On the energy transition and extractive industries

Rosalind Cavaghan

Chapter Spotlight 10 in Research Handbook on Gender Mainstreaming, 2026, pp 318-321 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This spotlight summarises gendered issues in the energy transition (ET), highlighting the centrality of extractive industries in both fossil fuel (FF) and renewable-powered economies. Negative gendered effects of FF phase-out include employment impacts, social disruptions such as increased gender-based violence and sex work, and reductions in the public spending capacity of ‘petrostates’. Positive effects include the replacement of unhealthy high-carbon cooking fuels, attendant quality-of-life impacts, and women's entrepreneurship opportunities in ‘last mile’ renewable energy systems. Nonetheless, renewable technologies often displace people from their land and require the extraction of minerals such as lithium and copper. Although these ‘transition mineral’ mines bring employment opportunities for women, they have significant negative environmental and social impacts and are strongly associated with armed conflict. As a result, feminists advocate for degrowth/eco-feminist reimagining of energy use in the ET. Unfortunately, despite high-profile international frameworks promoting gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting in the ET, implementation remains weak.

Keywords: Ecofeminism; Energy Transition; Extractive Industries; Gendered Impacts; Gender Mainstreaming; Renewable Energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035353415
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