Date: Friday 17 June 2022, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm UTC+8 Duration: 90 minutes
Organized by: ADB, USAID, Korea Energy Agency
Session Description:
It is estimated that 614.8 million living in Asia lack of access to cooling for basic needs- with impacts for their health, nutrition, and livelihoods. With many countries experiencing higher temperatures due to climate change, access to cooling, access to energy, and gender equality are closely intertwined. For women, who already experience energy poverty, lack of energy access for cooling will pose risks to their health and productivity. The sector also has the potential to increase the number of green jobs for women at all levels- from women leading cooling businesses, engineers, and technicians. This session will present how heat stress is impacting women’s lives and the gender related factors in relation to access to cooling. Panelists will discuss the benefits of incorporating a gender analysis in developing cooling solutions designed to meet women’s specific needs. Interventions that can scale sustainable cooling while also closing the access gap for women are needed. Discussions will range from presenting data on why women need different cooling solutions, to presenting examples from organizations working with women in informal housing to retrofit their homes. The speakers will also present ideas where further data, research and innovation is needed to achieve sustainable cooling for all.
Objectives of the session:
- To increase understanding of gender differentiated needs for cooling
- To provide examples of country level experiences on the gender and cooling nexus
- To identify gaps and future directions for working on the intersection between gender and cooling
Speakers:
- Samantha Hung, Chief of Gender Equality Thematic Group, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department
- Zonibel Woods, Senior Social Development Specialist, ADB
- Rosa Garcia, Energy Efficiency and Cooling Specialist with SEforALL
- Lily Riahi, Coordinator the Cool Coalition
- Huraera Jabeen, Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture, BRAC University in Bangladesh
- Eric Roeder, ILO
- Xiaoyi Jin, Senior Associate, ClimateWorks Foundation and Head of Access for the Clean Cooling Collaborative (CCC).
- Beta Paramita, Assistant Professor, Architecture Program, Universitas Penddikan Indonesia (UPI)
- Hassan ul Banna Khan & Vinita Rodrigues, (C-balance India)
- Zonibel Woods, Senior Social Development, ADB
