Green Transitions in Developing Countries: Perspectives on Women’s Political Leadership

Abstract

Green transition by reducing CO2 emissions and curtailing the exploitation of natural resources while increasing renewable energy use and generation is one of the most important targets in sustainable development. This study investigated the impacts of women’s empowerment in politics on the green transition in developing countries. We applied a fixed-effects model to the panel data for 131 developing countries from 2000 to 2019. Our findings indicated that higher levels of participation by women in politics are likely to reduce CO2 emissions and reliance on natural resources. However, there was no statistically significant effect of women’s political empowerment on renewable energy consumption. Women’s political participation enhanced the transition towards sustainable energy sources such as geothermal and wind energy. We also found that the effects of women’s political participation on CO2 emissions were greater in countries with better political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, control of corruption, and voice and accountability. This study contributes to the growing literature in feminism and environmentalism on the achievement of sustainable development.