I’ve spent my entire professional life working on sustainability challenges in different sectors — with a focus during the last 10 years on Canada’s energy sector. In that time, I’ve seen significant progress around women’s representation and participation on energy and climate issues — even more so as the energy mix in Canada has diversified. But we have a long way to go yet. Women only make up 31% of traditional energy sector workers, and that number is even lower in management roles. Unfortunately, the renewable sector is not yet making big gains to improve these odds. And in both sectors, women tend to hold lower-paying and less technical roles.
That’s one of the reasons why Pembina partnered with the GLOBE SERIES on a year-long dialogue that recognizes and celebrates the women advancing Canada’s transition to a clean economy and identifies opportunities for more women to get involved.
Since September, we have met with and introduced women leading the energy transition. We’ve learned about the barriers they’ve encountered and the opportunities they’ve discovered on the road to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. We have published an initial analysis of the challenges women experience: “Women in Alberta's Energy Transition: A review of barriers to participation and leadership,” and then hosted an event on the subject.
This week we’re meeting in person, this time at GLOBE Forum 2022 in Vancouver, to hear the intersectional experiences of Indigenous women in energy transformation. And we have one more event in this series this year before finishing with a summary of what was said and learned.
In addition to these activities, we launched an online platform that profiles women already making strides in the energy transition: https://womeninenergytransformation.philespace.com.
This is where you come in. We are looking for more stories to profile.
Nominate someone
I would like to invite you to nominate a Canadian woman advancing progress on climate and energy issues to be profiled on this platform.
When I think about this project, so many women I’ve met come to mind. Whether they’re working in non-profits or government or business.
For example, I think about Judy Fairburn Co-CEO and Fund Managing Partner of The51, a Financial Feminist™ platform and venture fund. I think about Sarah Goodman, who works for Prime Minister Trudeau as a lead advisor, coordinating across ministries and implementing climate and sustainable economy policies that will help get us to net-zero. I think about Terri Lynn Morrison from Indigenous Clean Energy (ICE), who will be joining us on the stage at GLOBE 2022 in Vancouver. ICE is an Indigenous-led social enterprise that advances systems change through clean energy which increases equity and self-determination of Indigenous peoples.
I hope you’ll think about an inspiring person you’d like to see profiled on the Women in Energy Transformation platform and nominate them today.
We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a safe climate, while also eliminating past barriers and generating a gender-equitable workforce. Let’s recognize the women who are making that transformation happen.
