On Wednesday, 12 November 2025, global policymakers, private sector leaders, and advocates convened at the COP30 Event “Powering Change: Gender-Transformative Climate and Energy Pathways”, co-organized by the Equality in Energy Transitions, the Gender & Energy Compact, and MPower Brasil and the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centers.
The high-level session underscored that achieving gender equality is not merely an aspiration for justice, but a strategic and urgent imperative for accelerating global climate action and ensuring an inclusive energy transition.
The session, moderated by Hans Olav Ibrekk, Policy Director at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Co-Facilitator of SDG 7 Technical Advisory Group.
Ciyong Zou, Deputy Director General and Managing Director of the Directorate of Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Industrial Development, UNIDO, set the scene by highlighting the significant global energy gaps. He stressed that current transition efforts are insufficient, pointing out that 2.4 billion people still rely on polluting fuels and that women hold only 32% of jobs in the formal energy sector.
In her foundational address, Melanie Chiponda, Director and Thematic Representative of the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC), provided a robust framework, moving gender from a policy preamble to operational practice. She detailed five core pillars for a gender-just transition, emphasizing the need to recognize energy access as care infrastructure, mandate Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) in climate finance, and ensure co-governance and consent for energy projects.
Global Commitments and Systemic Challenges
The subsequent discussion showcased diverse national and international efforts to embed gender transformation:
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Iceland’s Systemic Approach: H.E. María Erla Marelsdóttir, Climate Ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasized the power of institutional change. She highlighted that mandatory gender budgeting has been in place in Iceland at the national level since 2016, leading to greater policy coherence and diverse representation in the energy industry.
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Malawi’s National Action: Fred Simwaka, Government of Malawi, outlined the country’s work to integrate gender as a cross-cutting priority in its National Determined Contributions (NDC) and stressed the need to dismantle cultural barriers that prevent women’s participation and leadership.
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Data and Design: Jane Cohen, Senior Programme Manager – People-Centred Clean Energy Transitions, International Energy Agency (IEA), focused on the persistent challenge of the lack of gender-disaggregated data. She shared compelling examples of how lack of data and women’s participation impacts decision-making and design. For instance, energy-efficient street lighting that failed to address women’s safety concerns, demonstrating that lack of consultation leads to poorly designed policy outcomes.
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Capacity Building in Brazil: Eduarda Zoghbi, Founder of MPower Brasil, brought an empirical perspective, revealing that women in the Brazilian energy sector are often overqualified but held back by challenges such as unequal pay and a self-identified need for stronger public speaking and negotiation skills. This underscores the imperative for capacity building to address systemic confidence and valuation gaps.
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Private Sector Mandates: Marco Serena, Chief Sustainable Impact Officer at the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), confirmed that applying a gender lens is sound business strategy. He detailed how adopting a specific group KPI to advance gender equality successfully increased the share of PIDG investments with deliberate gender features from 30% to over 70%.
The session drew to a powerful close with final remarks delivered by Sophie Westlake, Deputy Director and Head, International Energy Unit, Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, UK Government. She underscored the UK’s strong commitment to the Equal by 30 campaign, the global initiative dedicated to achieving equal pay, equal leadership, and equal opportunities for women in the clean energy sector by 2030. She framed the global discussions as a clear mandate, stressing that the key to accelerating climate action lies in translating these principles into measurable, accountable policy and investment. Her closing remarks affirmed that achieving gender equality in energy is not a peripheral goal, but the essential catalyst that will determine the speed and success of the global transition to a sustainable energy future.
Watch the event here: Nov 12 – Powering Change: Gender-Transformative Climate and Energy Pathways
