Gender inequality, social injustice and unequal access to energy is a global concern embedded in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that call for action at the national policy level. Interrogating energy policies with gender just questions is a valuable way to surface potential inequities in policy and ensuring they address diverse needs equitably and promote fairness across genders.
In a recently published policy brief on Gender Just Energy Policy, the EmPOWERing All Task (Gender & Energy) lists a number of gender just questions to ask when analysing energy policies. Also, the following challenges to making efficient and inclusive energy policy are identified:
- Lack of gender (and) disaggregated data limits the knowledge transfer between actors in the energy system and policymakers.
- Dominant gender-biased and gender-blind norms of the current sociotechnical energy system impact the mindset of policy
makers and designers. - Users’ perceptions are not included in policy making and technology design leading to non-inclusive interventions that might
increase existing inequalities in society.
