This post was originally published on the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Right Website in July 2024.
By Marine Cornelis
The energy sector remains the main culprit in climate change, responsible for almost three-quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions. A low-carbon future – known as “decarbonization” – requires interweaving with the other three drivers of the energy transition: decentralization (producing closer to people), digitization (using technology to monitor electricity flows), and democratization.
Democratizing the energy transition puts people at the center. It shows that the path to net-zero encompasses more than technological advances and policy changes. It’s about reshaping power dynamics, ensuring equitable access, and recognizing the diversity of needs and contributions. Therefore, in a sector that has historically suffered from a lack of diversity (with women accounting for just 22% of its workforce), democratization requires the recognition of a wider range of possibilities for action, the involvement of stakeholders, and the valuing of diversified experiences and viewpoints. This essay explores the current state of democratization in the energy transition, highlighting challenges and best practices from a feminist and intersectional perspective.
The current situation
At the heart of democratizing the energy transition lies the principle of inclusivity. Historically, energy systems where one utility produced centrally with fossil fuels and distributed to different communities marginalized certain groups, such as ethnic minorities, women, or people with disabilities, leading to disparities in access to and control over energy. Even today, women belonging to ethnic minorities, such as the Dalits and Adivasis in India, are particularly at risk of spending their lives in energy poverty.
The rise of renewable energy technologies offers a unique opportunity to rectify these imbalances. The decentralization of production, thanks to the production of (clean) electricity as close as possible to where it is consumed, offers the opportunity for greater citizen participation in decision-making processes (for example, local self-consumption generally means deciding collectively where to install solar panels useful to the community). And the resulting democratization refers to the intersectional process of making sustainable energy accessible and beneficial to all members of society, regardless of socioeconomic status, gender, race, ability, or location. This approach, therefore, recognizes energy not only as a commodity but also as a fundamental right and an integral part of human dignity and social justice.
Citizen-centered energy cooperatives, one of the forms that “energy communities” can take, are an excellent example of how community-based approaches can boost the social dimension of the energy transition, combating energy poverty while fostering local engagement. In energy cooperatives, stakeholders collaborate to produce and consume all or part of the energy produced, thus becoming prosumers. Today, there are over 10,500 such cooperatives in Europe, and this figure could rise to 64 million households by 2050. The European regulatory framework now confers on energy cooperatives a relevant role in achieving the objectives of reducing energy poverty. Indeed, although these activities are characterized by an economic dimension, the primary aim of energy communities is not just to maximize economic profit but to bring environmental and social benefits to the community. Producing energy together becomes a pretext for forging social ties, offering training, encouraging local initiatives, and creating value – and this can be particularly useful in territories where jobs are limited, especially for young people and women.
The challenges of democratizing the energy transition
However, despite the progress made, challenges abound, particularly in terms of diversity. For example, studies show that only a tiny fraction of energy cooperative members fall into the “low-income” category. In addition, persistent disparities between persons of different genders and social roles hinder women’s participation in decision-making processes. These structural inequalities mean that not all communities have the same access to renewable energy technologies or the capital to invest in them. This further widens the gap between people from affluent and marginalized communities, leaving them increasingly at risk of becoming trapped in energy poverty. This lack of diversity, therefore, represents a formidable challenge to tackling energy poverty in a comprehensive way.
According to the latest IEA-IRENA-World Bank-WHO report on the follow-up to SDG 7, which focuses on universal access to energy by 2030, in 2021, 675 million people had no access to electricity. This figure has almost halved from 1.1 billion in 2010. Yet the battle against energy poverty is not just about providing access to energy, but also ensuring that it is affordable, reliable, and sustainable for all communities. In Europe, 10% of the population faces energy poverty not because of a lack of energy supply, but because of the cost of energy, due in particular to poor-quality housing. In addition, a figure that often goes unnoticed from a Western perspective is the lack of access to clean cooking solutions. In 2021, 2.3 billion people were without such access. Most people who use polluting fuels for cooking are women and children living in disadvantaged communities, putting them at greater risk of respiratory illness and poisoning. According to the WHO, domestic air pollution caused by the use of fossil fuels for cooking is responsible for 3.2 million premature deaths a year.
Finally, existing energy systems continue to be dominated by large corporations and non-transparent central government entities, creating barriers to community-led initiatives. These institutional structures can perpetuate inequalities and hinder the adoption of more democratic, decentralized energy models.
In short, without targeted and well-funded programs, energy decarbonization strategies risk widening the gap between those who can afford to design, adopt, and invest in sustainable energy solutions and alternative technologies and those who cannot.
Promising practices
In advancing the democratization of the energy transition, certain good practices emerge as beacons of progress – despite the challenge that no single model is universally applicable due to inherently different practical, structural, and cultural starting points.
Empowering local energy communities is a fundamental strategy in this transition, notably through individual and collective self-consumption. This approach, notably through energy communities and cooperatives, enables the collective production, consumption, and sharing of energy, opening up the potential for equitable distribution of the benefits of the transition. This approach champions localized solutions tailored to communities’ specific needs and resources, deepening inclusion and equity. Such models also reduce reliance on traditional power hierarchies, paving the way for a more resilient and democratic energy system.
But to be truly inclusive, these models need to be accompanied by internal governance models that support changes of a cultural nature, including within existing (energy) communities, to move beyond traditional norms. These changes can take the form of information or awareness campaigns, empowering individuals to act in an informed way, demystifying energy, and learning about their rights. In the Energ’Ethic podcast, Dr Antonia Proka of RESCOOP.EU also points out that necessary structural changes can foster inclusivity. Simple but effective measures, such as rethinking meeting times and providing childcare during assemblies, can make all the difference in enabling greater participation. These changes are particularly crucial in empowering under-represented groups, such as women and parents.
As such, these models are accompanied by multi-actor dialogues, which ensure that a diversity of voices, particularly those of women and marginalized communities, are heard. The adoption of inclusive and participatory policymaking processes is placed at the heart of this effort.
Conclusion
In short, democratizing the energy transition is complex but vital. It requires us to reimagine energy not just as a commodity but also as a fundamental right. By adopting feminist and intersectional perspectives and learning from best practices and ongoing challenges, we can ensure that our march towards a sustainable energy future is empowering and inclusive. Experiences and lessons learned from energy cooperatives, community initiatives, and inclusive policymaking inform our path to a more democratic and equitable energy future. By adapting policies and initiatives to these specific challenges, we ensure a truly inclusive transition to sustainable energy.
