Equality in the Energy Transition – Helena Dalli

Europe is currently implementing several interrelated transitions. These include the energy transition, the green transition, and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Transversal to all these and the rest of the work led by this Commission, is the mainstreaming of the principle of equality. Indeed, the achievement of the ‘Union of equality’ hinges on our ability to grapple with the most daunting challenges of our generation, such as the energy transition, and promote equality in the process of tackling them. The urgency of a rapid energy transition was heightened following Russia’s attack on Ukraine. We must ensure, that equality is put at the centre so that no-one is left behind in this process.

The clean energy transition is not merely about changes to our energy systems but also requires the transformation of our economy and society to foster sustainability, resilience, and fairness. Essentially, it constitutes a drive for societal change, and we must foster spaces for women’s leadership. We continue to face several challenges in our endeavours. On the one hand, a wide gender imbalance and a lack of women in decision-making roles in the energy sector, and on the other hand, women are disproportionately affected by energy poverty.

Despite recent progress, the gender dimension remains imbalanced at all levels of the energy sector, including technical and decision-making positions. For instance, women only constituted a quarter of the workforce in the electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply sector in the EU in 2018. The gender divide is slightly less pronounced in the renewable energy sector. Nonetheless, in 2019, women accounted for just 35% of the workforce. Meanwhile, only 7% of leadership positions in the sector were held by women.

A key Commission led initiative for greater parity in decision making is precisely the European law ensuring the inclusion of women on company boards that was adopted last year. The European Commission’s Directive on Gender Balanced Boards requires listed companies to guarantee that women represent at least 40% of their non-executive directors, and at least 33% of all directors by June 2026.

We must also make certain that girls and young women enter all fields of education, free from gendered pathways or structural barriers, and are subsequently encouraged to follow their ambitions in any sector and at any level that they wish to enter and are capable of performing at. This is the reason why we launched an awareness-raising campaign on combatting gender stereotypes.

Economic growth and competitiveness rely on women’s participation and equal recognition of their contributions to the labour market. Since assuming the role of Commissioner for Equality, one of my core missions was to prioritise gender equality and we have made progress thus far.

In December 2022, the Council and the Parliament reached a political agreement mandating pay transparency to address the pay gap between women and men. Equal pay for equal work is one of the EU’s founding principles, yet pay disparities persist. Once implemented, the Pay Transparency Directive will introduce measures to identify gender pay discrimination and make it easier for victims to assert their right to equal pay.

The imbalanced distribution of household and childcare responsibilities among parents can discourage women from pursuing a professional career. It is estimated that 7.7 million women are not in paid work due to the unequal division of care responsibilities and shortages of care facilities. Thus, the Work-Life Balance Directive and the Care Strategy are essential to address these imbalances and provide women with the needed support. We’ve mentioned another significant step which is the Directive on gender balance on corporate boards, which was finally adopted after 10 years of negotiations.

To ensure that women and girls can live free from violence, we ratified the Istanbul Convention, and proposed an EU directive to combat violence against women and domestic violence. We initiated the first round of negotiations with the European Parliament and Council.

As you say, this disparity can be attributed to gender stereotypes whereby science and business, amongst other subjects, are perceived as male domains, while caring professions or those that are physically and mentally demanding are often regarded and presented as suitable for women. This viewpoint inhibits both men and women from pursuing certain career paths. Although in theory there is no such thing as a male or female profession, in practice, career aspirations are distorted by gender stereotypes. Consequently, it’s crucial to counter such stereotypes to attract greater gender balance in all fields.

Our awareness-raising campaign against gender stereotypes plays a crucial role in this effort. The campaign targets gender stereotypes that affect both men and women across all aspects of life, including work-life balance, career choices, and opportunities for leadership positions. The objective is to highlight these stereotypes in everyday situations, encouraging people to reconsider their attitudes while presenting new role models.

I was delighted to see Claudia Goldin awarded the Nobel Prize for Economic Science for her research on women’s participation and congratulate Anne L’Huillier for her Nobel Prize in Physics. Both are among the few women who have ever been awarded these prizes in their respective fields and will undoubtedly inspire a new generation of women scientists. After all, as businesses and societies, we reach our full potential only when we fully utilise all our talent pool.

Gender mainstreaming is a fundamental tool for effectively advancing gender equality across all areas of policy, including energy. This concept is a key principle of the Gender Equality Strategy.

The Commission’s approach pursues a dual method of gender mainstreaming combined with targeted actions, underpinned by the principle of intersectionality, that is, attention to other characteristics on which women may be discriminated such as their ethic origin or age. This initiative is supported by the first-ever Commission Taskforce on Equality, directed by the Commission’s General Secretariat, with designated Equality Coordinators in each of the Commission’s services, as well as in the European External Action Service.

When I entered politics at the age of sixteen, it was dominated by men. There were very few female role models to look up to and to be inspired by. This meant that I have had to adapt references in my argumentation in a way that resonated with my colleagues, and had to do with gendered perspectives that men did not have to face, such as following the birth of their child. Had it not been for my mother’s availability to support us with family responsibilities, I would have likely faced even more significant difficulties.

As a Minister in Malta, I promoted various family support structures such as, universal public childcare services. As an EU Commissioner along with colleagues we presented a European Care Strategy with recommendations on long-term care and on childcare. This, to make sure services are available for those who need them and to support caregivers.

I stayed true to the sense of justice, equality and empowerment with which I entered politics.