On 2 June, the Steering Board of Nordic Energy Equality Network (NEEN) gathered in Copenhagen at the  Danish Energy Agency to discuss NEEN’s ongoing activities and way forward. After a longer period of digital meetings, Chair of the Steering Board Karina Barnholt Klepper and Vice Chair of the Steering Board Harpa Pétursdóttir, as well as Board Members Nanna Baldvinsdóttir, Petra Berg, Claire Bergaentzlé, Torill Meistad, and Kristina Christensen, together with representatives from Nordic Energy Research Astrid Bratli and Elina Sjölinder, were delighted to see each other live on-site.

“It was great to feel all the creativity and potential we have for doing great things!” says Harpa.

Petra concurs with Harpa.

“It was great to meet everyone again. I agree with Harpa, it was really energizing and inspiring. I’m looking forward to our next moves!”

Eventful outcomes and outlooks

Due to some time having passed since NEEN’s last physical Board Meeting, the group was not only extra excited to get together – they did also have an extra extensive agenda to go through. The many discussion points covered during the meeting are a telltale sign of the grand things that the future holds for NEEN.

Some of the topics addressed included NEEN’s mission and impact, strategic focus, possible collaborations, and events for next year as well as for the fall of 2023. Therefore, the meeting was positively productive and left the participants driven to make further progress on gender equality and women empowerment within the energy sector in the Nordic region and in general.

On March 29–30, Nordic Energy Research‘s Adviser Astrid Bratli and Commuincations Adviser Elina Sjölinder represented the Nordic Energy Equality Network (NEEN) at the conference Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue 2023.

In addition to sessions addressing themes such as pooling knowledge for a just energy transition, how to translate ambition into action, and challenges and opportunities for sustainable development, NEEN was notably invited to two events by Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET). Firstly, NEEN participated in the lunch seminar “Women for the Energy Transition”, which provided a platform for female energy experts to give and receive knowledge and strengthen networks among each other. Secondly, the workshop “Women Energize Women – Women Empowerment in Global Energy Cooperation” brought together international representatives with various areas of expertise, to identify common solutions, possible synergies, and further needed action in the reach for gender mainstreaming.

Inspiring inclusion efforts on international scale

At the workshop, Astrid and Elina gave an introduction to NEEN and shared their experiences from the Nordic countries with women within the energy sector from all over the world, including Brazil, Chile, Ethiopia, Germany, Jordan, Mexico, Nigeria, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam. With such a diverse gathering of female energy expertise, the event generated a great exchange of approaches and understandings.

“It is incredibly inspiring to meet so many resourceful women from all corners of the world who have stood up and passionately championed equality in the energy industry. Though it is clear that progress has been made, the stark reality of personal accounts and grim statistics presented at the conference remind us of the steep climb that still lies ahead to ensure that everyone, regardless of gender, has an equal opportunity to participate and contribute to the industry. We cannot make this shift happen on our own, and as equality is something that benefits us all, it’s clear that only through solidarity and co-operation across borders can we achieve a truly inclusive global energy sector. We are thrilled to be able to participate in a network where we can learn from one another, uplift each other, and strive towards our shared vision of a brighter, more equitable energy future,” says Astrid.

Elina agrees. “Participating in GWNET’s workshop was truly rewarding. Coming from the Nordic region with its relatively advanced equity standards in international terms, it is common to see Nordic practices acting as an example for the rest of the world. The Nordics are role models when it comes to environmental and social sustainability, but true inspiration is found among women who manages to pursue gender equality at the same time as they struggle with other fundamentally important energy issues. For example, to strive for inclusion within the energy sector while also dealing with unavailability of electricity, is really powerful and impressive,” says Elina.

The event concluded with an agreement on meeting again in May, which will be the first networking webinar that follows up on the issues discussed in Berlin.

The Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue is hosted and supported by the German Federal Government and a joint initiative of German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE), German Solar Association (BSW), German Energy Agency (dena) and eclareon.

GWNET’s mission is to empower women in energy through interdisciplinary networking, advocacy, training, and mentoring. GWNET seeks to address the current gender imbalances in the energy sector and to promote gender-sensitive action around the energy transition in all parts of the world.

One of NEEN’s main activities is our continually growing list of female experts within the Nordic energy sector. As of today, we can proudly announce that the expert list has reached a milestone – 100 names are now listed in the network’s collection of energy-knowledgeable women.

The expert list showcases women with experience of great width and depth in connection to energy issues. As such, the list works to promote diversity and equality for an inclusive sustainable energy transition. Some of the latest additions to the list include Maj Dang Trong, Lorea Coronado-Garcia, Julia Hansson, and Anna Volkova.

This is still a small portion of all the female competence and skills within energy related areas. NEEN will continue the ambitions of boosting girls and women with a professional interest in energy!

Check out all of the names on the expert list!

Nordic Energy Research, who funds NEEN, has travelled through the Nordics to talk to thought leaders and to explore Nordic examples of renewable energy source co-operation. Together with Thought Leader Global, Nordic Energy Research has produced eight corporate films that each focus on a specific issue.

The eighth video is about Wind power solutions onshore and offshore, as well as floating solutions.

“It’s very important to take nature and stakeholders into consideration from an early stage, to create a better understanding and to get people on board and actually help us with making this transition possible,” says Marte Rusten, Principal Consultant at DNV, and Sonja Berlijn, Head of KTH Royal institute of technology, who are featured on NEEN’s list of female energy experts.

Nordic Energy Research, who funds NEEN, has travelled through the Nordics to talk to thought leaders and to explore Nordic examples of renewable energy source co-operation. Together with Thought Leader Global, Nordic Energy Research has produced eight corporate films that each focus on a specific issue.

The seventh video deals with Renewable energy and public participation in the Nordics. It features the one of the profiles on NEEN’s list of female energy experts – Sonja Berlijn – as well as Malene Lundén from Sams Elsa Berg, Berglind Ran Olafsdottir, CEO of ON Power, Tanja Winther, Professor at the University of Oslo, and Christina Bu, Secretary General at Norwegian EV Association.

“The language of sustainability and communication and participation is actually the key to connect us,” says Malene.

“People have forgotten all the technology behind [electricity] and forgotten how important it is. But if you can participate actively and you see OK, if I charge my phone I need the wind turbine at least to move a little bit, I think it will create more awarenessof where it comes from and more understanding. And also, I think it makes people willing to actively then contribute and also to be more aware of energy savings, at least I hope so,” says Sonja.

“Climate policy has come quite far in terms of really taking in that we need to do something, we need to be very careful. What about learning from that and also make policies for nature? where we get some help at the moment is actually the social movement. It’s telling policy makers that we need to have people on board here to make changes. And for us, that is a way into examining what are the questions here on equality. Whose interests are really here represented and whose are ignored?” says Tanja.

“I’m so lucky actually to be a part of this time, to really try to do my best to speed up this transition. It’s really meaningful for me to be a part of the climate movement, to make change happen,” says Elsa.

Nordic Energy Research, who funds NEEN, has travelled through the Nordics to talk to thought leaders and to explore Nordic examples of renewable energy source co-operation. Together with Thought Leader Global, Nordic Energy Research has produced eight corporate films that each focus on a specific issue.

Video number six deals with the potential of decentralized and isolated energy systems and features the female energy experts Martina Wettin, Co-founder/Board Member of Nilsson Energy, Tanja Winther, Professor at University of Oslo, Anna Werner, CEO of Swedish Solar Energy, and Helma Maria Trondheim, PhD and Electrical Engineer at Elfelagið SEV

“I don’t believe that hydrogen is the future, I believe it’s the present,” says Martina.

“What questions do we need to ask? Maybe equality and inclusion should be part of that first question. And then, how can we make technology and markets work for that purpose? That would be ideal,” says Tanja.

Nordic Energy Research, who funds NEEN, has travelled through the Nordics to talk to thought leaders and to explore Nordic examples of renewable energy source co-operation. Together with Thought Leader Global, Nordic Energy Research has produced eight corporate films that each focus on a specific issue.

The fifth video centres around Green transport in the Nordics and features the female energy experts Christina Bu, Berglind Ran Olafsdottir, Johanna Sippo, Agnes Árnadottír, and Hege Økland.

“We always have to keep in mind that the solution is not just stop driving fossil fuel cars and start driving EVs, there are other things that need to change,” says Berglind.

“The main challenge is that fossil fuel is so much cheaper than green alternatives. So it’s hard to be competitive with today’s regime so we need to have new mechanisms which enhance the competitiveness of greener fuels,” says Hege.

“I don’t believe we can wait around until we have 100% renewable electricity production in the world before we start the transition to vehicles that can run on that renewable fuel. We have to do both things as fast as we can,” says Christina.

On the Water & Gender Day of COP27, 14 November, Nordic Energy Research (funder of Nordic Energy Equality Network) organized the event Mind the gap – Gender Equality, Female entrepreneurship, and the Green Transition. Around 30 people participated in the event, where Astrid Bratli, Adviser at Nordic Energy Research as well as Pilot of Nordic Energy Equality Network, gave a short presentation on NEEN and the report Gender equality in the Nordic energy sector.

“I appreciate the overwhelmingly positive feedback and interest in the report, as well as the fantastic turnout at a gender event at the Nordic pavilion. There were so many people at the pavilion, that the people on stage could hardly fit themselves. There is clearly a great interest in this topic, with a lot of people who find this important, that I actually believe that we can bring about a change faster than we had imagined a couple of years ago,” says Astrid.

At the event, the Icelandic Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, gave an opening speech.

Marton Leander Vølstad, Adviser at Nordic Energy Research, moderated the discussions, as speakers Heidi Solba, President and Head of Global Network at Let’s Do It World, Anna-Greta Tsahkna, CEO of Timbeter, Selma Skov Høye, Sustainability Director at Aker Horizons, Marte Rusten, Principal Consultant, Environmental risk and preparedness at DNV, and Malang Sambou Manneh from Mbolo Association, Gambia, shared their experiences and perspectives on the benefits of empowering women.

Can we reach the SDGs without equality in the climate and energy sector?

The speakers were asked whether or not we can reach the Sustainable Development Goals without equality in the climate and energy sector. The response to this question was a resounding “no”.

“The equality is very much part of the SDGs. And I think, as we’ve been discussing, that it’s important to have all good ideas on board to solve the energy transition challenges,” says Marte Rusten.

“We couldn’t achieve the Sustainable Development Goals without gender equality and not only because gender equality is a part of the SDGs, but also because having everyone involved and creating equal opportunities is a central part of everything else – sustainable cities, responsible consumption and production – it goes into a lot of these aspects, not only when it comes to tackling climate change,” says Selma Skov Høye.

Read more about the event here.

Access a recording of the event (starting from 06:31:10) here

Nordic Energy Reserach, funder of NEEN, is organizing the event Mind the gap – Gender Equality, Female entrepreneurship, and the Green Transition at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

Astrid Bratli, Adviser at Nordic Energy Research and Pilot of Nordic Energy Equality Network, will present NEEN at the event, and discuss equality, entrepreneurship and inclusion in climate actions with other speakers.

Time and place

The event takes place on 14 November, the Water & Gender Day of COP27, at 15.00–16.00 (CET).

The event is hosted at the Nordic Pavillion (Area C, P90) as well as livestreamed. Access the livestream here.

Speakers

• Astrid Bratli, Adviser at Nordic Energy Research and Pilot of Nordic Energy Equality Network
• Selma Skov Høye, Sustainability Director at Aker Horizon 
• Heidi Solba, President and Head of Global Network, Let’s Do It World 
• Anna-Greta Tsahkna, CEO of Timbeter
• Marte Rusten, Principal Consultant, Environmental risk and preparedness at DNV
• Rachel Asante-Owusu (TBC), Programme Officer, Global Business and Biodiversity Programme. International Union for Conservation of Nature
• Marton Leander Vølstad, Adviser at Nordic Energy Research (Moderator)

Event description

Can we reach the Sustainable Development Goals without equality in the climate and energy sector?

The Nordic countries are often ranked as among the most gender-equal in the world. However, gaps remain. Join the discussions on the just transition across generations and countries! Is a just transition possible when everyone is not included?

Nordic Energy Reserach, who funds NEEN, has travelled through the Nordics to talk to thought leaders and to explore Nordic examples of renewable energy source co-operation. Together with Thought Leader Global, Nordic Energy Research has produced eight corporate films that each focus on a specific issue.

The fourth video centres around Financing of the Green Transition in a Nordic and global perspective and features one of the profiles on NEEN’s list of female energy experts – Helena Sarén – as well as Annemarie Munk Riis, Tone Lunde Bakker, Anna Werner, and Tuuli Hietaniemi.

“The energy sector is an enabler to decarbonize the whole society,” says Helena.

“We have solutions available and there are a lot of cities and municipalities that have already applied these solutions, so we can learn from each other. We don’t have to start from zero or from scratch – there are a lot of people who are already knowledgeable of these solutions,” says Tuuli.

“This is less of a competition and more of a cooperation kind of thing – not only in the Nordics but further as well. I think everyone is feeling it and everyone wants to contribute,” says Tone.