A landmark decision on the private generation of electricity was recently made. Businesses are now permitted to generate power of up to 100 megawatts each, without a licence.
Previously, a business was permitted to only generate one megawatt.
The Minerals Council estimates that this development in private electricity generation could lead to investment in new projects worth about R27bn. This was an unprecedented, yet welcomed announcement, considering the impact that the constant electricity blackouts have had on not only us as individuals but businesses and as a consequent, our economy.
The excitement around these changes made me think about the interaction between gender, energy generation, issues to do with climate change and the likes, and the role of women in these spheres, that is, what women stand to benefit in relation to these changes or where they stand generally when it relates to such.
In as much as I would not ordinarily dip into such conversations because they are not my forte, the truth is, if one is to be concerned about the gendered nature of how women experience the world, then nothing is off bounds.
The Carbon Brief states that there are a range of factors such as income, occupation and education, that can affect a person’s vulnerability to the impacts of climate change.
In many countries, women are particularly disadvantaged by these factors due to entrenched social norms and socioeconomic structures.
The entrenched social norms and socioeconomic structures that leave women at the end of the food chain in most, if not all facets of society, means that climate change consequences will be one of the many other things that invariably affect women way more than it will their male counterparts.
Hence gender parity is critical, inequality finds expression in all facets of one’s life.
Therefore, we cannot simply say to women, you are in boardrooms now, BEE prioritises you and we keep it moving. There is a whole lot more work that needs to get done, hence a gendered lense to society is important, because then you are able to see just how much inequality is entrenched, how deep its roots go and how far reaching its consequences go.
Inequality finds breath in almost all facets of women’s interaction with the world. So much so that even that which is not man-made, natural disasters, affects them disproportionately because of their place in society. It is said that countries with a high level of gender inequality generally have a higher vulnerability to the negative impacts of climate change.
Like with all facets, it is for society's benefit that we care about inequality and its consequences on not only women, but on all of us because this inequality regresses our society all together. How many girl children are in fields or study courses that will enable them to fully participate in energy changes and climate-related action? Increasing women’s access to opportunities related to these is critical.
This is not to say women aren’t participants, this is to say they could be participating at a larger scale, that is propelled via access to opportunities that they would ordinarily not have access to. The inclusion of women is beneficial because only then are we aware of how our responses to climate change and the likes, can be better suited for appropriately benefiting women, because who better to know about what women need than women themselves?
Interestingly, writing this, I am reminded of women’s contribution to climate resilience. We all have a story of women in our lives that repurposed a lot of things that would ordinarily lead to pollution or regress our goals for a greener world. All be it; these may be small actions to you and I, but they are smaller contributions that lead to the broader goal.
For instance, I am sure all of us have come across a woman who repurposes ice cream containers, who insists on reusing water that is not too dirty, that throws vegetable peels into a hole for compost, we all saw these actions, we just didn’t have the terms for it, like we do today.
Women have also had to for a long time, make their buck go a long way because they are underpaid but have had to, and continue to, feed multiple people in the household.
And a lot of this, undeniably, is largely done via sustainable ways of living.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.