Learning from the frontrunners? The gender just energy policy assessment of Rwanda and Sweden

The search for a just energy policy is central within the literature on energy justice, which is used as a concept, an analytical tool and a decision-making framework. Gender analysis provides insights in the heterogeneity of social inequalities and understanding of the intersectionality of the energy user as well as creating spaces for women’s voices not to be ignored. The gender just energy policy framework juxtaposes the three main energy justice tenets (distributional, recognition and procedural) with the three main engendering policy approaches (women empowerment, gender mainstreaming and social inclusion) (Feenstra and Ozerol, 2021). The framework has both a conceptual and analytical function and will be developed as a decision-making tool. The framework defines 12 criteria reflecting the energy consumption, energy production and energy governance identifying opportunities and barriers for a gender just energy transition. This paper contributes to the energy justice debate by assessing the energy policy in Rwanda and Sweden using the gender just energy policy framework. Rwanda and Sweden are selected as case studies for this comparative discourse analysis because both countries are in the top five of the Global Gender Equality Index and are used as best practice examples of gender-mainstreaming in policy. The question we seek to answer is to what extent are the energy policy of Rwanda and Sweden gender just. Insights in how these two countries address inequalities and injustices in their energy policy, could contribute in the quest for a just energy transition in other countries. Sweden has a long-standing tradition and track record in gender policy with a feminist government. In international collaboration, Sweden initiates and funds many gender mainstreaming programmes in the Global South energy sector. But how gender just is Swedish domestic energy policy? In the aftermath of the genocide, the Rwandan government placed justice and equality as the leading principles in all policy areas. Gender equality receives high political commitment with the establishment of the Gender Monitor Officer. This institute is independent of government acting as the main political driver for ensuring social inclusion and gender mainstreaming in the Rwandan energy sector. The Rwandan government involved the Gender Monitor Officer in their energy transition policies to more sustainable and cleaner energy sources. The Rwandan case study provides valuable insights into how a governance model can include gender to ensure distributive, recognitional and procedural energy justice. This paper makes a conceptual contribution in terms of presenting a framework that integrates energy justice and gender discourses to evaluate energy policy. Furthermore, we operationalise the conceptual framework to analyse and assess current energy policy developments in Rwanda and Sweden. We use mixed methods combining policy evaluation based on the conceptual framework with stakeholder interviews to understand the reasoning behind the policy. The paper is part of a comparative research project on gender and energy together with Chalmers University (Sweden) and University Twente (Netherlands) funded by the International Energy Agency Users TCP task gender and energy.