Boosting the growth of renewable energies three times more, an opportunity for women.
The renewable energy sector has been characterized by its constant growth. Innovation and openness have made it possible for more and more people to join the promotion of a more sustainable future. In 2016, this sector employed more than 9.8 million people worldwide and the growth of jobs compared to 2015 was 11% higher.
The companies dedicated to manufacturing, selling and installing renewable energies have positioned themselves as an opportunity for women’s empowerment in the leading sector of the future. Value For Women has worked on pilot strategies for gender inclusion for small and medium enterprises in the renewable energy sector.
Challenges and opportunities for women’s empowerment in the renewable energy sector
One of the main findings of V4W was the high performance of women in the sales departments of companies engaged in renewable energy, the performance is even three times higher than men. Unlike companies dedicated to conventional energy sources, worldwide women represent 39% of the workforce of green companies. However, on International Women’s Day, what are the challenges that continue affecting women’s performance?
The principal barriers are still based on stereotypes and perceptions about the capacities and limitations of women, one of them is the low number of women who work in engineering and sciences, the perception that these are works of high physical strength and the cultural restrictions of mobility for women that are highly required by the sector.
It is projected that renewable energies will grow by 144% by the year 2050 and if we want women to reach an equal number, both in fieldwork and in leadership positions in the sector to make it grow three times faster, it is important to take action in this regard.
The study carried out by the IRENEA International Renewable Energy Agency, as well as the Value From Women study, show that proper training can reduce the disadvantages attributed to these perceptions of gender difference.
Women taking action in biogas sector
The examples of women in leadership positions in the renewable energy sector are significant, and one of them is the field operations director of Sistema.bio in Mexico, Irene Sánchez is in charge of training the promoters and the technical team that installs the systems, but she is also responsible for explaining to farmers how the technology works.
Irene has been a key player in promoting renewable energy, in the region where she lives and in other countries, with the objective of showing farmers that there are other energy alternatives. She, like many other women, believe that today women must take action to inherit a better world for the following generations.
Like Irene, there are other passionate women in Sistema.bio who have decided sum their talent to this project, form the management positions to the ones that are working in the field, with the firm conviction of adding value to make the mission of the company possible.
Today we make a tribute to all the women of the team and collaborators who are making possible the blue biogas flame to shine around the world, making women’s voice stronger in the renewable energy sector, in the fight against climate change and for a more sustainable and empathetic world.
