Gender, Subsidies and Subsidy Reform Strengthening the empirical evidence: Gender inclusive energy policies enabling progress towards the SDGs Gender, Subsidies and Subsidy Reform Lucy Kitson, International Institute for Sustainable Development, May 2017

Scoping the policy issue: why we need research Our hypothesis: Subsidies and their reform affect energy use, and can therefore be expected to affect men and women differently But, scoping work shows that we simply don’t know how and to what extent subsidies and their reform affect women We need to understand effects to prevent adverse outcomes and realize positive outcomes– for this we need data

When it goes wrong: The effects of badly designed policy Subsidy policy Poor women as beneficiaries Shortages & high prices Opportunity cost of subsidies Subsidy reform Income & energy use effects for women Dislocation & protest Specific examples India kerosene subsidies LPG reform in Thailand Nigeria petrol prices Begin slide with – why do we subsidise at all? These effects can be mitigated and benefits realized if they are understood

Informing policy – directions from Nigeria Literature reviews, data audits and pilot studies completed. Surveys and focus group discussions currently underway Different groups will be affected differently depending on energy use Data audits suggest lower income and control over resources for women: focus compensation (in-kind or cash) on women Interventions focused on maintaining access to modern energy sources Previous experience shows communication efforts are a key part of success Understanding context is vital for policy success – not just between, but also within countries