This Research for Policy and Practice report, developed under the Clean Energy for Development: A Call to Action initiative, draws on three research projects(including UNU-INRA's INFoCAT project), that examines clean energy through a care lens.
The report first shows the underlying relationship between Clean Energy and Care
The report highlights that, though the shift to clean energy is often talked about as a technical or climate issue, it should also be seen as a people and care issue, with major consequences for everyday life—especially for women.
The report shows that, across Africa and Asia, women carry the largest share of unpaid care and domestic work: cooking, collecting fuel and water, caring for children and elders, and processing food. When energy is unreliable or expensive, these tasks take longer, are more physically demanding, and leave women with little time for rest, education, or paid work.
Clean energy can change this—but only if it is designed with care in mind.
Clean energy can reduce women’s daily burdens
Evidence from Ghana, Senegal, Kenya, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Vietnam and Côte D’Ivoire shows that, technologies like:solar irrigation pumps, solar-powered, agro‑processing equipment, mini‑grids and clean cooking solutions, can cut hours of hard manual labour, reduce physical strain, and ease women’s time poverty. For many women, energy access means fewer hours grinding grain, hauling water, or manually watering crops—and more time for income, learning, or rest.
But these benefits are not automatic. Efficiency alone is not enough
The report alerts that if clean energy programmes focus only on productivity or efficiency, they can unintentionally reinforce inequality. When women save time but have no control over assets or decisions, the “saved” hours are often absorbed into:
- more unpaid care work
- expanded farm labour without pay
additional household responsibilities
In some cases, improved technology simply helps families do more work, rather than fairer work.
A simple framework: Recognise, Reduce, Redistribute
The report introduces a clear way to think about energy and gender:Recognise unpaid care work as real and valuable, Reduce care burdens through time‑ and labour‑saving energy solutions and Redistribute care responsibilities—between women and men, households and public services.
The report is authored by Rumbidzayi Makoni, Jessica Meeker, Jorge Davalos, Jane Mariara, Maria-Ancilla Bombande, Barbara Baidoo, Leonard Hasu, Vanessa Awanyo, Michele Diop, Luciano Barin-Cruz, Ibrahima Dally Diouf, Syrine Gabsi, Modou Wade.
Learn more about the INFoCAT Project :
To cite this report :
Makoni, R. et al. (2026) Clean Energy Transitions: A Care Economy Lens, Clean Energy for Development: A Call to Action (CEDCA) Research for Policy and Practice, Brighton: Institute of Development Studies, DOI: 10.19088/CEDCA.2026.001
Suggested citation: Clean Energy Transitions: A care economy lens : UNU-INRA, 2026.
