This year’s International Women’s Day highlights the necessity to accelerate gender equality through actions, #AccelerateAction (IWD, 2025). Energy, one of the main GHG emitters, could be instrumental to fill the gap of gender disparity with the right approach to sectoral transformation. In this article, we will explore the nexus of gender and energy, and what actions can be taken to improve the energy sector to be more equitable and inclusive.

UN Women defines gender equality as “the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys. It does not mean they will become the same, but their rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on their sex/gender”

Source: UN Women Training Centre

Gender – Energy interplay

Looking at the smallest unit of society – the family – women often play a central role as care workers, such as cooking, cleaning and taking care of children and elderly family members, especially in the ASEAN context. Providing them with access to clean energy not only prevents exposure to air pollution but also empowers them by leveraging their role from mere end-users to entrepreneurs or leaders for example, installing solar PV on their rooftop (ASEAN Centre for Energy, 2022), particularly women in rural areas who have been identified as a marginalised group. According to the latest ASEAN Gender Outlook, many households still rely on unclean fuels for cooking, particularly in Cambodia and the Philippines, where an estimated 15% and 17% of women, respectively, are at an inappropriate level of respiratory diseases risk due to this activity.

With depleting ecological resources and the climate crisis, the energy sector now requires transformation. Increasing diversity in the workforce and leadership positions has proven to drive more innovation, efficiency and sustainability in the sector. (UN Women, 2023). For instance, in the private sector, firms with more women represented in decision-making positions outperform those with fewer women (IEA, 2021).

Therefore, integrating gender equality and diversity into the energy transition process should not be up for debate but a default setting.

The Glass ceiling

Nonetheless, women’s representation in the energy sector remains limited. Globally, Women represent around 32% in the renewable energy sector and 22% in the fossil-based sector (IRENA, 2019). Women are still underrepresented in STEM jobs and senior management levels, constituting only about 14% of leading roles in energy firms (IEA, 2019). In the ASEAN region, women represented only 8% of the energy workforce (ACCEPT, 2024) – therefore the proportion of women in leadership roles would be even less. In terms of working conditions, there is still a 19% wage gap between women and men in the energy sector, which is greater than the non-energy sector. (World Economic Forum , 2022)

Referring to the activity “Women in Energy” where we convened women professionals in Thailand’s energy field to discuss their journey in the sector and the barriers preventing women from working in the field. There were many barriers which ranged from lack of awareness of opportunities (because the energy sector is viewed as STEM dominant) or self-perception (e.g. low self-confidence in their ability to understand technical issues) and technical discouraging working conditions e.g. safety, lack of policies to share care work. Apiradee Thammanomai, Director of the Strategy and Planning Division at the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE), pointed out that “Women are forced to choose between career growth and family responsibilities”. Some women may refuse to take on a leadership role due to societal expectations that women should prioritise the family. These situations may undermine women’s representation in leadership positions in the energy sector, which could result in an unsustainable transition.

Shatter the glass

Transitioning energy sector, from fossil-based to renewables, is not merely a climate solution but it could be an opportunity to address social disparity. To achieve this goal, mainstreaming gender into energy-related discussions is essential. There are several actions that can be taken by different stakeholders to enhance gender equality in the sector. Below are some examples:

Through policies

Gender mainstreaming in energy policy design: in the ASEAN context, the Roadmap on Accelerating ASEAN RE Deployment through Gender-Responsive Energy Policy was formulated in 2022, it aims to close the gender gap in RE sector and attract development finance through gender-responsive public policies. However, it can also be used as a reference to design gender-energy nexus policies. Another tool is a guideline for policymakers developed by the UNEP and UN Women, providing a step-by-step guide on how to integrate gender in energy policies.

Utilising gender toolkit or checklist developed for the energy sector: additionally, the Philippines Department of Energy has developed a Gender Toolkit for the Energy Sector, which equips policymakers and other stakeholders such as donor agencies, and the academic community with a guideline and checklist when designing energy programs or projects and MRV framework to monitor its impact. DOE also implements a policy to improve the number of women’s participation in RE sector by providing capacity building and technical assistance.

Ensuring a proportion of candidates are women or from marginalised groups: by doing so, it would guarantee diversity of the candidates and thus, more access to opportunities for marginalised groups. Indonesia enacted a law (Article 55 of Law 8/2012), that stipulates at least 30 percent of members of the House of Representatives candidates must be women.

Through finance and budget

Inclusive financial support: by having budgets and investment plans that are designed gender-responsive e.g. initiatives to support women entrepreneurs, and Gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) can ensure the distribution of the cost of transition so that women benefit equitably.

Through education

Promote enabling educational policies and programs: insufficient female representation in STEM jobs leads to a lack of female role models, therefore, at an institutional level, enabling policies and programs are required to promote educational and career opportunities for women.

Through workplace

Workplace policies that help alleviate unpaid care work: for instance, flexible working hours, a working from home policy, daycare facilities for employees with young children.

Non-conscious bias training for the hiring unit and managers: tackling gender inequality can start by becoming aware of unconscious bias, which may influence the way we decide.

Energy could be instrumental to tackle societal gaps, including gender disparity, through improving wellbeing, to mainstreaming inclusion and diversity into different levels of decision-making. Addressing gender equality in the energy sector, therefore, requires a systematic approach at all levels by all stakeholders; it is everyone’s responsibility to #AccelerateAction.