Last week the World Biogas Association attended the United Nations Industrial Development Organization’s (UNIDO) 7th Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals. The panel – The Gender and Energy Compact: Catalyzing action for a just, inclusive and gender-responsive energy transition – saw ENERGIA’s Dr. Margaret Matinga introduce the Gender and Energy Compact and shone a spotlight onto the hard work that signatories to the compact are doing to further progress towards achieving gender diversity across the energy sector. The initiative was launched by UNIDO in collaboration with ENERGIA and the Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET) and aims to catalyse action towards gender equality and women’s empowerment to accelerate a just, inclusive and sustainable energy transition by bringing together partners from all corners of the energy sector to drive the industry forward through measured and meaningful action. 

During the panel, WBA’s Lead Analyst Leanne Williams spoke about the work conducted by WBA’s Women in Biogas group and how it aligns with the compact’s core objectives. Speaking alongside Sadikshya Aryal (Co-Founder/Managing Director at Himalayan Innovations), Dr. Victoria Plutshack (Senior Policy Associate, The James E. Rogers Energy Access Project at Duke University) and chaired by Leena Srivastava (Deputy Director General for Science of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria), it was also an opportunity to share snippets of insight from the recently concluded Women in Biogas baseline data survey.    

The Women in Biogas Group was founded in October 2021 and seeks to promote a more gender-inclusive industry in order to help the industry achieve its full potential, creating equal access for all. For more information about the group, please contact Leanne Williams at lwilliams@worldbiogasassociation.org.