How women can turbocharge the energy transition to a cleaner, greener future

In the next few days, when global leaders gather in the UAE for COP28, the UN’s climate change conference, they will have an opportunity to tackle two major challenges at once: gender equality and the race to net zero.

Despite making up the majority of the world’s poor, women have shown remarkable resilience in adapting to environmental challenges and using threatened resources creatively. Whether they are working to overcome the impact of floods and droughts on farms, installing off-grid solar systems to bring electricity to villages in Africa and Asia, or taking leadership roles in the renewable energy sector, women are agents of sustainable change. Yet barriers remain to ensuring that women gain equal access to climate finance and leadership positions. Discrimination and lack of training opportunities are among the major hurdles.

Established in 2015 by Masdar, the UAE’s clean energy powerhouse, Women in Sustainability, Environment and Renewable Energy (WiSER), is a global platform championing women as leaders of sustainable change.

WiSER argues that empowering, educating and engaging women to lead the clean energy transition can bring multiple benefits for the women and their families, communities and countries. As one of the groups worst affected by global warming, women bring valuable insights into practical, local solutions to climate challenges.

Women – in many cases the main caregivers and providers of food and fuel – are highly motivated to deliver those solutions. And, with 74m jobs forecast to be created in green industries by 2030, supporting women’s full participation in the energy transition will boost diversity in the workplace and equality at home.

Aligned with the UAE’s Net Zero by 2050 strategic initiative, WiSER runs a year-long mentoring scheme for women. “WiSER Pioneers” receive training at sustainability-focused workshops and one-to-one mentoring from industry experts. Their experiences as Pioneers range from time living with, and learning from, rural off-grid communities in Africa to attending high-level discussions at events such as the COP summits.

So far, more than 100 women of over 30 nationalities have graduated from the WiSER Pioneers Program. They each received over 100 hours of content learning and more than 240 hours of mentorship and leadership training. Many of the Pioneers have put their learning into action by setting up or leading sustainability projects in their communities.

Nicole Bahati is a WiSER Pioneer who went from being an intern in a food manufacturing company to becoming the vice president of POWERHer, an organisation that aims to increase opportunities for women in Rwanda’s energy sector. Similarly, a fellow WiSER Pioneer, Syrian-born, Australian-based artist and architect Nora Massouh, was inspired to create a coaching platform called Terra Verde, which advances sustainability through innovative urban environments and infrastructure.

Creating this positive ripple effect is crucial as the world races to meet the Paris agreement targets of limiting global warming and fulfilling the UN Sustainable Development Goal of instilling gender equality across countries and industries by 2030.

Women make up 32% of the renewable energy workforce, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Encouraging more women and girls to study STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) would help to raise that figure. Currently, UNESCO estimates that women account for only 28% of engineering graduates and 40% of graduates in computer science and informatics worldwide.

The lack of female role models in STEM subjects not only discourages younger women from entering the sector, but also means that the industry misses out on women’s critical insights and skills when designing climate technology, infrastructure and policies.

The UAE has made significant inroads in this area. More than 60% of the country’s university students in STEM subjects are women. Many graduates have pursued careers in STEM and have contributed to the UAE’s progress in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics and industrial technology.

As the UAE gears up to host COP28, WiSER is championing positive regional role models, hosting the Arab Women Leaders’ Summit in collaboration with the COP28 presidency to explore the critical relationship between gender equality and climate action. And, given the Middle East’s heightened vulnerability to climate change – the region is heating up almost twice as fast as the rest of the world – supporting female sustainability leaders is vital.

If global leaders take smart steps now, they have the chance to achieve two major development goals in one go. Tapping into women’s potential to create a cleaner, greener and more equal world can change the course of history.

With this clear vision in mind, WiSER will continue to champion women as leaders of sustainable change, both at COP28 and beyond.