It is estimated that in 2005, close to US$ 200 billion were spent on energy subsidies in developing and middle-income economies.  Although some may question the exactness of such figures, it is well known that subsidies are high in many countries.  Thus, some key questions can be asked about how such subsidies are distributed.  They include questions such as: (1) what energy service or product is subsidized, and does it take into account gender-sensitive priorities? (2) Is the impact of energy subsidies equitably distributed among women and men? and (3) do women and men have equal access to subsidy mechanisms?

At the global level, there is only limited empirical evidence of gender disparities in subsidy policies, impacts or access to energy subsidy mechanisms. It is estimated that the bulk of energy subsidies are applied to liquid fuels – mostly gasoline and natural gas in hydro-carbon rich countries (no data are available on subsidies for biomass if any); and the bulk of the subsidies were expended in Asia and the former Soviet Union, with Africa and Latin America expending much less.  Subsidies on household fuels which would enable the substitution from wood or charcoal to kerosene and LPG would be the ones which potentially have a substantial impact on women in terms of reducing the time and health burden of fuel supply and use, while benefiting the whole household from reduced indoor air pollution. Yet, in many countries, the petroleum fuels most used by the poor, that is kerosene for cooking, lighting or heating, and paraffin, are often heavily taxed, leaving women to rely on the traditional fuelwood and/or charcoal.  By contrast, LPG, which is used by middle or upper income groups in the urban areas, is often subsidized. Governments who subsidize grid electricity may discriminate against those who are not connected as they lose out on the benefits from other expenditures that could apply to them. In resource constrained environments, analyzing subsidy policies through the gender lens is critical in determining priorities. For example, since biomass will remain over the next decades a primary source of household fuels for over two billion people, policy makers should weigh the relative merits of subsidizing investments to make fuelwood production and use more efficient and sustainable and or subsidize access to electricity.

Various subsidy mechanisms are available to policy makers seeking to increase access to modern energy products and services, including capital subsidies, bulk power subsidies, lifeline rates and cross subsidies for electricity; direct subsidies to users, targeted income subsidies, or indirect subsidies through the reduction of taxes for petroleum products. Again, analyzing the various subsidy schemes through the gender lens will enable policy makers to ensure that both women and men-headed households have equal access to subsidy mechanisms.