Pakistan’s energy sector is grappling with a severe crisis, driven primarily by outdated infrastructure, a heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels, and gender-exclusive governance systems. While the country possesses massive potential to transition from coal-backed power systems, plagued with shortages, to cleaner green energy, addressing energy dependency and scarcity, one significant issue persists. Two stark gender inequalities, one at the underprivileged rural level and the other at the privileged urban level of a patriarchal society, remain, blocking progress on SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy). Pakistan ranks last among 148 countries in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report 2025, underscoring persistent gender disparities, with just 56.7% parity, down from 57% last year, driven by drops in economic participation (34.7% parity) and political empowerment (11%).

Rural Women and Energy Poverty: (Bottom-up Off-Grid Regulation)

On October 15, the International Day of Rural Women recognizes the critical role and contribution of rural women in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security, and eradicating rural poverty. These roles are prevalent in rural Pakistan, but so is energy poverty, which disproportionately affects women’s health, livelihoods, and domestic responsibilities. In rural Pakistan, mostly in off-grid villages, many families rely on firewood and dung for cooking and heating. Women are primarily responsible for collecting firewood, preparing dung cakes, and tending cooking fires—enduring 3–5 hours daily on smoky chulhas. These activities not only contribute to time poverty, curbing opportunities for education (a report by GIZ indicates girls’ school dropout rates to be 25%), income, and leadership, but also expose them to serious respiratory, skin, and eye conditions. While women are expected to inhale the smoke at the expense of education and health, men are freed by social norms from these responsibilities (CGIAR Initiative on NEXUS Gains, 2024; GIZ Pakistan, 2025).

Awan et al. (2022) examined energy poverty trends and the factors influencing energy poverty in Pakistan. The results indicated that during the last two decades, energy poverty has intensified and mostly affects low-endowment, less educated, and female-headed families. Moreover, due to economic instability and circular debt weighing on Pakistan’s energy sector, energy bills have skyrocketed. People are now paying 3–4 times more than they used to before the electricity tariff increases. A study by the CGIAR Initiative and the International Water Management Institute highlighted that energy poverty has also led women to sell their assets, such as jewelry—since these are more liquid than those possessed by men—either to pay bills or to purchase and utilize solar energy panels.

Despite women performing all these unpaid duties at home, female labor force participation in Pakistan remains between 22 and 24 percent, making Economic Participation and Opportunity Pakistan’s worst-performing area in the Global Gender Gap Index, with a score of 34.7 percent (Ali, 2025). While the WEF’s report indicates a rise in female literacy from 46.5% to 48.5%, the reasons behind this seem to be overlooked. Neither the rise in literacy rates nor the decline in tertiary access is solely due to government policies, as the latter is significantly affected by domestic duties, and the rise is driven primarily by relatively low enrollment levels of men at the university level.

Urban STEM Women and Exclusion: (Top-down On-Grid Regulations)

While women in rural areas face energy poverty, gender-based exclusion is also at play in the technical and policy wings of the energy sector. According to a HerEnergy study, gender inequality in Pakistan’s energy sector remains stubbornly high, with women making up merely 4% of technical roles. Many women reported being assigned to “soft” office positions while men dominated field and technical jobs, in a survey conducted by HerEnergy targeting Pakistani energy professionals. Another dilemma faced by working women is the lack of implementation of anti-harassment policies, as many have reported feeling unsafe in male-dominated environments. This gender disparity extends beyond workplaces and policy rooms to education and training. HerEnergy’s study reported that while the number of women with STEM degrees is increasing, many of them, upon entering the field, feel unprepared for technical roles due to a lack of hands-on, practical training in fields like engineering.

Gender and Green Energy Compact: Gender Responsiveness and Governance Reforms

At COP29, the world pushed for a global transition to renewable energy sources that will be three times faster by 2050. This global transition presents Pakistan with a holistic opportunity to solve its energy crisis and gender inequality issues. Pakistan possesses massive renewable energy potential, which can be leveraged to close gender gaps at both levels. Women in off-grid villages (70% of rural Pakistan) can benefit from government-subsidized micro solar grids, biogas plants, and clean cookstoves.

On one hand, this will address energy poverty while simultaneously slashing women’s daily 3–5-hour firewood burden and exposure to associated health issues. This, in turn, will reduce barriers to tertiary access by freeing time for girls’ education. Since clean energy sources emit fewer greenhouse gases compared to the firewood and LPG used in villages, replacing the latter with renewable energy will also contribute to Pakistan’s climate mitigation targets. Women can be trained through funded capacity-building programs to install and operate decentralized, community-level solar and biogas plants, creating job opportunities that will ultimately contribute to Pakistan’s struggling economy.

The HerEnergy study unveiled a less visible aspect of Pakistan’s energy sector. Despite lagging in gender diversity and inclusion, women who work in renewables tend to be overwhelmingly driven and passionate about creating positive change. The renewable energy sector is in its early stages of development in Pakistan and is continually evolving. With less entrenched gender roles and the right support, it can serve as a gateway for women in STEM, scientists, and policymakers to rise to prominence. By investing in gender-sensitive education programs, providing specialized training, and ensuring significant exposure to practical work, Pakistan can build a workforce that will not only reshape the future of the energy sector through innovative and inclusive ideas but will also help meet 3x renewable goals.

This gender and green energy compact—via bottom-up off-grid gender responsiveness and top-down on-grid governance reforms—contributes to Pakistan’s journey toward a sustainable and inclusive future by advancing SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), and SDG 13 (Climate Action) through improved learning opportunities, enhanced decision-making power, workforce equality, reduced emissions, and resilient energy systems.

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Khalid, S., & Hafeez, M. (2024, October 15). Where energy poverty limits not only lights but lives:
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