Over the last decade Australia has made slow but steady progress advancing two economic indicators that will lay the groundwork for our future prosperity. The first is the impressive progress we've made in expanding renewable energy generation. The second is increased efforts to advance female leadership in the workforce.
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Within the last 10 years alone, renewables' share of the energy generation mix has more than doubled to around 29 per cent. Meanwhile, according to Chief Executive Women, the percentage of women in the executive leadership teams of ASX200 companies has also increased to 29 per cent, from 21 per cent six years ago.
It's welcome progress, but not enough. If Australia meets its climate goals it could add at least $680 billion to our economy by 2070, according to Deloitte Access Economics.
Similarly, lifting the number of women in leadership positions has a strong economic multiplier effect. Not only does it help close the pay gap, but the Workforce Gender Equality Agency research shows increasing the representation of women in key leadership roles can add market value between $52 million and $70 million for an average sized organisation.
The good news is an alignment between business, government, and the community on these issues. In January the Federal government signed an international pledge backing equal pay, leadership, and opportunity for women in the clean energy sector by 2030.
But achieving that goal won't be easy. Overall, women make up less than 39 per cent of the clean energy workforce, and even less in leadership positions. Part of the problem is the continual under-representation of women in STEM fields that feed into the sector.
In the STEM-aligned fields of technology and engineering, women still make up less than 30 per cent of the workforce. Professions at the forefront of the change such as environmental impact, planning and adaptation, mining, construction, energy, land management, utilities, and agriculture also have weak female representation.
Unless we make a concerted effort to improve female participation in these future-facing industries now, the pipeline of female talent will only trickle and not flow - meaning we risk ceding hard won ground in the battle for workplace gender equity as these industries grow while at the same time stifling the full economic benefit of the transition to net zero.
The workforce changes needed to deliver the climate transformation provide a once in a generation opportunity to make a step change in workforce diversity.
Currently, only 36 per cent of ASX300 companies have gender balance targets for executive leadership teams. There simply must be more emphasis on increasing the number of women in leadership and STEM roles.
This can be supported by a commitment to bring diverse perspectives to the net zero transition. For example, by insisting on gender balance in leadership and quotas for women and minority groups in climate capability development programs, or as a pre-requisite for investment funding.
Organisations must also work to increase the share of women in leadership roles, particularly where there are decisions about climate. As part of a broader push for diversity, they must establish or reinforce targets on the percentage of women in climate leadership roles and pipelines for these roles, and extend these targets to include other groups, especially First Nations women.
Additionally, organisations need to bring together climate and diversity strategies at the organisational level and drive an intentional focus on gender in all climate change and disaster risk management policies and programs. Failing to consider the impact of the climate transformation will otherwise hinder the effectiveness of diversity efforts.
Finally, business and government must collaborate to accelerate gender equity through the climate transition and adaptation by developing a long-term view of the workforce and skills needed today and into the future.
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Of course, any analysis of the impact of the climate transition on women is incomplete without also considering its impact on men. Even though future-facing industries are dominated by men, so too are industries that are set to be phased out or significantly change as the economy decarbonises.
The idea of reskilling into a new career without choice is daunting. Support is required for these individuals and their communities to transition to a new role effectively. A poor outcome is that these individuals struggle to transfer their current skills into a new career.
A clear view of how to support those in roles today that are in decline, while concurrently bringing a strong pipeline of female talent to future roles is critical to unlocking the full economic and social upside of the transition.
- Natasha Stott Despoja AO is a principal at Deloitte and a former federal senator. Katherine Wannan is a partner at Deloitte's Climate and Sustainability Practice.
