Women Entrepreneurs in South Asia’s Energy Transition: Key Insights

Background:

As the world accelerates towards a sustainable energy future, women are playing a critical role in advancing renewable energy solutions as entrepreneurs. However, they continue to face systemic barriers in accessing finance, technology, and leadership opportunities.

As the world prepares for COP30, it is essential to highlight the work of women at the forefront of the energy transition while providing a platform to share opportunities, challenges, and recommendations for their meaningful engagement as solution providers.

To this end, SHE Changes Climate will host a webinar to provide a platform for women entrepreneurs to discuss concrete cases, showcase their solutions, and share recommendations for an increased and meaningful participation of women in the needed energy transition.

Objectives:

• Showcase women-led renewable energy enterprises and initiatives in South Asia.
• Explore opportunities for women as solution providers in the energy transition.
• Highlight key challenges, including financial, policy, and socio-cultural barriers.
• Share recommendations and a call to action for the meaningful inclusion of women in the energy transition.
• Promote women’s leadership in driving equitable and sustainable energy solutions.

Key Themes:

1. Entrepreneurship in Renewable Energy: Highlighting women-led ventures in solar, wind, hydro, and bioenergy solutions.
2. Opportunities for Women as Solution Providers: Exploring financing, capacity building, and technology access for women in the sector.
3. Challenges and Barriers: Highlight gender biases, policy constraints, and access to funding.
4. Women Leadership: Showcase strategies for supporting women leaders in energy decision-making.

Speakers:

• Keynote Speaker: Mamta Borgoyary, Executive Director of SHE Changes Climate

Panelists:

• Divya Gaur - Program Lead CEEW: Divya is a social impact professional focussed on working towards augmenting positive socio-economic and environmental changes at the grassroots level with a data-driven approach. At The Council, Divya is a part of the Powering Livelihoods team, looks into the impact measurement, and supports integrating gender inclusivity into the design of the initiative. Divya is also an entrepreneurship enthusiast and, in the past, has conceptualised ideas at the intersection of women empowerment and sustainability, such as zero waste and sustainable clothing. Divya also supports social enterprises which focus on gender inclusion, with respect to design and implementation, on a pro bono basis. Divya holds a Master's in Economics from TERI University and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Delhi University.

• Ms. Kanika Verma, Associate Vice President, Development Alternatives Group: Kanika Verma leads the Sustainable Enterprise vertical of the Development Alternatives Group and is the Director of Indian Micro Enterprises Development Foundation, a section 8 company, that aims to build local ecosystems for green and inclusive entrepreneurship. She is passionate about social innovation and system change and sees herself ‘building bridges’ from grassroots work to global discourse on inclusive innovation, entrepreneurship and the future of work. In pursuit of the above, she is part of various working groups on women’s entrepreneurship and social economy both in India and around the world. Her current portfolio includes building a social innovation platform to boost job growth for women and youth; enabling a just transition through locally owned energy solutions by women; and facilitating a transition of women’s livelihoods to move from subsistence-driven entrepreneurship to opportunity-driven entrepreneurship to unlock women’s economic empowerment at scale. She is currently pursuing an M.Phil. with a specialisation in Inclusive Innovation at the University of Cape Town. She led a financial investment firm in the U.S.A. for seven years prior to joining Development Alternatives Group in 2011 to pursue her ambition of being a social entrepreneur.
• Marium Khalid, Head of Legal - Punjab Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation Agency (PEECA), Energy Department, GoPb, & Co-Founder, Women in Energy Pakistan: Marium Khalid is an energy and natural resources lawyer with over fifteen years of experience in leading law firms and as an in-house counsel. She started her career with Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan and was fortunate to be a part of the historic Lawyers Movement in 2007. She currently heads the legal department at Punjab Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation Agency (PEECA), Energy Department, GoPb; the first public sector entity dedicated to demand side management to bridge the gap between the demand for and supply of energy. Energy efficiency is a nascent area in Pakistan and she and her team strive to create more awareness on its importance especially as Pakistan grapples with energy crises. Prior to her in-house role, she was engaged in private practice with the law firm Ahmer Bilal Soofi & Co in Islamabad as part of the Disputes Resolution Team. She represented the State of Pakistan and the Government of Balochistan in parallel arbitrations before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Court of Arbitration in Paris and London respectively in a significant gold and copper mining dispute. Marium is the Co-Founder of Women in Energy- Pakistan which is a professional network focused on streamlining the role and fostering the growth of women in the energy sector. As Chair of the Lahore Hub, she is often seen at conferences advocating for gender parity and the importance of critical minerals in the energy transition. She is a big proponent of local manufacturing and creating a downstream industry for minerals to steer Pakistan towards energy security. She was nominated for the International Visitors Leadership Program in 2020 by the US State Department to participate in US Best Practices in Energy Infrastructure. She holds a Master of Laws (2009), Graduate Diploma (2011) from University of Melbourne, Australia and LLB (Hons) from University of London (2005). She served as President of the Postgraduate Law Students Association (PLSA) at Melbourne Law School; the first ever South Asian to hold the coveted position.

Moderator:

• Chetana Naskar PHD, SHE Changes Climate Country Lead for India