ESP is helping the Government of Ukraine draft laws, rules, regulations, methodologies, procedures and mechanisms to improve the energy sector, integrate with European markets and benefit all Ukrainians. In every activity, we operate with a strong commitment to environmental and social protection and progress, and our programs explicitly include environmental protection, gender integration, and youth and education issues.
Environmental Protection Management
ESP applies global ecological requirements and best practices to ensure that Ukraine’s energy development is sustainable environmentally as well as economically. We approach this work with dual goals: strengthen environmental protection management while also helping national and local governments improve their planning, access funding, implement projects and upgrade the quality of customer service. ESP experts build our partners’ capacity to take ecological issues into account throughout the whole project cycle. When carrying out any activities in the electricity, natural gas, district heating or RES sectors, we are governed by an environmental mitigation and monitoring plan (EMMP) to make sure we use the best environmental protection practices and address any concerns quickly and effectively.
Gender Integration
Gender integration is woven throughout all ESP components and is critical to project success. ESP promotes better integration and involvement of women and underrepresented groups in the energy sector; it creates opportunities for women to develop technical and leadership skills and monitors energy markets’ impact on women and underserved groups. To inform project implementation, ESP started by conducting a gender assessment of Ukraine’s energy sector and sharing the results at a roundtable for ESP partners.
In 2019, ESP signed a memorandum of understanding with the Women’s Energy Club of Ukraine (WECU), the main association of female experts in the energy sector. The WECU includes members of Verkhovna Rada committees on energy and utilities, energy sector experts and representatives of international organizations. ESP is assisting the WECU in its professional development.
To ensure equal rights and opportunities for women and men in the energy sector, ESP is introducing a gender equality training program for employees of energy utilities. So far, the national energy company Ukrenergo, the state-owned Market Operator and public utility Kyivteploenergo have taken part in the program, and their employees have successfully passed the training and obtained their certificates. At Kyivteploenergo and the Market Operator, employees have established gender committees, the first of their kind in Ukraine.
ESP is continuously working to bring market participants’ attention to the experiences and best practices of women who work in energy. Two ESP roundtables titled “Women in the Energy Sector” have highlighted female power engineers’ achievements and the main issues they face working in the sector.
Youth and Education
ESP promotes energy education and supports the development of practical energy economics experience in key Ukrainian educational institutions. As part of ESP’s grants portfolio, project partners are working with our team to develop bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in energy. They also plan to provide assistance for higher education graduates pursuing jobs in the energy sector, with special attention to the education and accreditation of energy traders.
To create a strong candidate pool that ensures greater representation of women and diverse social groups in the energy sector, ESP is planning an activity to support girls and women from early education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) all the way through employment and career growth. We also promote job experience programs for talented engineering students and mentorship in energy companies. Other activities include conferences, congresses, and study tours to encourage youth to choose a career in the energy sector.
