Why women’s access to clean energy matters: Five reasons we need to act now
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Despite the clear social and economic benefits of sustainable energy, progress remains uneven. Millions of people still lack access to clean and modern energy.
Investing just USD 8 billion a year in clean cooking solutions - energy sources and appliances that produce little or no harmful indoor pollution - could generate more than USD 192 billion in health and time savings for women and girls. By contrast, failing to act could cost the global economy an estimated USD 800 billion.
Women are essential to the clean energy transition, yet their contributions and needs are still too often overlooked.
1. Energy poverty affects women the most
Access to energy is fundamental to gender equality and human rights. It enables women to study, work, run businesses, and access healthcare. Yet, women and girls continue to carry the heaviest burden of energy poverty - the lack of affordable, reliable, and modern energy in the home. It can also increase the risk of gender-based violence and deepen economic exclusion.
In Europe and Central Asia, women living in rural and remote areas, women with disabilities, and those affected by climate change are especially vulnerable, according to the Gender Snapshot for Europe and Central Asia. Limited energy access reduces economic opportunities and increases unpaid care and household work.
“Women typically spend more time at home, so they likely suffer the most from indoor air pollution caused by coal-burning stoves,” says Aiymgul Kerimray, an environmentalist and senior researcher at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in Almaty, Kazakhstan. “Women also need better information about cleaner fuel options and health risks of using polluting fuels for themselves and their children.”
2. In times of crisis, energy can save lives
In Ukraine, access to energy has become a matter of survival. Ongoing attacks on energy infrastructure have caused widespread outages, making electricity essential not only for daily life but also for safety and well-being.
For women from vulnerable groups, including women with disabilities, single mothers, Roma women, and women living with HIV, blackouts can threaten their security, disrupt healthcare, and undermine their dignity.
The attacks also affect women-led organizations. In 2025, 79 per cent of 108 women-led and women’s rights organizations in Ukraine reported major disruptions to their operations. Half have scaled down or suspended at least one programme, with services addressing gender-based violence and women’s economic empowerment facing the deepest cuts.
3. Clean energy can transform women’s lives
Access to clean energy reduces the time women spend on unpaid domestic work and opens doors for education, employment, and entrepreneurship.
Achieving universal access to clean cooking fuels by 2030 would require annual investments of USD 8 billion. The estimated return is USD 192.3 billion through lower healthcare costs, increased productivity, and reduced emissions - roughly 24 times the initial investment.
Yet in 2023, 18 of the 54 UNECE countries1 had not achieved universal access to clean cooking fuels and technologies. Across those countries, an estimated 11,3 million women still relied on polluting fuels for cooking, only a slight improvement from 11,5 million in 20152.
“Transitioning to cleaner fuels empowers women by reducing cooking time and improving health. Understanding how women experience cooking and heating choices can help unlock the benefits of the clean energy transition,” says Aiymgul Kerimray.
4. Women need a bigger role in the green energy workforce
Women remain underrepresented across the energy sector, whether as consumers, entrepreneurs, skilled workers, or decision-makers.
Although women’s participation in renewable energy is growing, they still make up only a small share of the workforce in sectors driving the green transition. In 2023, women held just 12,5 per cent of jobs in utilities, including electricity, gas, water supply, and waste management.
Regional differences are significant. Women represented 27.3 per cent of the utilities workforce in Eastern Europe and 22.7 per cent in the Western Balkans, compared with 12.8 per cent in Türkiye and only 6.8 per cent in Central Asia.
The shift to clean energy could create millions of “green jobs,” but without targeted action, many women risk being left behind.
5. Better data leads to better energy policies
A major barrier to addressing gender inequalities in the energy sector is the lack of gender-sensitive data.
Too often, the challenges women experience in accessing energy remain invisible because they are not measured. Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) is one of only six SDGs without gender-specific indicators, and existing data rarely capture the experiences of different groups of women.
Better data can reveal who benefits from modern energy systems, identify those being left behind, and help governments design energy policies and investments that reduce, not reinforce, existing inequalities.
[1] UNECE region covers member states from Europe, North America, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Western Asia.
[2] Source: UN Women calculations using United Nations Statistics Division database. 2025. Global SDG Indicators Database.
Achieving SDG 7 is about more than expanding access to clean and affordable energy. It is about ensuring that women and girls can fully benefit from, participate in, and help shape the energy transition.
With just four years left until the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development deadline, it is worth asking how much progress has been made - and what challenges remain. Ahead of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, taking place from 7 to 15 July, several goals will be reviewed in-depth, including SDG 7: ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.