Online forum aims to raise women's profile in SIDS's renewable energy sector

Women are imperative to Small Island Developing States’ clean energy future and for building islands’ resilience to climate change. But there is limited understanding of the key barriers women in SIDS face in becoming active participants within the sector, and of how women can be best served by the sector as end-users.

On Wednesday 13 April, Camco and 2X Collaborative will be co-hosting an interactive online forum to explore what can and needs to be done to ensure women are at the forefront developing the renewable energy sectors in SIDS.

The event, Putting Women in the Spotlight: How to Ensure Women Play a Key Role in Developing SIDS’ Renewable Energy Sector and Building Islands’ Resilience to Climate Change, aims specifically to:

• raise awareness of the importance of addressing the needs of women as customers, energy sector employees and leaders, and key players in building islands’ resilience to climate change

• share practical experiences and facilitate mutual knowledge development on integrating the gender equality dimension into energy sector policies, project development and funding decisions.

• strengthen public-private collaboration with a focus on mainstreaming gender in the energy sector

The keynote will be delivered by H.E Chad Blackman LLB, LLM, ACIArb, Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations in Geneva and Chair of the UNCTAD Geneva SIDS Group.

This will be followed by a panel discussion during which the panellists will share their own experiences and facilitate mutual knowledge development on integrating the gender equality dimension into energy sector policies, project development and funding decisions. The session will be moderated by Tonni Brodber, Representative of the UN Women Multi-Country Office – Caribbean. Speakers include: Angella Rainford, CEO and Founder of SOLÉCO ENERGY; Belinda Strid, Owner/Manager at PCS Limited and President of SEIAPI; Laura Lahti, Impact Manager at Camco Clean Energy; and independent consultant Inka Schomer.

The forum will conclude with a 30-minute Q&A and group discussion with the audience.

To register for the event, click here. For more details, read the event flyer here.

• Wednesday's forum is the second part of a two-part mini-series produced by Camco and 2X Collaborative. The first part was held in February and aimed to help help financiers and the distributed renewable energy sector better serve women’s needs in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is available to watch here.