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Improving gender diversity in the energy sector is an important measure of success

News

Group photo

From left to right: Ted Garrish, Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the US Energy Department, United States; Kenji Wakamiya, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Japan; Christyne Tremblay, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Canada; Dr Fatih Birol, IEA Executive Director; Megan Woods, Minister of Energy and Resources, New Zealand; Michał Kurtyka, Minister of Climate, Poland; Anna Brandt, Ambassador to the OECD, Sweden; Mechthild Wörsdörfer, IEA Director, Sustainability, Technology and Outlooks; and Catherine Bremner, Director, United Kingdom

Energy industries have lacked female participation throughout their history, with women making up only about one-fifth of the traditional energy sector labour force.

The International Energy Agency, which promotes the need for equal opportunities, today hosted a high-level event focused on how to advance gender diversity in the energy sector to support future workforce needs.

Held in Paris ahead of the IEA’s biennial Ministerial Meeting, the event was chaired by Christyne Tremblay, Canada’s Deputy Minister of Natural Resources, and Megan Woods, New Zealand’s Minister of Energy and Resources. At the event, the United States launched the C3E International Ambassador Programme, which gives all countries an opportunity to nominate individuals who will support governments’ efforts in improving gender diversity in the energy sector.

Other participants included ministers or senior government officials from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and other IEA Family countries, as well as executives from several major energy sector companies. During the meeting, participants expressed enthusiastic support for advancing gender diversity across the energy sector and its importance for clean energy transitions.

“Achieving a better gender balance is not only an issue of fairness. It is also good for results as well, as studies show that diverse organisations perform better,” said Dr Fatih Birol, the IEA’s Executive Director.

Participants at the meeting emphasised the importance of integrating gender into energy policies, promoting female employment and careers, and sharing best practices. They welcomed the activities of C3E TCP, which aims to build a community of women leaders across a range of clean energy sectors, and the Equal by 30 campaign, which secures commitments from public and private sector organisations to work towards equal pay, equal leadership and equal opportunities for women in the clean energy sector by 2030.

The meeting identified those two initiatives as platforms to exchange best practices and strengthen collaboration in several areas, including knowledge and data collection, recognition of female leadership, reducing barriers and raising ambition on implementation.

More details on the event are available in the Chair's summary:

The 2019 IEA Ministerial Meeting is taking place in Paris on 5-6 December. It is chaired by Mr Michał Kurtyka, Poland’s Minister of Climate and the President of COP24. Ministers of IEA Member, Accession and Association countries and CEOs of leading companies are attending the meeting.