If It’s Not Feminist, It’s Not Just.

The document critiques the current global energy system as a driver of climate change and systemic oppression, particularly affecting women in the Global South. It warns against 'false solutions'—such as greenwashing and 'purplewashing'—where corporations adopt environmental or feminist rhetoric without challenging underlying power structures. The report advocates for a 'Feminist Just Energy Transition' based on energy democracy, public ownership, and the centrality of care work and life sustainability over profit accumulation.

• The current energy system is rooted in colonialism and maintained by a neocolonial, neoliberal, and extractivist global political economy that prioritizes capital accumulation over the sustainability of life.
• Women, particularly in the Global South, are disproportionately impacted by the energy system due to the sexual division of labour and environmental racism, often bearing the brunt of pollution and loss of livelihoods while lacking land ownership rights.
• The transition to renewable energy risks repeating the injustices of the fossil fuel era if it continues to rely on extractivism, leading to land grabbing and human rights abuses in the Global South to secure minerals for the Global North.
• The report identifies 'greenwashing' and 'purplewashing' as strategies used by corporations to mask exploitative practices by presenting themselves as environmentally responsible or promoters of gender equality without implementing systemic change.
• Technocratic approaches to energy transition often ignore the 'endosomatic' energy of care work and the sexual division of labour, treating women as beneficiaries or aid-receivers rather than political subjects.
• A Feminist Just Energy Transition requires a shift toward people-centered, public-owned energy systems, the decommodification of energy, and the integration of degrowth to live within planetary limits.
• The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted a 'care crisis' where the productive economy was prioritized over the essential, disproportionately female-led work of sustaining communities and nature.
• The report calls for the implementation of binding regulations and due diligence obligations for renewable energy industries to ensure they are held accountable for impacts throughout their supply chains.

APA

Fernandes, M. (2021). If It’s Not Feminist, It’s Not Just. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/If-its-not-feminist-its-not-just_FoEI.pdf

Chicago

Fernandes, Marianna. If It’s Not Feminist, It’s Not Just. Friends of the Earth International, 2021. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/If-its-not-feminist-its-not-just_FoEI.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Fernandes |first1=Marianna |title=If It’s Not Feminist, It’s Not Just. |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=November 2021 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/If-its-not-feminist-its-not-just_FoEI.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fernandes2021its, author = {Fernandes, Marianna}, title = {{If It’s Not Feminist, It’s Not Just.}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2021}, month = nov, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/If-its-not-feminist-its-not-just_FoEI.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }