Tuesday 29 September 2020
ENGIE among major energy firms committing to better gender balance at the top
The leaders of six top energy companies – between them representing over 66,000 employees in the UK – have today signed up to the Energy Leaders’ Coalition (ELC), a public commitment to improve gender diversity and inclusion within their own organisations and across the UK energy sector. BP, Drax, Engie, EON UK, Subsea 7 and Wood join the ELC in response to the poor level of female representation at senior levels in the industry, recognising that better balance is good for business.
The new members are:
• Peter Mather, SVP Europe and Head of Country UK - bp
• Will Gardiner, CEO - Drax
• Nicola Lovett, CEO - Engie
• Michael Lewis, CEO - EON UK
• John Evans, CEO - Subsea 7
• Robin Watson, Chief Executive - Wood
They join the existing eight members of the ELC formed in May 2018 as part of POWERful Women’s campaign to advance the careers of women in energy. Recent analysis by PwC of the boards of the top c.80 UK energy companies showed that representation at senior levels remains low, although some progress has been made:
• 21% of board seats are occupied by women – up from 16% in 2019 and 13% in 2018
• 13% of executive board seats are occupied by women – more than double last year’s 6%
• However, more than a third (38%) of the UK’s top energy companies have no women on their boards at all
• More than two-thirds (79%) have no women occupying executive board seats.
The ELC is a safe space created by POWERful Women for company leaders to interact honestly with their peers and to explore the diversity and inclusion ideas that matter and the strategies that work. They find it helpful not just for gender diversity, but for taking care of everyone in their organisation. We’re looking forward to working with the new members to ramp up progress on female representation in the sector as we still have a long way to go.”
Nicola Lovett, CEO of ENGIE UK & Ireland, said: "ENGIE has for many years practiced a conscious policy of promoting gender diversity and professional equality – but we recognise that as a business and more importantly as an industry sector there is much more that can be done.
"As business leaders, we are collectively in a position to drive real change on important themes such as diversity and inclusion. I am delighted to be joining the Energy Leaders’ Coalition and look forward to working closely with all of the members to exchange perspectives and explore ways to continue to take positive steps to increase levels of female representation within our leadership teams and also to ensure we inspire a diverse next generation of talent into a rewarding career in the energy industry.“
