Committed to fostering and boosting the inclusion and participation of women at all levels in the energy sector in the world, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE) through the Women Energize Women (WEW) communication initiative, part of the bilateral global project of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) “Bilateral Energy Partnerships and Dialogues”, successfully organized on May 12th, 2022 the first conference “Women Energize Women” in Munich, Germany.
The conference was attended by female professional speakers and experts from the energy sector from more than 20 countries to dialogue about energy and gender through various workshops, forums and panel discussions.
The topics that were addressed were the Energiewende, the urgent problems faced by the energy transition, energy dependence, energy security and external energy policies, all from a gender mainstreaming approach. As well as issues such as women’s participation in job interviews and women’s access to financing and education were addressed.
As representatives of the host organizations of the conference is the Director General for Climate Policy at the BMWK, Birgit Schwenk, who mentioned that the role of women who are driving the transformation in the energy sector has been minimized for a long time, so it is necessary to remove the barriers that obstruct women’s professional prospects and make their voices heard in the respective international forums.
For her part, Ingrid-Gabriela Hoven, member of the GIZ Board of Directors, affirmed that the global energy transition needs greater participation of women; likewise, Dr. Simone Peter, President of the BEE, argued that it is necessary to combine the reference framework for the energy transition with strategies for the promotion of diversity and gender equality.
From Mexico, with the support of the German – Mexican Energy Partnership (EP), the Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET) program and the Women in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Network (REDMEREE), a delegation of five Mexican professional women was supported to attend the conference and participate in a study tour that same week.
Among the participants were: Mariana Limón Rugerio, freelance journalist; Claudia Amelia Solera Peña, journalist for Excelsior and Grupo Imagen; Jessica Ximena Cantú Saavedra, Sustainability and Energy Efficiency Consultant; Alejandra Xóchitl Cruz Bayer, Project Manager of DGRV Mexico and Aideé Zamora Espinola, Co-founder and CEO of Grupo AMERALI.
The conference “Women Energize Women” promotes not only the inclusion and participation of women in the energy sector but also that women have a greater participation in leadership positions from which decisions are made that affect many people, for this reason, ideas are presented regarding the importance of women being present as leaders in the energy sector.
To learn more about the initiative: https://www.womenenergize.org
To watch the full conference:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN-Kh-7WNNA&list=PLqOhibgBIEOFKvfVV2TLt57ZOZuaR-el4
#WomenEnergize #WomenConference #GenderEquality #Energy
Contact: Carolina Guerrero (mariana.guerrerorivera(at)giz.de)
