{"id":15134,"date":"2025-01-03T06:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-03T06:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=15134"},"modified":"2025-01-07T13:28:30","modified_gmt":"2025-01-07T13:28:30","slug":"can-chinas-renewables-sector-achieve-gender-equality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/can-chinas-renewables-sector-achieve-gender-equality\/","title":{"rendered":"Can China\u2019s renewables sector achieve gender equality?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Data transparency and a commitment from businesses could help improve representation and begin eliminating barriers faced by women, writes Niu Yuhan for China Dialogue<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The second Thursday of COP29, 21 November, was Gender Day. The conference was drawing to a close, but, at last, a light was shone on the issue of gender equality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) decided to extend the Enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender for a second decade. Established in 2014, this programme encourages the use of data to actively make climate action \u2013 specifically, the work of implementing the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement \u2013 gender-balanced. It also provides a roadmap for producing the parties\u2019 new Gender Action Plan, in time for the COP30 summit in Brazil in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gender has become a more common issue in climate change-related negotiations in recent years, with 81.5% of UNFCCC signatories mentioning gender in their Nationally Determined Contributions. A consensus is forming around the need to achieve gender equality and women\u2019s participation and empowerment during action on climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the renewable energy sector, which is key to the current energy and climate crises, remains dominated by men. In China, though the sector provides a huge number of jobs, the percentage of women in these roles has been falling. They also face various barriers in the sector, including a lack of career progression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts consulted by Dialogue Earth at COP29 say that, despite scant official policy, businesses could nevertheless take action to help reduce gender imbalances, such as disclosing gender data in environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports. These experiences in the business world could then inform government policy.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Renewables: More women needed<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The renewables sector is booming. According to a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the global renewables workforce expanded by 18% in 2023 to 16.2 million jobs, up from 13.7 million in 2022. China is the sector\u2019s biggest employer, accounting for about 7.4 million (46%) of those jobs; almost two-thirds of solar and wind power capacity added globally in 2023 was in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the first day of COP29, China held a side event on women in sustainable development, where a new report from the NGO China Sustainability Tribune, \u201cInsights and Corporate Practices of Women\u2019s Empowerment in Climate Action\u201d, was released. Hu Wenjuan, the editor of the China Sustainability Tribune and one of the report\u2019s authors, told Dialogue Earth that the traditional energy industry has always been dominated by men, and this will be hard to change. But as an emerging industry, renewable energy provides a valuable opportunity to promote gender equality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to data from IRENA published in 2019, women accounted for 32% of renewable energy employment globally \u2013 better than the energy sector as a whole, at 22%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The energy sector in China is doing slightly better than the global average: according to China\u2019s National Bureau of Statistics, in 2019, 27.1% of the sector\u2019s employees were women. In March 2024, a report from recruitment website Liepin said 30-35% of employees in China\u2019s renewables sector were women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n