Context
Pakistan is one of the lowest contributors to global climate change but has consistently ranked in the top ten most vulnerable countries to it. In Pakistan, climate change impacts labour productivity and sustainable livelihoods. Climatic events trigger human displacement, negatively impact the health of the population, and affect economic growth.
With the rising population, economic growth, and changing patterns of consumption, the country is experiencing increased energy demand alongside a rise in GHG emissions from the energy sector. Here, women are more affected as a result of numerous barriers to economic advancement as well as exclusion from climate change decision-making and planning. One way to curtail these impacts is to transition toward a green economy model, which is linked strongly with new forms of employment in sectors based on sustainable resource management. Green jobs are those that contribute to environmental sustainability. Specifically, this includes jobs that help to protect ecosystems and biodiversity, reduce energy and water consumption through high efficiency strategies, and minimize or altogether avoid generation of all forms of waste and pollution.
With respect to women, Pakistan ranked 151 out of 153 countries on the Global Gender Gap Index Report 2020, with its Human Development Index 25% lower for women compared to men. Although gender is prioritised in the National Policy for Development and Empowerment of Women (2002), Gender Reform Action Plan (2005), and Vision 2025, significant gaps persist in Pakistan’s SDG National Framework, including a lack of baseline data, clear intervention targets, and attention to intersections between SDG5 (gender equality) and SDG7 (energy access).
CTCN Support
The overall objective of the technical assistance is to encourage green entrepreneurial spirit in Pakistan, with a specific focus on clean and renewable energy and its potential co-benefits with an emphasis on gender. This will involve capacity building, formulating course outlines on how green entrepreneurship can be successful, and training youth and educating them about the green economy across clean energy, tourism, and disaster mitigation mechanisms. This will require trainer recruitment, capacity building mechanisms, and a technological reporting mechanism that will allow the Ministry of Climate Change to track developments of this initiative and allow it to build and increase scalability. This request is for collaboration between CTCN (for mainstreaming climate resilience) and Pakistan’s Ministry of Climate Change.
There will be between 6 and 7 sites identified (one site in each province and associated areas in Pakistan) where the following activities will be implemented: gender inclusive policy support and development; a review of energy relevant policies; capacity building and gender audits in the energy sector; knowledge management, awareness and advocacy; investment promotion and business development; and the development of gender-responsive project screening tools including a technological reporting mechanism, similar to a dashboard, that the Ministry of Climate Change and relevant ministries will have access to. This will include the design of a monitoring and reporting framework with baseline established focused on gender mainstreaming in the energy sector, or even more focused on the textile sector.
Expected Impact
The technical assistance will contribute to changing expectations around gender roles and responsibilities, enabling access to greater resources through information sharing and skills training; additional fora to ensure the practical and strategic needs of women are voiced and increased women’s public sector participation in energy-related technical fields and decision-making positions; ensuring that all energy policies, programmes and initiatives are non-discriminatory, gender-inclusive, gender-balanced and directed towards addressing inequalities, particularly energy poverty, differentially affecting men and women in the region; determining the right scale and scope of intervention through gender disaggregated data on energy access in energy provision programmes and processes to target urban/rural women’s specific energy needs; developing appropriate M&E techniques for culturally sensitive modes of data collection; designing, targeting and implementing interventions that are gender-sensitive; tailoring community-based energy solutions, enabling ministries of energy and electric utilities to partner with local small and medium energy enterprises and NGOs to work with off-grid communities.
