Drivers of Integrating Gender into Energy Policy Design: A Comparative Discourse Analysis

Injustice and unequal access to energy efficiency policies is one of the reasons of the so-called ‘Matthew-effect’ of energy transition; those who can afford to invest in energy efficiency benefit from such policies, whereas the poor stay in energy poverty. Social inequalities and energy justice are two key emerging streams in the energy policy literature. The search for a just energy policy is central in the literature on energy justice, which is used as a concept, an analytical tool and a decision-making framework. Energy justice is based on three principles: distributional, recognition and procedural justice. Within the literature stream on social inequalities, gender has been a core concept in the analysis of social inequalities regarding the design, implementation and evaluation of energy policies. Based on the historical development of the gender and energy policy nexus, three major discourses are discerned: empowerment, gender mainstreaming and social inclusion. All these discourses identify engendering a policy as process, and have a common goal, which is to develop a policy that acknowledges the gendered difference of needs and interests. This paper aims to advance the understanding on the gender-energy nexus of energy efficiency policies by building on these two separate, yet interrelated, streams of literature. We develop an analytical framework through incorporating the engendering processes in energy policy (empowerment, gender mainstreaming and social inclusion) and the energy justice principles (distributional, recognition and procedural justice). The framework juxtaposes the three engendering processes on one axis of a three-by-three matrix and the three principles of energy justice on the other. This paper aims to create empirical evidence based on the a comparative analysis of current energy poverty and gender policy discourses. We apply the framework in six case studies: three from the Global North (UK, NL, Spain) and three from the Global South (Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda). Aim of the research is not only to test the developed framework on gender and energy justice, but also to identify drivers of integrating gender into energy policy design.