Advancing an Equitable Clean Transition

Gender equality is key to Green Deal success.

The European Green Deal aims for a sustainable, resilient Europe, but falls short on systemic inequalities, particularly gender mainstreaming. Evidence shows gender-transformative policies accelerate the clean transition and are essential for a just, inclusive shift. Despite ongoing gaps, new initiatives are building momentum as the EGD moves into full implementation. 

The clean transition – the largest industrial shift in global history – cannot succeed while excluding half the talent pool. Women hold just 32% of full-time renewable energy jobs and only 19% of senior roles. Male dominated carbon-intensive sectors limit diverse innovation.  

Studies show that women’s leadership drives stronger environmental action. Integrating women into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and leadership under Fit for 55, the EU’s ambitious legislative package to slash greenhouse gases, would also ease EU labour shortages.  

Studies show that women’s leadership drives stronger environmental action.

As the EU moves toward climate neutrality by 2050, the European Commission’s DG ENER established the Equality Platform for the Energy Sector in a bid to promote equality in all its dimensions by fostering diversity and inclusion in the increasingly important energy sector and offering a forum to address challenges and share solutions. 

Energy needs and contributions are not gender-neutral; men and women contribute differently to environmental pressures and have distinct consumption patterns. For example, men often cause higher CO2 emissions through fuel and meat consumption, while women typically consume more energy within the households due to their disproportionate share of unpaid care work. 

Furthermore, women – especially single parents and elderly women – are disproportionately affected by energy poverty due to structural inequalities in income distribution and socioeconomic status. A “gender-blind” policy risks creating a transition that perpetuates these systemic exclusions. Aligning the Green Deal with the EU Gender Equality Strategy, which recognises how green policies disproportionately affect women, enables smarter subsidies and renovation programs to ensure decarbonisation lowers living costs for those most in need. 

Women – especially single parents and elderly women – are disproportionately affected by energy poverty due to structural inequalities in income distribution and socioeconomic status.

The shift from centralised fossil fuel production and consumption to decentralised renewables like solar and wind is an opportunity to democratise the energy system. Many energy cooperatives remain male-dominated – often up to 80% – with stereotypes framing energy as a “masculine” technical field that excludes women. 

However, when women lead local energy initiatives, they often prioritise community resilience and social cohesion. Supporting gender-just energy communities – such as those emerging in Greece and Germany – democratises the EU’s power grid. It transforms passive consumers into prosumers (producers and consumers), making the transition feel owned by the community rather than imposed from above.  

As the EU-funded RESCoop observes, energy cooperatives have increased their efforts to close the gender gap within the energy sector. Gender-just energy communities build trust and inclusion, strengthening the energy transition. By engaging all genders, they expand expertise, cut emissions, create jobs, and promote fair access while reducing inequality. 

By 2026, the Green Deal has shifted from vision to implementation; to be truly transformative, it should go beyond GDP-like metrics and adopt an intersectional approach that addresses the roots of inequality. 

This means valuing the low-carbon care economy as central to the green transition and using meaningful gender-disaggregated data – beyond quotas – to track real impacts. The EU-funded projects related to energy transition and climate change mitigation, and adaptation should also adopt clear gender indicators to track gender impacts. EU-funded climate and energy projects should also apply clear gender indicators across funding and implementation.  

While the Clean Industrial Deal drives EU competitiveness and decarbonisation, the European Commission has also proposed the Affordable Energy Action Plan. Although not explicitly gender-focused, the plan centers on tackling energy poverty and stresses the need for a skilled EU workforce in clean tech, digitalisation, and entrepreneurship. Creating incentives and opportunities for the majority of the population would strengthen the low-carbon transition.