NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

There is a triple threat to our people and planet that demands urgent, bold responses: inequality, climate change and energy poverty. The realities of these threats and their impacts are well known:

• The climate is in dire crises, with climate impacts on people and ecosystems more widespread and severe than expected, increasing climate vulnerabilities among those very populations that suffer the highest energy access deficits.
• We are failing at delivering universal energy access – 675 million people still lack access to electricity, 84% of them in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Gender justice and the global advancement of women’s status has slowed, and disparities have widened across countries. This inequality is exacerbated by two facts: the lack of energy access is starker when viewed through a gender lens and an estimated 80 per cent of people displaced by climate change are women.

Despite these known realities, there are few players and funders operating at the energy, gender and climate nexus. This is where Shine comes in. Shine is leading innovative, unusual and multidisciplinary partnerships elevating energy access within the broader advocacy of the Just Transition and demonstrating that decentralized renewable energy access initiatives enable gender just climate solutions.