Increasing women’s participation in the skilled labour force has enormous potential for India’s sustainable transition towards clean energy
This article is part of the series — International Women's Day
India needs to make bigger and faster strides in closing the gender gap in economic participation to achieve its ambitious climate goals. A just and equitable transition towards a green economy can be realised by establishing women as key stakeholders in climate action, particularly in the clean energy transition. In this regard, this year’s International Women’s Day theme ‘Invest in women: Accelerate progress’ is extremely relevant and timely.
Climate change is not a gender-neutral problem. It disproportionately affects marginalised groups including women and girls, especially from poor and developing countries. It is estimated that climate change will push 158 million more women and girls into poverty in the next 25 years. Women often face higher risks due to existing roles and responsibilities associated with household energy, food, water, and care work. These roles are induced due to existing social and cultural norms.
Women often face higher risks due to existing roles and responsibilities associated with household energy, food, water, and care work.
There is little doubt that investing in women and closing the gender gap would have a direct impact on economic growth. The contribution of the female workforce to India’s GDP is merely 18 percent. Increasing women’s participation in the skilled labour force has enormous potential to increase the country’s growth rate.
The underrepresentation of women in the workforce is prevalent across various sectors. For example, in the rooftop solar sector, women constitute only 11 percent of the workforce in India, which is significantly less than the global average of 32 percent. Women are also disproportionately grouped in ‘feminised’ services such as administrative and support services while technical positions are still dominated by men. Despite the high graduation rates of women in India, several systemic barriers discourage women from pursuing careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields.
India has the highest number of female STEM graduates in the world, and the number is steadily increasing every year. This untapped human capital resource can be a magic bullet in addressing climate change. However, the reality is that women who opt for careers in STEM are hugely underpaid compared to their male counterparts, and gradually drop out of the workforce or shift career tracks. This is a serious concern and has implications for India's climate goals.
Women are also disproportionately grouped in ‘feminised’ services such as administrative and support services while technical positions are still dominated by men.
While there are several benefits of women’s economic participation, there are still significant legal, structural and cultural obstacles that need serious introspection. This article focuses on a few of these systemic barriers that need immediate focus.
At COP27, there has been increased focus on gender-smart climate financing that calls for investments in areas that empower women as entrepreneurs, community leaders, heads of households, and consumers. These gender-smart investments acknowledge that women often play a crucial and catalytic role in climate action, especially in building adaptation mechanisms in their businesses, communities, and homes. Companies with women at their helm are more likely to adopt sustainable practices within their business practices and reduce carbon emissions. This strong correlation between women leadership and climate innovation is significant.
Despite overwhelming evidence, there are very few attempts that focus on gender-smart climate financing. The issue of gender in climate action is seen as an ‘add-on’ and doesn't really become part of core climate conversations. Women-led businesses still do not find adequate funding as compared to their male counterparts. Even in areas such as agriculture where women have a strong role to play, women farmers are often left behind when it comes to accessible financing mechanisms.
Companies with women at their helm are more likely to adopt sustainable practices within their business practices and reduce carbon emissions.
Gender equality cannot and should be seen as an issue that is independent of climate change. Advancement of gender equality and efforts towards climate change adaptation and mitigation must go hand in hand. This must be reflected adequately in climate investments.
So far, the limited participation of women in climate change policies and processes meant that climate action planning has not been gender sensitive. In the case of the clean energy sector, women are hugely underrepresented in senior leadership and management roles. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) which analysed companies in energy-related sectors, women constitute less than 14 percent of senior management positions. Without women in senior management roles, there is less chance for providing targeted measures to address specific vulnerabilities of women in workplaces. Apart from increasing female representation at the senior management level, efficient interventions to reduce gender bias include fostering a diversity-friendly environment and promoting transparency in the distribution of economic power.
The relationship between human resource policies and gender inequality in the workplace needs stronger emphasis, especially in climate conversations. Human resource policies must go beyond legally mandated requirements in addressing gender biases at workplaces. While several policies such as parental leave, work-hour flexibility, and gender-sensitive reporting mechanisms exist, they often come with inherent gender biases. These biases often give rise to misperceptions of women’s capabilities in some roles.
Social norms around care work are a major barrier to climate action. Women in rural areas spend nearly 14 hours a day on unpaid care work, which is not seen as real work. This impacts the time they can dedicate to work related to clean energy initiatives such as training and entrepreneurship activities. As energy consumers, producers, entrepreneurs and decision-makers, women have a leading role to play in a sustainable and clean energy transition.
The relationship between human resource policies and gender inequality in the workplace needs stronger emphasis, especially in climate conversations.
Addressing gender gaps potentially means altering longstanding social norms around care. Combating the perception that ‘care work is women’s work’ is crucial to make it more acceptable for men to participate in care work.
There is evidence that engaging women across the clean energy value chain is the key missing link that can be leveraged for a sustainable transition in this sector. Not only do they hold first-hand knowledge of household and community energy needs, they have a wider reach in rural areas through informal networks. As investments and innovations in clean energy transitions are growing, this is an opportune moment to engage women and address issues such as unpaid care work to close the gender gap.
In conclusion, wider participation of women in the workforce is crucial for India’s sustainable transition towards clean energy. India must lead the way by dismantling systemic barriers around gender inequality that are hindering progress towards sustainable futures.
Vikrom Mathur is a Senior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation
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Vikrom Mathur is Senior Fellow at ORF. Vikrom curates research at ORF’s Centre for New Economic Diplomacy (CNED). He also guides and mentors researchers at CNED. ...
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