Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Added29. Reiterates its calls on the Commission, Eurostat and the Member States to further develop and improve the collection of gender-disaggregated and intersectional data, statistics, research and analysis, as this is the only way to ensure that specific situations are not overlooked and serve as basis for informed policymaking;

30. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to request gender-disaggregated data on energy poverty from Eurostat; calls, in this respect, on the EU Energy Poverty Observatory to use such data to develop and select gender-specific indicators that would allow evidence-based policy development in that area, in consultation with the European Institute for Gender Equality, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and the European Environment Agency;

Change 6

Removed9. Calls on the Commission to require the Member States to conduct gender impact assessments in national energy and climate plans, including when reporting on energy poverty;

Added31. Believes that Member States should make more effort to include gender-disaggregated data in their national building renovation plans in order to better target policies and measures;

Added32. Underlines the importance of fostering continuous gender-sensitive research and innovation in the renewable electricity industry;

Added33. Calls for the Member States and the EU to urgently ensure affordable utilities for women-led SMEs, in particular, for those facing intersectional discrimination; recognises that female driven enterprises and local enterprises with a high percentage of women workers are often a vital part of the production of essential goods; stresses that women entrepreneurs should not assume a disproportionate burden of economic speculation and be granted equal access to the opportunities the green transition offers, while mitigating its unequal impact;

Added34. Stresses that the principles of equal treatment and gender mainstreaming should lie at the core of the ‘energy efficiency first principle’ and be reflected in policy, planning and investment decisions;

Towards a gender-inclusive green transition

Change 7

Changed10.35. Recalls that thea just green transition is necessary to avoid severe future crises and increased poverty; recalls, furthermore, that the green transition will only be socially fair if it includes a gender perspective and guarantees equal opportunities for women and those experiencing intersectional discrimination;discrimination as well as their meaningful inclusion in the policymaking process; calls, therefore, on the Commission to appoint an EU gender and climate coordinator with sufficient staff and funding, and to introduce gender impact assessments in all EU policies and legislation, in particular in European Green Deal initiatives;

Change 8

Removed11. Stresses that women have a strategic role to play in the green transition, as they are key actors in the development of sustainable and ecologically sound consumption and production patterns, as well as in business and policymaking;

Added36. Recalls that extending access to green energy and promoting its affordability is central to achieving a more inclusive and sustainable development; recognises how rapidly falling renewable energy technology costs and new business models offer energy solutions that hold great promise to accelerate sustainable energy access for women in all their diversity;

Removed12. Deplores the fact that women are significantly under-represented in key policymaking positions on climate change and the environment, and calls for the EU and the Member States to ensure equal and diverse representation in decision-making positions across the EU institutions, government bodies and public authorities at all governance levels;

Added37. Stresses that women have a strategic and beneficial role to play in the green transition as they are key actors in the development of sustainable and ecologically sound consumption and production patterns as well as in business and policymaking at all levels; highlights the immediate need to recognise their potential in fostering sustainable energy and to contribute towards the achievement of multiple SDGs;

Removed13. Calls on the Commission to reduce the gender gap in the energy sector and to ensure that women have equal access to training courses on energy efficiency and to emerging job opportunities in the energy sector;

Added38. Regrets that according to the UN, the potential of women as entrepreneurs in the energy sector is underutilised; calls on the Commission to support female sustainable-energy entrepreneurs and on Member States to close the existing gender gaps and to improve their access to information, technology, goods and services, markets and finance particularly by strengthening traditional and innovative financial intermediation services such as integrated web-based platforms;

Added39. Commends local/national governments or private companies that are putting great efforts into addressing the social, economic dimensions of energy poverty and would urge them to continue this work by incorporating a gender perspective wherever possible and ensuring that the language/communication used is gender inclusive and offered in Braille to those who need it;

Added40. Deplores the fact that women are significantly under-represented in key policymaking positions on climate change, the energy transition and the environment, and calls for the EU and the Member States for positive action measures such as temporary quotas to ensure equal and diverse representation in decision-making positions across the EU institutions, government bodies and public authorities at all governance levels and associated public bodies; calls on the Member States to promote the meaningful participation of women in gender-responsive planning, policies and programmes, including its fiscal planning and to ensure that such policies take into account the differential impacts of climate change and energy crises on women and men;

Added41. Notes that in order to ensure that the EU’s workforce is fully prepared to actively work towards the achievement of its climate objectives, Member States should aim to reduce the gender disparity in the construction and building sector, including through their national energy and climate plans;

Added42. Welcomes the fact that, as the leading environmental and gender equality agencies in the United Nations system, UNEP and UN Women have joined forces to develop a Global Programme to promote Women’s Entrepreneurship for sustainable energy; calls on the Commission and relevant EU agencies to take note of this programme and promote similar sustainable entrepreneurial energy objectives within the EU;

Added43. Underlines that digital technology and platforms are becoming key in the overall process of providing education and training for women and girls as well as in many work selection processes; regrets the negative impacts of unequal access to technology, which may hinder the development of women’s and girls’ digital literacy and calls on the Commission to ensure that women and girls in all their diversity, including single women and elderly women and those women living in rural areas, inland areas and areas at high risk of depopulation are not disproportionately affected by energy poverty;

Added44. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to reduce the gender gap in the energy sector by tackling the under-representation of women in STEAM careers and to ensure that women have equal access to vocational training courses and awareness-raising courses in STEAM subjects including those on energy efficiency and sufficiency and to create a positive link between acquiring knowledge and developing skills essential for emerging job opportunities in the digital and green transition;

Added45. Recognises that the ultimate objectives of inclusion, equality and achieving gender balance in the energy sector remain unmet; calls on the respective education authorities within Member States to particularly encourage girls to take an interest in the energy sector by fighting gender stereotypes in educational choices and to foster their confidence about possessing the needed skills to become employees, innovators and pioneers in the energy sector;

Added46. Stresses that the energy sector is one of the most gender imbalanced industries in the EU, with women accounting only for 24 % labour force, as well as regarding its occupational and hierarchical gender segregation; calls on private and public energy companies to eradicate any form of discrimination on a gender basis or any other grounds as set out in Article 21 CFREU; stresses the need to fight against the persistence of structural gender inequalities that perpetuates the obstacles to entry and retention of workforce in the energy sector, including respecting and promoting the use of maternity and paternity rights; underlines that energy companies which promote equality represent more appealing working environments for all their employees and potential employees;

Added47. Welcomes the initiatives promoting women to become solar, wind power, geothermal and hydroelectric energy entrepreneurs, as this benefits the women involved as well as the wider community, and calls on the Member States to identify any barriers that prevent women working in these sectors; calls on private companies within the energy sector to ensure that solar, wind power, geothermal and hydroelectric energy technology, and its female innovators, are empowered to support the energy transition;

Added48. Notes the Commission’s key objectives within its EU solar energy strategy, which seeks to make EU solar energy systems more competitive and resilient; recognises how solar, wind power, geothermal and hydroelectric energy is giving more women access to energy, particularly in rural areas; highlights the need to integrate women’s safety concerns in relation to the use of lighting when designing and planning urban and mobility policies in view of promoting public spaces that are safe and free of harassment;

▸4 unchanged paragraphs

49. Calls on the Commission and the Council to commit to gender budgeting and to ensure that it is applied to the entire EU budget, and that the European Court of Auditor’s recommendations are fully implemented, including in the mid-term review of the current multiannual financial framework and the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility;

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50. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.