13 Search Results for: kathrin meyer

The long road to gender inequality in civic energy initiatives

by Kathrin Meyer

Renewable civic energy initiatives are based on direct-democratic and dialogue-oriented forms of civil participation. The approach gave hope for broad participation regardless of age, origin, and gender, factors generally considered as barriers within the conventional energy industry. Unfortunately, however, these hopes have not been fulfilled. Women are hardly represented within leadership positions. Kathrin Meyer probes the enduring gender inequality in the energy sector.

Threatened masculinity as an obstacle to sustainable change

by Kathrin Meyer

Fossil fuels are not only linked to high emissions and climate change, but are also part of a social identity that is faltering: masculinity, argues Cara Daggett, a political scientist who coined the phrase “petro-masculinity”. The transition to a more climate-friendly future is connected to the future of fossil fuels and also to challenges to (white) male privilege. This struggle is evident when talking about the current decision-making landscape, which is predominantly male and has scant room for diverse perspectives. Kathrin Meyer draws a line between threatened masculinity and the stagnation of key energy and climate issues.

The oil trap – Ecuador’s quest to clean up its energy mix

by Kathrin Meyer

Climate change and international decarbonisation efforts led Ecuador to expand its renewable energy capacities. Given its significant potential for renewable energies, why is the nation unable to shake off its dependency on oil and move to a clean energy mix? Kathrin Meyer explores the factors at play in the South American country.

Gender-Responsive Climate Policy as a chance for a Colombian coal phase-out?

by Kathrin Meyer

The recent publication “Gender-Responsive Climate Policy – a Case Study of the Colombian Coal Sector” showed that climate policies must take gender into account not only to limit the destructiveness of the current climate crisis but also to achieve a just transformation of the Colombian coal sector. Kathrin Meyer explains the advantages of this approach and its international relevance.

Gender awareness: Energy efficient housing through gender-responsive measures. Pt. II

by Kathrin Meyer

Energy usage within households occurs in various forms, whether it is about heating, cooking or the use of electrical appliances. Comprehensive data on household energy consumption is already trying to paint a more accurate picture of its consumers. However, one important factor often does not receive the attention it deserves: gender. In the second part of the series, Kathrin Meyer explains how energy efficiency in the housing sector is wasted due to inadequate consideration of gender-responsive measures.

Change of power in Bolivia and the Global North’s raw materials demand

by Kathrin Meyer

While the causes of rapid political change in Bolivia are currently being sought within the accusation of the electoral fraud-related presidency of Evo Morales, more and more voices in Latin America denounce to see a connection between the national lithium industry and the changing power structures. Kathrin Meyer evaluates the multiple facets of this conflict.

A threat for the Amazon region: Colombia’s new hydropower project

by Kathrin Meyer

While in North America and Europe more hydropower plants are being dismantled than built, many countries in Latin America continue to invest in the controversial renewable energy source. In Colombia, two hydropower plants are to be installed in the Amazon region. Social-ecological and cultural costs of the project are not taken into account. Kathrin Meyer reports about the serious impacts that hydropower could have on the zone.

How the EU-Mercosur trade deal is worsening the international climate crisis

by Kathrin Meyer

After twenty years of negotiations, the European Union is in the process of advancing one of the world’s largest free trade agreements with four states of Mercosur. The planned agreement suggests a political path that veers towards a worsening of the international climate crisis. Kathrin Meyer discusses the questionable contents of the political act, which will solidify inequality amongst the trade partners and enable the expansion of environmentally harmful methods.