Just transitions demand women’s leadership in clean energy 

Access to electricity and clean cooking fuel is not just about infrastructure. It is a foundation for women’s education, employment, entrepreneurship and leadership. Yet the pace of electrification halved from 2020 to 2024 compared to the previous decade, and stagnated at 92 per cent in 2024. An estimated 655 million people, including 326 million women and girls, still lived without it[1]. The number of women and girls with no electricity has remained between 300 million and 400 million since 2018, reflecting how electrification has failed to keep pace with population growth[2]. In 2024, a quarter of the global population, including 1.5 billion rural residents, relied primarily on unclean cooking fuels and technologies for cooking. While a lack of electricity affects all dimensions of development, indoor air pollution caused by cooking fuels and technologies most directly affect women and girls as they are typically responsible for preparing food. Exposure to related household air pollution caused an estimated 1.43 million premature deaths among women in 2021, with ischaemic heart disease accounting for the largest share (27.9 per cent), followed by stroke (24.0 per cent).

A clean energy transition must be a gender responsive just transition. This includes prioritizing local energy access. Yet recent funding cuts have delivered a sharp setback to the renewable energy sector and off-grid solutions critical to reaching those furthest behind. The Power Africa Off-grid Programme, which mobilized USD 1.2 billion in investment and established 7.2 million new electricity connections, shut down at the end of 2023[3]. Non-governmental organizations focused on off-grid and community-based energy programmes have the highest female representation in the energy sector, at approximately 35 per cent, yet depend heavily on diminishing development assistance[4]. Sustained investment in them will be critical to narrowing the electrification gap, expanding renewable and clean energy access, and supporting an inclusive energy transition led by women.