Trends in Gender, Feminism and Energy Transition in the Global South

Abstract

This paper examines gender, feminism and energy transition in the Global
South. It aims at unravelling how discrimination against and marginalisation
of the female gender has been impeding energy transition in the Global
South notwithstanding the international, regional and municipal initiatives in
recent decades to combat, minimise or eradicate environmental hazards and
inequality. The methodology adopted is a doctrinal analysis of both primary
and secondary sources of law. Environmental justice provides the theoretical
foundation for the research. The research found out that, despite the many
global, regional and national initiatives and legal and institutional
frameworks in place to ensure that the female gender is not marginalised or
left behind in the global energy transition aimed at attaining sustainable
development for all regions and nations, the females still encounter a myriad
of environmental injustice in many countries in the Global South. This
constitutes a significant drawback to the globally well-recognised needed
shift in energy consumption to renewable sources. The study therefore
makes recommendations emphasising the need and strategies to proactively
enhance the active participation of the Global South women in the energy
transition agenda, and in accordance with the provisions of the relevant
treaties and the gender equality provision in the Sustainable Development
Goals 2030.