NEW YORK — The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA announced today that Dr. James Glynn, Dr. Luisa Palacios, and Dr. Harry Verhoeven have joined the Center as Senior Research Scholars. At CGEP, they will conduct research, collaborate with the strong community of scholars at the Center as well as across the University, including the newly formed Climate School, and engage with public and private sector leaders, journalists, students and other key stakeholders.

Dr. Glynn has over 15 years of experience within energy systems analysis and energy technology research, development and deployment, collaborating with governments, technologists and energy analysts in the United States, Europe, and Asia. He is an expert developer and user of the International Energy Agency’s Energy Technology Systems Analysis Programmes’ (IEA-ETSAP) TIMES source code, developing global and national energy systems models.These model applications have provided insights into Irish, European and International energy policy in collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders. He has affiliations to the MaREI Center in University College Cork, Imperial College London, and is an executive committee member of the IEA-ETSAP. Dr. Glynn received a master’s degree in Energy Systems and the Environment from the University of Strathclyde, a master’s degree in Economic & Environmental Modelling from National University of Ireland Galway, and a Ph.D. In Energy Engineering from University College Cork. His research will focus on developing and applying integrated energy systems models to explore the interactions between the climate, economy, and society in order to find resilient pathways to future sustainable development goals.

Dr. Palacios comes to the center after a multidisciplinary career in the intersection of energy, finance and policy. Most recently, she completed a two-year period in the Board of Directors of Houston-based Citgo Petroleum Corporation, the 5th-largest independent U.S. refiner during most of which she served as Chairwoman. Palacios led Citgo during a critical period in the company’s history, as it faced significant geopolitical challenges. As Citgo’s first-ever chairwoman, Palacios shaped efforts to strengthen corporate governance, ethics, and social responsibility, including the publication of the company’s first-ever ESG report. She received a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a Ph.D. in international affairs from The John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Her research will focus on Latin America’s energy sector in the context of the energy transition.

Dr. Verhoeven is a well-known scholar of International Relations who has previously taught and/or been affiliated with the University of Oxford, Georgetown University, the School of Oriental and African Studies and the University of Cambridge. He serves as a Senior Advisor to the European Institute of Peace and has collaborated extensively with key policy actors, including the World Bank, the European Union, various agencies of the United Nations, governments in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and North America and non-governmental organizations. For more than a decade, he has served as an expert in legal cases pertaining to development-induced displacement and human rights violations in various African states. He also founded the Oxford University China-Africa Network in 2009 and remains its Convenor. Dr. Verhoeven holds a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a DPhil (Ph.D.) from the University of Oxford. His research at SIPA and the Center will continue to focus on climate change, international relations and the linkages between water, energy and food security, with a particular focus on Africa.

“We’re so thrilled that James, Harry, and Luisa have joined our extraordinary team of scholars at the Center,” said Jason Bordoff, Co-Founding Dean of Columbia’s Climate School, Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs, and Founding Director of CGEP. “With this new crop of scholars, CGEP is expanding its energy modeling capacity, exploring new intersections between international relations and energy security, and further examining Latin America’s energy markets and geopolitical risks. All three of their research areas are essential to understanding an energy system in transition and to moving the needle forward to prevent the worst impacts of climate change on people and the planet. We look forward to their engagement with the scholarship at the Center and at Columbia University more broadly.”

“Since its founding, the Center on Global Energy Policy has strived to bridge the gap between academic research and policy. The appointments of Dr. James Glynn, Dr. Luisa Palacios, and Dr. Harry Verhoeven will further advance this mission,”  said Dr. Geoffrey M. Heal, Donald C. Waite III Professor of Social Enterprise in the Faculty of Business and co-chair of CGEP’s Academic Steering Committee. 

“As CGEP continues to grow its research capacity, we’re excited to bring in new technical capabilities and geographic expertise to our team to help advance smart, actionable, and evidence-based energy and climate solutions. Please join us in welcoming Harry, Luisa, and James to the Center,” said Dr. Melissa C. Lott, Senior Research Scholar and Director of Research.  

About the Center on Global Energy Policy 

The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA advances smart, actionable and evidence-based energy and climate solutions through research, education and dialogue. Based at one of the world’s top research universities, what sets CGEP apart is our ability to communicate academic research, scholarship and insights in formats and on timescales that are useful to decision makers. We bridge the gap between academic research and policy — complementing and strengthening the world-class research already underway at Columbia University, while providing support, expertise, and policy recommendations to foster stronger, evidence-based policy. Recently, Columbia University President Lee Bollinger announced the creation of a new Climate School — the first in the nation — to tackle the most urgent environmental and public health challenges facing humanity.

WASHINGTON DC, Apr 8 2021 (IPS) – As the world looks to address issues of gender equity, development and climate change, the importance of increasing the participation of women in the energy sector is gaining attention. To date, this topic has generally been framed around the underrepresentation of women in the energy workforce.

But this ignores an important reality: millions of women already participate as producers of energy – specifically of bioenergy for poor households.  To support sustainable development and gender goals, more attention needs to be given to these women energy producers who have remained largely invisible in much of the energy discourse.

Women account for only 22% of the jobs in the oil and gas industry and only 32% in the renewables sector.  When it comes to managerial and other decision-making positions, the share of women is even lower; for example, their representation in energy company boardrooms is less than 5%.

In response, several programs have been launched to increase women’s participation in the energy sector. These programs are succeeding in raising awareness about the need for more women in the sector, building networks to support women practitioners, and giving visibility to the women already working in energy – albeit with a focus on the formal, professionalized segments that constitute the energy industry.

But this focus on addressing underrepresentation in the formal segments of the sector – a very important effort — can generate the misperception that women are in fact not active in producing the world’s energy. Many assume their role is largely limited to consuming energy (e.g., at home, at work, or for leisure), not supplying it.  And therein lies an overlooked reality: millions of women worldwide are producers of biomass, a form of bioenergy.

About 2.5 billion people globally rely for cooking on the traditional use of solid biomass, notably fuelwood, charcoal and dung.  This figure includes 680 million people in India and 800 million throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.

Biomass is also used by the poor for other purposes, such as heating homes in colder regions.  In many lower-income countries, biomass can constitute over 90 percent of the energy that poor households use.  It is provided through small-scale commercial ventures, but much is also generated by households for their own use.

Around the developing world, women play a central role in producing this bioenergy, notably by gathering wood and making charcoal. In fact, this is a segment of the energy sector where women are often overrepresented.

As the World Bank reported last year, “across most of Sub-Saharan Arica and in parts of China, women are the primary fuel wood collectors,” which is also the case in areas of South Asia. This is time-consuming and physically demanding work that can involve “collecting and carrying loads of wood that weigh as much as 25-50 kilogrammes” and can “take up to 20 or more hours per week.”  Unfortunately, we lack hard data about the number of women engaged in this energy production.

Biomass has already been receiving attention in development circles because of the problems associated with its use in traditional cookstoves, such as negative health impacts on notably the women who cook and the burdens of collecting firewood.

To address this issue, the United Nations has adopted as one of its Sustainable Development Goals the replacement of traditional biomass use with clean cooking technologies. This targeting of biomass and its harmful impacts does not, however, negate the role its women producers play in the energy sector (just as the climate and environmental concerns surrounding coal do not erase the role of miners).

Several actions can help to make these women producers more visible in the energy discourse.

First, recognizing the role they play in energy supply can help to shift the notion and perception of dependency: women actively participate in the production, not just the use, of household energy.

Failing to understand women’s contribution to global energy production will continue to perpetuate the myth of women as mainly (dependent) energy users, which can hamper efforts to ensure their full participation in decision-making and leadership roles within all levels of society.

Second, there is a paucity of data regarding these women producers – a situation that reflects the lack of attention they receive and also contributes to their lack of visibility.

How many women work in producing biomass (generally as unpaid labor)? How many women will be affected by changes in biomass production systems?  What will they do in a changed world?  This type of information can help address their needs and to plan for their engagement in the energy transition.  We need more data.

Third, it is important to acknowledge and properly value this work in producing household bioenergy, and to report it in energy workforce statistics. When a company produces electricity for its own use, it is called a “self-producer.”

When a woman produces biomass for use in her home, it all too often goes nameless.  The recognition of this women’s labor would also help in the effort to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls,” the UN’s fifth Sustainable Development Goal.

Fourth, in developing programs and initiatives to shift households from traditional biomass use to clean cooking technologies, it is important not only to consider the effect on women as consumers, but also address the impact on women as energy producers to ensure that their needs are being met.

Moreover, because these efforts to shift how households use biomass will also affect greenhouse gas emissions, the topic has entered the climate discourse. As world leaders discuss how to limit climate change at the upcoming summit convened by US President Biden or thereafter at the international COP negotiations, it is important to ensure that the situation of these women producers — their voices, concerns, and aspirations — are adequately taken into account when planning the clean energy transition (just as the concerns of coal miners and others are also considered).

Acknowledging the central role that millions of women play in producing the world’s bioenergy can lead to a greater empowerment of women across the sector.

As efforts to boost the participation of women in energy mature, it will be important to better recognize and analyze the contributions of these women producers, and to design policies that will help improve their standards of living, including as part of the clean energy transition.

NEW YORK — Climate change is undermining the foundations of good health; threatening the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the hospitals and clinics we depend on. However, the response to climate change could be the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century. New research published today in the British medical journal The Lancet, The Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change, tracks annual indicators of progress, empowering the health profession and policymakers to accelerate their response. Dr. Melissa C. Lott, Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA is co-author of the section on mitigation in the energy sector, which provides new data and insights that show how climate change and air pollution from burning fossil fuels is already harming human health.

According to this research, in 2018, we experienced 831 climate-related extreme events around the globe, resulting in $166 billion in economic loses. Every child born today will be affected by climate change, says its authors. Without significant intervention, this new era will come to define the health of people at every stage of their lives, particularly children.

At the core of the challenge – and its solution – are our global energy systems.

Existing datasets clearly show that the energy sector (including not only power plants, but also transportation and industry) not only produces the majority of global greenhouse gas emissions but also the vast majority of key air pollutants that damage our bodies including particulate matter and nitrogen oxides. For example, exposure to this air pollution leads to increasing instances of childhood asthma, heart disease, respiratory illness, cancers, and early death.

This research shows how the transition to cleaner sources of energy could be one of the world’s greatest public health opportunities. We have already made some progress with using renewable energy to generate electricity and adopting electric vehicles. But, we are not on track to meet Paris Agreement targets. From 2016 to 2018, global carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector still grew by 2.6% from 2016 to 2018. Here in the United States, after almost a decade of decline, air pollution rose from 2016 to 2018, leading to nearly 10,000 additional early deaths.

According to this research, we are currently facing a world in which we are more likely to get lung cancer even if we don’t smoke and where more children will develop asthma, suffer infectious disease, and be faced with a lifetime of health challenges due to the combined effects of climate change and air pollution. But, such outcomes are not inevitable, and we know the solutions. By transitioning to clean energy systems as soon as possible, we can mitigate the damage to our health.

Read the Report

Read the Report

The Nature of the Energy Industry Future Workforce Challenge

Building diverse, inclusive work environments has become a priority for businesses across the globe—bringing benefits that include higher productivity and improved performance, as well as increased creativity and broader perspectives that lead to better decision-making. While the energy industry has made progress toward diversification, more work is needed. Toward the goal of promoting diversity in the sector, the Women in Energy program of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) and Pioneer Natural Resources convened a workshop, Future Workforce in the Energy Sector, on November 8, 2018. The meeting convened executives of energy companies and thought leaders from industry and academia.

Participants agreed that the energy sector, under its current hiring and retention practices, was unable to capitalize on the full benefits of a diverse, future-focused workforce. The event devoted significant time to discussions of recruitment and retention of groups underrepresented in the industry (such as women, minorities, and millennials), while tapping expertise from energy companies and other industries that have been the most successful in recruiting and retaining talent.

The following document provides a brief background on women and millennials in the energy industry before summarizing the discussion and findings from the CGEP workshop. As the event was held under the Chatham House Rule, participants will not be identified.

Background

Women represent between 22 percent and 34 percent of the workforce in the energy industry, with percentages at the highest ranks even smaller.[1] In the oil and gas sector, representation tends to be lower. In the clean energy sector, however, it is generally higher, with women making up 32 percent of the wind and solar workforce. All sectors say they are having trouble recruiting women and minorities with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics backgrounds, despite a rising number of diverse graduates.

Almost a quarter of the US employees of the natural gas and electric utilities industry will be approaching retirement within five years, necessitating a huge influx of new personnel to the sector in the next few years.[2] To enhance recruitment and retention, companies have gotten more creative. In the utility sector, firms have tried partnering with industry and labor unions to establish apprenticeship programs—targeting students in underserved communities and creating educational programs that reach out to students in middle schools. The recruitment processes of private companies have also been tailored to ensure diversity is built into the pipeline of candidates being interviewed on college campuses.

There are many benefits to diversifying a workforce. It is harder to come to a consensus in small work groups that are not homogenous, but they are more apt to reach correct answers. This notion was the conclusion of a decade of research on small work teams by Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business professor Katherine W. Phillips.[3] Phillips’s research shows homogenous groups can come to a consensus faster and they feel more confident in their conclusions than diverse teams (although they are not necessarily reaching the correct conclusions). In fact, they have a higher chance of getting the wrong answer than diverse groups, which take longer to deliberate and feel “less confident” of their outcomes. Phillips noted, “Diversity gains do not only result from bringing different perspectives to the table.” Simply adding social diversity to a group forces people to think differences of opinion might exist among themselves, and that belief prompts changes in behavior and pushes people to work harder to come to a consensus and be more open-minded to new ideas; this leads to better outcomes. Other important factors for garnering the benefits of diversity include shared goals, team building (with minimized status differences), and shared impact; these are features common to the tech sector.

Phillips’s research is confirmed by other studies and extends to findings related to the benefits of having diversity in the C-suite and boardroom. A large statistical study published in the Academy of Management Journal in 2017 found that companies with women in these senior ranks contribute to the long-run performance by lessening the chances of risky strategies being adopted.[4] 

Workshop Summary

Creating a More Diverse Workplace

Harvard Business Review surveys of strategic approaches to diversity indicate that command and control programs—such as grievance systems, performance evaluations, and hiring test assessments—are not succeeding. In some cases, these programs are even creating unintended backlashes from members of groups that tend to be advantaged in the society, who fear discrimination and unfair treatment within organizations with prodiversity messages.[5] Instead, executives of energy companies that attended the CGEP workshop suggested—in line with academic findings—that other formal programs (such as resource groups, task forces, childcare subsidy, or on-site programs) and returnship programs for employees who choose to stop working for a period of time (e.g., to take care of a sick relative or after the birth or adoption of a child) have proven more effective in retaining and fostering a sustainably diverse workforce.

Participants of the workshop noted, “There are also programs and internal systems that can be set up to promote contact between groups, which leads to acceptance of a more diverse workplace.” These programs include cross-skilling (training workers in multiple skills set to work on different projects within an organization), self-managed teams (small groups of employees who, together, plan and execute day-to-day activities or projects with minimal supervision), and third-party coaching and mentoring programs. There are other important measures corporate leadership can take: senior management can assemble task forces, and CEOs can promote social accountability. Such actions have been shown to be statistically more effective than other steps, such as mandatory diversity training.[6] In the energy industry, success has been recorded when CEOs invite department heads and members of unrepresented groups to discuss approaches for improving recruitment, promotion, and overall diversity performance across the company.

Millennial Workers

The matter of recruiting and retaining young workers has become an increasing challenge for the energy industry. In an internal study on the subject, one workshop participant found that a cultural shift was needed to improve its workforce turnover rate for millennial workers. “Workplace flexibility, transparency, and an orientation that incorporates well-being are principal practices that are attractive to younger generation workers,” the participant noted. Because millennials are more engaged with digital working methods, the company created specific innovation challenges to give younger workers an opportunity for higher performances and greater productivity. Their study suggests younger generations are expecting more from their relationship with their organization than past generations and they seek a workplace that is authentic and inclusive.

One program that is garnering more interest among corporations is “reverse mentoring,” where knowledge sharing flows in both directions. Younger employees share technology, organizational issues, career planning, and other capabilities and preferences. In return, they gain generational perspectives on industry subject matter and become aware of past experiences. Reverse mentoring is an innovative and cost-effective means to cross-train employees for shared support and mutual training in the digital age. Reverse mentoring can also promote diversity by demonstrating the knowledge and skills of younger workers, thereby mitigating perceptual biases of older leaders and increasing the promotability of individuals of diverse backgrounds.

Companies observed younger workers prefer more regular evaluation and feedback processes than traditional annual reviews. The younger workers also resist “need-to-know” processes and the lack of transparent communication that restricts information to a small pool of decision makers. Companies that pool large numbers of younger workers are thus moving toward greater transparency and inclusion in information and decision-making processes. In particular, pay transparency and equality have become increasingly important as has incorporating trade-offs between overworking and compensation. Millennials do not value money less than other generations. They are, however, cognizant of the value of different elements to the work environment, such as remote working and volunteering and their relationships to compensation levels. Participants said they preferred settings with team cohesion, value international assignments, and access to stretch goals (additional and more challenging goals to be obtained if a project’s objectives are met).

Energy companies are discovering that with the digitalization of the energy sector, they are competing with companies like Google and Facebook for potential employees. Attendees noted that to attract young workers, who value oil and gas companies’ commitments to social responsibility and sustainability, companies need to promote the positive impact of their work.

Barriers Specific to Energy

According to workshop participants, the energy industry has experienced several downturns in recent years, and the cyclicality has had a disproportionate impact on women. During downturns, many companies scale back on diversity programs. Downsizing can affect the female workforce due to the lack of adequate structures and sponsorship from middle management. Some women executives from energy companies said they also found that biases impacted women in periods of downsizing due to the perception that women “have a choice” about whether to stay in the workforce or not. “Whether this ever was or currently is a real choice for some women,” as one executive noted, “from a cultural perspective, the perceived ‘choice’ to work has not always existed for many women.” Separately, it was also noted that in affinity networks inside companies, a vertical, with a higher percentage of women, led by a rising female executive can be adversely affected if the woman does not succeed to the C-suite.

Workshop participants stressed that energy-related technical job postings, especially for higher-level positions, do not often generate a single applicant that would qualify as diverse. One executive noted that most senior women in her organization were in finance or human resources departments, but the way the organization worked, candidates for promotion needed to be in a technical or engineering field to get promoted. This discrepancy in the pipeline for promotions becomes more apparent at the senior level—as there is a larger gender gap at the senior level compared to the entry level, where women comprise close to 50 percent of the employees at that level in her company. Participants said companies needed to have institutionalized programs to overcome the limitations of the internal and external candidate pipeline—including leadership development, cross-training of high-potential workers, and screening processes that eliminate unconscious bias (one company noted it used résumé screening software). To promote diversity and garner its benefits, workshop participants stressed that companies needed to have formal systems and processes that minimize bias and engage employees to embrace diversity. These systems need to be transparent, be consistent, and offer clear measures for accountability. As one executive noted, “What gets measured, gets done.” The executive also said more needed to be done to force the upper management at certain oil and gas firms to push for greater accountability in hiring practices.

Visibility of women in management is also enabling, not only within the companies but also in public industry events. One start-up firm led by women suggested that the visibility of diverse senior management gave them an advantage in recruiting young women. Another firm said funding and supporting women’s organizations and networks gave them greater visibility on available talent. Shareholder investor groups are also pushing management to improve practices on diversity and inclusion, especially on the board and executive levels. More diverse board members notice when management presentations are homogenous, and this also forces change.

Conclusion

The energy industry needs to adopt diversity and inclusion initiatives that are tracked and measured to ensure it is recruiting the best talent available as it replaces the aging workforce. The energy challenges of tomorrow require a diversity of perspectives to tackle global and local issues. Diverse workforces also promote the kind of creative solutions needed to solve 21st-century energy challenges. Baby boomers and Generation Xs alike are already benefiting from more flexibility, pay equity, and greater transparency—steps companies have taken to meet the needs of today’s younger generation of workers.

Throughout the workshop, participants stressed the need for female role models and increased visibility of women in the energy sector, both inside companies and externally in more public settings where the energy industry is present. This visibility is important for the recruitment of more women and people of color into the industry. Workshop participants agreed with studies showing that as companies are seen promoting women and people of color into senior roles, retention of a more diverse workforce of high-potential employees improves. Company boards and investor stakeholders can play a role in helping the energy sector become more inclusive. CGEP’s Women in Energy program will also look to convene future workshops on these topics.

Host Jason Bordoff sits down with Anne Pramaggiore, the president and CEO of ComEd, an electric utility serving customers in Chicago and northern Illinois. Anne joined ComEd in 1998 and, in addition to her current role, has served as the company’s lead lawyer and head of Regulatory Policy and Chief Operating Officer. She is a board member of the Chicago Federal Reserve Board and Motorola Solutions, Inc.

Among many topics Anne and Jason discuss, several include: the democratization of energy and the future of merchant generators; technological changes in the power industry; the outlook for energy storage; and changes in federal regulation and implications for utilities.

India’s energy challenges are diverse and compounded by a growing global commitment to climate change, which has serious implications for India’s reliance on cheap coal to power its cities and villages alike. On this episode, host Jason Bordoff talks with Sunita Narain, Director General of the Center for Science and Environment, one of India’s leading environment NGOs based in Delhi, and one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People for her work on climate change and the poor. They discuss: The role energy access and energy poverty play in India’s energy narrative; How to prevent fossil-fuel addiction among India’s citizens; The challenge of transitioning India off of cheap coal and the role of natural gas in the developing world; The need for smart fuel subsidies; Whether the Paris Agreement is a good deal for India and other developing nations.