Learning Lab Towards a Gender-Just Energy Transition: A Human Rights Approach
Given that most proponents of green transition policies do not recognize the gender dimensions of the solutions they promote, nor the deeply entrenched power imbalances between genders that tend to be replicated in this context. The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR), Forum for the Future and Women Engage for the Common Future (WECF) held the Learning Lab on Gender-Just Energy Transitions: A Human-Rights Based Approach.
The concept on “just transitions” involve shifting from a fossil-fuel based economy to a low-carbon and sustainable world placing social and environmental justice concerns at the centre of the global transformation. However, as the concept has gained traction and it is used by a multiplicity of stakeholders representing different views and often competing interests, its meaning and possibilities to constitute a framework for transformative action is sometimes questioned.
We found it was thus imperative to further unpack what would a “just transition” mean from the perspective of the people and communities that have been historically marginalized and develop a common narrative to ensure that the unprecedented changes to advert the climate emergency do not exacerbate inequalities, but rather harness the opportunity to tackle the roots causes of power imbalances driving gender inequality and the environmental breakdown.
The Learning Lab convened a group of 25 representatives of civil society organizations from different backgrounds and areas of expertise in the fields of women’s rights, gender equality and environmental and climate justice to share experiences and visions to strategize on how a gender-just transition could look like in practice.
In this context, we created a space for civil society organizations to explore the roots causes of the adverse gender implications of the transition to low carbon economies and imagine the rights-aligned and feminist alternatives needed to drive the decarbonization of our economies. Finally, the participating organisations considered how we could move from the challenges identified to the transformative solutions collectively envisioned. Participants provided innovative thoughts on the tactics, tools and strategies civil society could develop to inform and influence policy and advocate for a gender-just transition.
The event was a mix of knowledge and experience sharing with capacity-building and collective action that allowed to set key milestone stones for the development of a common narrative for a feminist and rights-aligned energy transition and to build collective action to influence the shift towards a sustainable and gender-equal future.
NEXT STEPS!
Partner organisations will be reaching out to and connecting with other civil society organizations working on the environmental and women’s rights field to build on this learning experience. We will start articulating joint initiatives aiming at: i) collecting data and deepening our understandings on the interlinkages between climate, energy and just transitions, ii) developing collective advocacy tools and strategies to inform and influence key decision-makers at local and international levels, and iii) steering the development of a rights-aligned alternative narrative that can be used as a compass to drive a feminist energy transition and challenge the dominant fossil-fuel extractivist paradigm.
Stay tuned for our upcoming activities!