally employed in lower-skilled jobs, primarily in administration and communication.

Some of the most commonly cited reasons explaining women’s low participation in the energy labour market are the following:

• lack of appropriate skills due to the gender gaps in energy-related education.
• the perception of the energy sector as a male domain and persisting gender stereotypes.
• the difficulty of achieving a work–family life balance which discourages women from taking on jobs that involve unpredictable work schedule or emergency travel.
• insufficient career promotion opportunities and mentoring programmes for women.

According to 2014 Eurostat data, more women (42.3%) than men (33.6%) complete tertiary education. Yet women are more present in the humanities than in scientific fields. Eurostat data for 2012 show that the number of women graduating in science and technology per 1,000 inhabitants is considerably less than the number of men: 11% of women compared to 22% of men, aged 22 – 29. The increase in the percentages of tertiary graduates in science and technology over the 2010 – 2012 period is slightly higher for men at +2.9 percentage points) than for women, at +1.2 percentage points. At the same time, the energy sector requires more workers with scientific knowledge and specialist expertise.

There is a complex set of reasons for this situation:

• Some subjects of study and fields of work are established as either ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine’, for example the energy field is seen as a male domain.
• There is an absence of women scientist/engineer role models and a lack of science-oriented guidance and mentoring programmes during upper-secondary education.
• The approach of teaching science in schools is outdated and unattractive to the interests of students taking the science curriculum.

The number of women who hold management positions in the energy sector is very low. According to a study by EIGE, research carried out in 2010 in Germany, Spain and Sweden showed that 64% of the 295 energy companies surveyed had no women at all on boards or management groups. Also, only 5% of the companies had women in 40% or more of their posts. The situation is hardly better in the renewable energy sector. For example, in Germany women represent only 8% of board members in associations promoting renewable energy. Figures tend to be slightly better in the oil industry, where there has been an increase of 3 percentage points in women’s participation in leadership positions in the period 2000 – 2007, from 9% in 2000 to 12% in 2007.

The situation is much the same in the public sector. According to the 2012 EIGE study, 17.3% of women in the energy sector are employed in high-level positions, compared to 82.7% of men. The situation is slightly better in the Nordic countries than in Mediterranean countries. However, in both Nordic and Mediterranean countries, women leaders are absent in the technological areas of the energy sector. For instance, in Sweden, women and men participate equally in the decision-making process in ministries related to energy, yet women are less well represented in the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate.

European Commission

The main objective of the European Commission in the energy sector is increasing women’s participation in the knowledge economy, including the green economy. The Commission has set out a specific framework to tackle problems related to scientific skills and the low participation of women in the green labour market. This can be summarised as follows:

E-skills for the 21st century: Fostering competitiveness, growth and jobs

The framework specifies that there is a need to promote specific actions addressing women in order to increase their participation in ICT and STEM fields. These actions include exchanging information and good practices on Member State initiatives for the promotion of science, maths and ICT role models, and career profiles and perspectives.

Agenda for modernising higher education systems

Increasing women’s participation in higher technical and scientific education is another EU objective. This Agenda acknowledges that tackling stereotyping and removing barriers women still face in reaching the highest levels in postgraduate education and research can liberate untapped talent. The Agenda envisages that one of the key polices to be addressed by Member States is implementing the recommendations of the Helsinki Group on women in science.

The Seventh Framework Programme’s (FP7) cooperation work programme on energy

This demonstrates the European Commission’s commitment to enhance scientific excellence through mainstreaming gender equality. It continues the gender mainstreaming goals already drawn up for FP6 and ensures that the gender dimension is addressed in European research. This includes promoting the participation of women scientists in framework programme activities, with a target of 40%.

Council of the European Union

In the 2012 Council Conclusions Gender equality and the environment: Enhanced decision-making, qualifications and competitiveness in the field of climate change mitigation policy in the EU, the Council calls on the Member States and the Commission to:

• take active and specific measures aimed at achieving a balanced representation of women and men in decision-making in climate change mitigation at all levels, including the EU level.
• support women in science and technology at national and European level.
• cut out gender stereotypes and promote gender equality at all levels of education and training, as well as in working life.
• integrate the principle of gender mainstreaming into all relevant legislation, policy measures and instruments related to climate change mitigation.

Furthermore, it calls on the Commission to:

• provide guidance about mainstreaming gender in policy areas.
• consider focusing on the issue of women and climate change in a future report.
• take action, with the participation of civil society, to raise awareness of the gender dimension of climate change policy.

European Parliament

In 2012, the European Parliament issued a resolution on women and climate change, which includes references to the energy policy sector on the mitigation of climate change. It calls on the European Commission to:

• encourage women to pursue technical and scientific training and careers in the environmental and energy technology sectors. The need for expertise in this area will guarantee women secure jobs with a stable future, and ensure greater awareness of women’s needs when it comes to establishing climate change policies.
• set up a toolkit to encourage inclusive decision-making.
• launch awareness-raising campaigns at the grassroots level, focusing on everyday consumer spending choices related to household and childcare activities.

Furthermore, it stresses the important role played by women in implementing mitigation measures in daily life, e.g. through energy and water-saving practices, recycling measures and the use of eco-friendly and organic products. Women are still seen as the primary managers of these resources in the home.

In the same year, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the role of women in the green economy. This resolution calls on the Member States to:

• innovate and stimulate greater participation of both women and men in the development of renewable and environmentally friendly energy and architecture.
• promote women’s entrepreneurship in the green economy.
• ensure that women are equally represented in political decision-making bodies as well as in government-appointed bodies and institutions. These bodies are those dealing with defining, planning and implementing environmental, energy and green jobs policies, to include the gender perspective.
• appoint more women to management roles and company boards within the green jobs sector.
• use and develop ways to encourage women to choose courses and careers in the environment, transport and energy sectors. At the same time, fight stereotypes that favour careers in natural and applied sciences for men.

Furthermore, the resolution urges the Commission to be particularly aware that billions of people are totally dependent on biomass for energy. Children and women suffer from health problems because they collect, process and use biomass.

In 2014, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on A 2030 framework for climate and energy policies, which stresses that active labour market policies have to be targeted and designed to meet worker and labour demands. This is needed to avoid an insufficiently qualified labour force in emerging sustainable technologies, and to provide young people, women and disadvantaged groups with access to sustainable quality jobs in the green economy.

United Nations

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development – Rio+20 – took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 20 – 22 June 2012. It resulted in a focused political outcome document, titled The Future We Want, which contains clear and practical measures for implementing sustainable development. It recognises the critical role that energy plays in the development process, and that modern energy services are essential to social inclusion and gender equality. In September 2011, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched the Sustainable Energy for All initiative and shared his vision for how governments, business and civil society working in partnership can make sustainable energy for all a reality by 2030. The United Nations General Assembly unanimously declared the decade 2014 – 2024 as the decade of sustainable energy for all. This underscores the importance of energy issues for sustainable development and for the elaboration of the post-2015 development agenda. The first two years of the decade will focus on women, energy and health.

The new sustainable development goals agreed at the UN Sustainable Development Summit include specific objectives on affordable and clean energy for all. Even though not directly referring to gender equality, two targets under Goal 7 (ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all) are highly relevant for ensuring women’s equal access to energy, as women are considered vulnerable to energy poverty.

• “By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services.”
• “By 2030, expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable energy services for all in developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States, and land-locked developing countries, in accordance with their respective programmes of support.”

The Norwegian action plan for women’s rights and gender equality was launched in 2007 to emphasise the importance of gender sensitivity in energy as one of the five priority areas of Norwegian development cooperation. The plan states that Norway will take measures to ensure:

• both women and men participate at all levels in the management of natural resources in partner countries.
• contribution to the creation of jobs and livelihoods for both women and men.
• support for sustainable, safe energy solutions that ease women’s burden of work and improve their access to health services and education.
• support for the development and use of clean energy solutions, such as solar energy.
• promotion of the active participation of women in decision-making and implementation processes.

The UK initiative for the future sustainable procurement national action plan gives the British government a clear direction on how to make real progress towards better, more sustainable procurement. This will in turn allow it to move forward on sustainable development and set an example both to business and consumers in the UK and to other countries. Gender equality and sustainable energy represent two criteria to be considered by the British authorities in awarding contracts.