Day 9: Reading

Why gender justice matters in the transition away from coal?

Science should be able to examine different starting conditions, needs and interests and help to create a basis for equitable policy measures, but so far this scientific basis hardly exists for energy transitions.
Scholars often only analyse the broader economic impacts of such structural changes, such as net-employment effects for entire regions.
Meanwhile, the impact on distinct groups and their differing opportunities to participate in decision-making processes remains under-researched. If there is a focus on one group, it is on the largely male employees in the coal industry.
This focus on mitigating the negative effects on men, while ignoring the negative effects on women, can lead to the reproduction of existing inequalities between men and women.
With policy measures adapted to people’s differentiated needs, energy transitions could instead be an opportunity to overcome existing unjust power relations.