Column : Equity is also built with green hydrogen

By Grace Keller, director and founder of H2News, Vice President of H2 Chile and member of Women in Green Hydrogen.

It is not enough to hire more women. A structural transformation is required: changing the organizational culture, guaranteeing fair salary policies, offering real training and leadership opportunities.

Chile's green hydrogen industry is writing a new chapter in the national energy
story. One that promises innovation, sustainability and territorial development.
However, if this new story aspires to be truly transformative, it cannot be written without women. Today, according to the latest study by the Ministry of Energy, through the Energy for Women Program, female participation represents 21.3% of the workforce in the Chilean energy sector.

And if we talk about technical or operational positions, the figure drops drastically to less than 5%. In the nascent and expanding green hydrogen industry, data are still insufficient, but projections indicate that it will replicate the masculinized trend of traditional energies if we do not intervene now.

From H2News we have witnessed the accelerated growth of this industry. The main hydrogen projects submitted to the SEIA represent investments exceeding 43 billion dollars. This momentum is an unprecedented opportunity to set new standards, where the inclusion of women is not just an item in a tender, but a strategy for competitiveness and sustainability. And it is not just a matter of ethics or fairness: it has been proven that diverse teams make better decisions, innovate more and achieve higher returns.

The recent study led by ChileMujeres and CORFO reinforces this urgency. It identifies 14 key dimensions for integrating a gender perspective in organizations, from institutional commitment to infrastructure, supply chain and parental co-responsibility.

It is not enough to hire more women. A structural transformation is required: changing the organizational culture, guaranteeing fair salary policies, offering real training and leadership opportunities, and establishing protocols against harassment and discrimination.

From our position in the industry we have made progress. The Green Hydrogen Action Plan 2023-2030 incorporates a cross-cutting approach to gender, and the new CORFO Financing Program for H2V projects requires the implementation of equality plans. But there is still a lack of connection between these policies and what happens at the work sites, in the territories, in the teams. Real inclusion is played out on a day-to-day basis, not in PowerPoint presentations. That is why we also celebrate the work of networks such as Women in Green Hydrogen, which, from an international perspective, promote female leadership and create bridges between
experts around the world. In Chile, this network has been key to make visible the challenges, but above all, the solutions. Brilliant women are already leading laboratories, designing projects, negotiating with banks, managing companies. What we need is for them not to be the exception, but the norm.

Chile has the opportunity to become a global hub for green hydrogen. But that leadership must also be social. An industry that excludes 50% of the population cannot be considered sustainable. The energy transition will not be fair if women are not included.