Gender Dimensions of a Just Transition

Gender Dimensions of a Just Transition

Webinar on 7^th March 2022, 15:00 pm Central European Time, 9:00 am Eastern Time Zone, 1.5 hours

Organizers: Wuppertal Institut for climate, environment and energy, CoalExit, TRAJECTS

Moderation: Jenny Kurwan (Wuppertal Institut)

Language: English and Spanish (simultaneous translation)

Speakers: Marius Koepchen (Europa-Universität Flensburg, Germany), Paula Walk (Europa Universität Flensburg-Germany), Óscar Vargas and Lorena López (Red de Iniciativas Comunitarias, Colombia), Franziska Stölzel (F wie Kraft Lausitz, Germany), Gabe Schwartzman (University of Minnesota, USA)

The phase-out of coal-fired power generation urgently needs to be accelerated to ensure that there is still a chance of meeting the 1.5 degree target agreed under the Paris agreement. Under the term of a just transition the understanding that the phase-out of coal should take place in a way that is as fair as possible for all social groups is becoming increasingly important. Yet, the group most often thought of are male workers in the coal industry. The exit from coal, however, has much more far-reaching consequences in the affected regions. In order to achieve a just transition for all people, it is important to consider not only male coal workers but also how women and other genders might be affected – positively as well as negatively – by the phase-out and the structural change process. The webinar discusses the following questions: How are women differently affected by coal mining and the coal phase-out than men? To what extent is the coal industry linked to traditional masculinity? What policy recommendations are there for a gender-equitable transition?

After a short introduction about the importance of gendered structures in structural change processes by Paula Walk and Marius Koepchen, the webinar looks at three case studies from Colombia, Germany and the USA. Óscar Vargas and Lorena López who currently wrote a book together with local indigenous women in Colombian coal regions, look at gendered impacts of coal extraction and show how a gender-just transition could be designed in Colombia. Franziska Stölzel is involved with the organisation "F wie Kraft", which works for a gender-equitable structural change in the German coal region Lusatia. The question of how structural change policies can be designed in a gender-responsive way is currently particularly relevant in Germany because the country has earmarked 40 billion euros by 2038 for structural change policies in the coal regions. Gabe Schwartzman is researcher and expert on the Appalachian coal region in the USA. In particular, he focuses on how the decline of the coal industry, which is linked to traditional notions of masculinity, is affecting the region and its gender perceptions.  

The seminar is aimed in particular at practitioners and aims to present policy recommendations for a gender-equitable transition.

The implementation of this webinar has been supported by the Strategic Partnerships for the Implementation of the Paris Agreement (SPIPA) project, managed by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and co-funded by the European Union and the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMU). For more information on the SPIPA project "Just Transition Toolbox for Coal Regions" please visit our project homepage. The implementation of the Webinar was also supported by TRAJECTS. The Transnational Centre for Just Transitions in Energy, Climate and Sustainability (TRAJECTS) is one of the four DAAD-funded Global Climate and Environment Centres. Its aim is to support and strengthen transcontinental exchange, research, and education on transitions towards a sustainable future.