The implications of clean and renewable energy development for gender equality in poor communities in South Asia

Historically, women have been invisible in the energy sector and energy infrastructure and services are often and incorrectly considered to be `gender neutral'. The role of women in energy development is a recent area of study that emerged in the 1980s and a substantial body of feminist research has been built up since then. With 675 million people in developing Asia having no access to electricity, the gender analyses of energy access finds that this `energy poverty' is a gender biased poverty, with poor women bearing much of the burden of limited access to electricity and modern energy services. In rural Asia women and men in poor communities continue to rely predominantly on traditional biomass, such as wood, charcoal, straw and dung, for cooking and indoor heating, which are very inefficient and a significant health risk due to indoor air pollution, especially for women and children. A key challenge is the provision of energy in an environmentally sustainable manner based on renewable energy sources and applications. It has been argued that ignoring the social context determining energy access, characterised by gender roles and traditions, can negatively affect the potential of renewable energy as a sustainable and alternative energy resource. This paper looks at the linkages between gender and clean and renewable energy. Its conclusions suggest that while there are no purely technological solutions to achieving progress on gender equality and women's empowerment, nevertheless, in the context of South Asia (and especially in rural South Asia) where women's lives are marked by gender inequalities, access to clean and renewable energy services, if also targeted at improving women's access and welfare, can catalyse economic, social and cultural processes that improve gender equality and women's empowerment. This study does not include an analysis of specific renewable energy technologies or applications. It is based on findings in existing research on the subject. While there is no standard definition of clean energy or technologies, for the purpose of this study clean energy can be considered to be zero or low carbon technologies that do not have significant environmental or social impact. Renewable energy can be defined as clean energy coming from naturally replenished resources, i.e. solar, geophysical or biological sources.