Female, male, sustainable - genanet - Leitstelle GENDER ...

16
HIGHLIGHTS
“Renewable energy has come of age – were women just good enough to nurture it in its infancy?”
genanet at the International Conference for Renewable Energies
“Renewable energy has come of age – were women just
good enough to nurture it in its infancy?” This question
was asked in 1994 by a woman wind power expert, Rosemarie
Rübsamen. During the early debates on renewable
energy, women were at the forefront – particularly in local
initiatives against nuclear energy. However, as renewable
energy became more established, more traditional patterns
prevailed.
Even though genanet is active primarily in Germany,
it is also involved in the international arena, such as
the International Conference for Renewable Energies
(renewables2004), which took place in Bonn 2004.
Which aspects of renewable energy are gender sensitive?
How can the interests of both women and men be met
better in this subject area? Taking a closer look at the
Conference, further specific questions came up: What
was the proportion of women to men at renewables2004?
A conference can only be conceptualised in a genderequitable
way if there is a relatively balanced ratio of
women and men in all planning, considerations of content
and presentations. It also requires that gender experts are
included and consulted. Joining forces with other experts,
genanet already advocated on these issues during the
preliminary stages of preparations for the Conference.
It was a success that on the International Steering Committee,
there were 28 per cent women, an unusually high
number in the energy sector, though on the National
Advisory Committee, the proportion of women was only
18 per cent. genanet established definitive benchmarks
for the content of the conference by issuing a thematic
background paper titled “Gender Equity and Renewable
Energies”, and by its involvement in the Multi-Stakeholder-
Dialogue via the Stakeholder Group “Women”.
renewables2004
renewables2004 dealt with one central issue:
How can the share of modern renewable energy
be significantly increased in industrial and
developing nations and how can renewables’
potentials and advantages be harnessed more
effectively? 3.600 participants came to Bonn,
among them government delegations with ministers
of energy, environment and development,
as well as representatives of the United Nations
and other international organisations, nongovernmental
organisations, civil society and
the private sector.