As the world faces both the immediate threats and long-term impact of climate change, data shows that women and children are already the most affected. Globally, eight in 10 climate refugees are women. And they are exponentially more likely to die in natural disasters. Despite this, women are still too few and far between in the places and roles where they can make a difference in helping chart a clean energy future.
There are far too few women in boardrooms, senior management roles and technical jobs in the energy sector. This is despite the recent momentum behind gender equality and all the work that has been done by the international community around the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 5: achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls.
When it comes to renewable energy – perhaps more than any other sector – the case for involving more women in the workforce that will shape the way we live in the years ahead could not be clearer: it means an enhanced and accelerated capability to fight against climate change. On International Women's Day 2021, the UN's theme – "choose to challenge" – is timely and relevant for our industry. Now is the time for all of us, men and women, to choose to challenge the status quo of every industry.
Read More from Nawal Al-Hosany
Today, women comprise 52 per cent of the world’s population. Yet, according to Unesco data, seven in 10 science researchers are men. And women hold only 32 per cent of jobs in the renewable energy industry. This narrative of under-representation runs through vital industries: just three per cent of new enrollments in information technology courses and five per cent in mathematics are women. And the percentage of women in careers associated with science, technology, engineering and mathematics hover around the 25 per cent mark, according to research from the World Economic Forum. If we continue along this trajectory, we will keep creating a world that favours one gender over another.
Moreover, according to the latest annual PricewaterhouseCoopers' Women in Work Index, women were more likely than men to lose their jobs in 17 of the 24 rich countries where unemployment rose in 2020. The report, which looked at 33 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's club of "rich nations", said progress towards gender equality at work would not begin to recover until 2022. That is too long a wait.
There are plenty of warning signs surrounding this current and projected state of affairs. We only need to look at recent examples of technology development and engineering to see the dangers of these fields being dominated by one gender. In 2019, it was officially announced in a report released at the International Transport Forum in Germany that women are more likely to be injured or worse in motor vehicle accidents than men.
Why? Because for years, research and development teams in the automotive industry consisted almost entirely of men, and they produced crash test dummies that represented the average man. It stands to reason that the way a man’s and a woman’s body reacts under a high-speed crash is totally different, and the female experience is forgotten in the mass planning, design and development of technologies and products that are used by everyone and not just one gender. This exclusion of women from a vital industry has set the course of safety design for decades.
We cannot afford to set a similar precedent with renewable energy, especially given the context that 80 per cent of climate refugees are women, and they are also the ones most likely to be affected by a lack of access to energy. We must champion an industry that is designed and delivered by a workforce representative of the world that will eventually use what it is producing – that is, everyone on the planet.
For us, energy action goes hand-in-hand with gender equality
The renewable energy sector is charged with creating the conditions for the world once it has transitioned to clean energy. Imagining what that world looks like and how its people interact cannot be done by men alone – we need experiences and perspectives from all sides of the spectrum. That should go without saying. The point is all the more urgent considering that by 2050, our planet will be home to more than nine billion people, one billion of whom, it is forecast, might not be able to afford any source of energy.
Not only is it our moral imperative to right the course of history when it comes to female representation, it’s in our socio-economic interests to harness the talents of all women and close the gender gap, too.
An example from the mid-1900s makes this point clear. In the UK in the 1960s, the standard indoor temperature for working offices was based on the metabolic rate of the average man. It was only recently that a study out of the Netherlands found that the metabolic rate of women performing the same office work as men is significantly lower – up to 35 per cent. And so, for half a century, women have been working in office conditions where the regulated temperature is five degrees too cold for them to work at their optimum. As well as the obvious, this is bad business management: when has an unsettled workforce ever been productive?
If we are to create a more equitable future powered by sources of clean energy that are designed for the benefit of all, then we must continue choosing to challenge the conditions and perceptions of the status quo until we reach a balance – in renewable energy and other vital sectors.
Working with the global community, as we do at the International Renewable Energy Agency, consistently throughout the year on this issue, and many more, is essential to making continuous progress. In the UAE, we are championing this year’s upcoming High-Level Dialogue on Energy, with a particular emphasis on the third of the event’s themes: energy action to advance other SDGs. For us, energy action goes hand-in-hand with gender equality – a case we will continue to make in the build-up to the event in New York in September, and well beyond.
Dr Nawal Al-Hosany is a permanent representative of the UAE to the International Renewable Energy Agency
MATCH INFO
Syria v Australia
2018 World Cup qualifying: Asia fourth round play-off first leg
Venue: Hang Jebat Stadium (Malacca, Malayisa)
Kick-off: Thursday, 4.30pm (UAE)
Watch: beIN Sports HD
* Second leg in Australia scheduled for October 10
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20profile%20
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MATCH INFO
FA Cup final
Chelsea 1
Hazard (22' pen)
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface
Company%20profile
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
Off-roading in the UAE: How to checklist
About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
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Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
UAE squad
Ali Kashief, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdelrahman, Mohammed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Mohmmed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammad Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Eisa, Mohammed Shakir, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Adel Al Hosani, Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah), Waleed Abbas, Ismail Al Hammadi, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai) Habib Fardan, Tariq Ahmed, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Mahrami (Baniyas)
FA Cup quarter-final draw
The matches will be played across the weekend of 21 and 22 March
Sheffield United v Arsenal
Newcastle v Manchester City
Norwich v Derby/Manchester United
Leicester City v Chelsea
About Seez
Company name/date started: Seez, set up in September 2015 and the app was released in August 2017
Founder/CEO name(s): Tarek Kabrit, co-founder and chief executive, and Andrew Kabrit, co-founder and chief operating officer
Based in: Dubai, with operations also in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon
Sector: Search engine for car buying, selling and leasing
Size: (employees/revenue): 11; undisclosed
Stage of funding: $1.8 million in seed funding; followed by another $1.5m bridge round - in the process of closing Series A
Investors: Wamda Capital, B&Y and Phoenician Funds
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Land between Two Rivers: Writing in an Age of Refugees
Tom Sleigh, Graywolf Press
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
Champion%20v%20Champion%20(PFL%20v%20Bellator)
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Villains
Queens of the Stone Age
Matador
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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WRESTLING HIGHLIGHTS
Moral education needed in a 'rapidly changing world'
Moral education lessons for young people is needed in a rapidly changing world, the head of the programme said.
Alanood Al Kaabi, head of programmes at the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Price Court - Abu Dhabi, said: "The Crown Price Court is fully behind this initiative and have already seen the curriculum succeed in empowering young people and providing them with the necessary tools to succeed in building the future of the nation at all levels.
"Moral education touches on every aspect and subject that children engage in.
"It is not just limited to science or maths but it is involved in all subjects and it is helping children to adapt to integral moral practises.
"The moral education programme has been designed to develop children holistically in a world being rapidly transformed by technology and globalisation."
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Results
6.30pm: Madjani Stakes Group 2 (PA) Dh97,500 (Dirt) 1,900m, Winner: RB Frynchh Dude, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,400m, Winner: Mnasek, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson.
7.40pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Grand Dubai, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 2,200m, Winner: Meqdam, Sam Hitchcock, Doug Watson.
8.50pm: Dubai Creek Mile Listed (TB) Dh132,500 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Thegreatcollection, Pat Cosgrave, Doug Watson.
9.25pm: Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (D) 1,900m, Winner: Sanad Libya, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
10pm: Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (D) 1,400m, Winner: Madkhal, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.
Meydan card
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (PA) Group 1 US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.05pm: Conditions (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
7.40pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (TB) $100,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,200m
8.50pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (TB) Group 2 $350,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,900m
10pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m
Pakistan World Cup squad
Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abid Ali, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez(subject to fitness), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Junaid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain
Two additions for England ODIs: Mohammad Amir and Asif Ali
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Palestine and Israel - live updates
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar