Leveraging women’s skills in the energy sector

Copyright: picture alliance / Zoonar / Aleksandr Khakimullin

Date: Thursday 13 June 2024, 12:00 - 14:00
Venue: FES EU Brussels Office, Rue du Taciturne 38, 1000 Bruxelles
Format: expert discussion
Language: English

The event took place in person.

It is clear that energy transition accelerates demand for labour and creates jobs in the energy sector. However, if there is no skilled workforce to fulfill those jobs then we are clearly facing a bottleneck. Correspondingly, as the deployment of renewable energy is advancing, so does the need for skilled workers to support the shift in our energy system. What is equally relevant to highlight is that energy transition creates space for bringing more women on board, by offering meaningful job opportunities and career advancements.

Therefore, including more women in the technical, scientific, and business development of the renewable energy sector is of critical importance and the EU has put in place several initiatives in this sense. For example, the most recent EU Net Zero Industry Act highlights the need to introduce measures to boost the integration and activation of more people in the labour market, notably women. Furthermore, the European Pact for Skills in the renewable energy sector acknowledges the issue of underrepresentation: "Women only accounted for 32% of the workforce in the renewables sector in 2019. Attracting more women to clean energy-related jobs and retaining them in technical and STEM fields would fill vacancies while including women." And last but not least, the European Year of Skills also debated how to address the skills gap from the gender perspective.

It is undeniable that women play a vital role in energy transition. We all know that. Nevertheless, how do we move beyond this point of acknowledgment? In practical terms, what is still needed to see the change on the ground? These are the key points to be addressed in this expert discussion.

Programme:

11:45 - registration, coffee and sandwiches

12:00 – 13:15 – expert discussion with:

• Tim Van Rie, Policy Officer, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission
• Corinna Zierold, Head of Just Transition Coordination at IndustriAll
• Carmen Magdalena Oprea, Policy Officer, DG ENER, European Commission
• Katarina Muse, Manager, Regions & Skills at Hydrogen Europe, member of the “Women in Green Hydrogen" network (WiGH)

Moderator: Stephan Thalhofer, Policy Advisor at FES Just Climate

13:15 – 14:00 – Q&A with audience

If you have any questions about the event, please contact Reghina.Dimitrisina(at)fes.de and about the logistics, please contact Silke.Lang(at)fes.de