Daily Archives: April 22, 2022

The $12.8 million Ohiopyle Multimodal Gateway project, designed to improve safety and promote tourism, is among 12 finalists competing for a national award.

The project included building a pedestrian tunnel from a boat parking lot to the Youghiogeny River and Ohiopyle State Park Visitor Center, and widening Route 381 with shoulders for pedestrians and bicyclists. Route 381 now has continuous sidewalks, on-street parking and a dedicated bike lane. Sugarloaf Road was relocated to improve the grade of the road, reconstruct the boat parking lot with additional spaces and build the pedestrian underpass.

These enhancements improved safety for all visitors, regardless of travel mode, while improving convenience and accessibility to the park for everyone, said a statement from the PennDOT District 12 Progress Report.

The project won a regional award, Americas Transportation Award from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The project was recognized in the category of Quality of Life/Community Development (Small).

The Top 12 finalists will compete for the national grand prize awarded by a panel of judges and for the Peoples Choice Award, selected by online voters.

We hope that Pennsylvanians will turn out to support this project by voting in the competition, PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian said in a statement. This recognition truly reflects the departments hard work to improve the publics enjoyment of this amazing state park.

PennDOT District also completed a number of projects in 2021, including slide repairs at 11 locations in the district, said Melissa Maczko, Acting Safety Press Officer.

Roadway damage from slides continue to be a challenge in southwest Pennsylvania, with more than 12 currently being monitored in the District 12, she said.

A 300-foot wide, 160-foot high slide led to an emergency road closure on U.S. 40 in Wharton Township June 24, with traffic detoured through Confluence for nearly two months.

As many as four pieces of equipment were operating on the hillside as a convoy of 10-12 trucks were loaded with material and transported to a local site. During the process 5,330 truckloads were transported to the dump site amounting to 58,630 cubic yards of material, she said.

Repairs cost about $2 million. The road was reopened August 13.

PennDOT also completed replacement and rehabilitation of two bridges carrying traffic on Route 1051 (Breakneck Road) over Butler Run and Spruce Run for $400,000.

In addition to the many construction projects in District 12, our county maintenance crews working out of 30 stockpiles located in Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland counties completed a variety of maintenance activities, she said. These activities included sealcoating 433 miles of roadway, paving 113 miles of roadway, shoulder cutting of 1,362 miles of roadway, line painting of 7,015 line miles of roadway, and spent over 19,463 hours performing litter pick up. Additionally, crews replaced and updated signs, performed mowing operations, slide repairs, and pipe replacements.

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PennDOT's Ohiopyle project nominated for national award | Progress | heraldstandard.com - Uniontown Herald Standard

When I was in sixth grade, my illustrious career as a mediocre pianist came to an end. At the time I quit piano lessons, I was stumbling through the process of learning to play one of Clementis sonatinas (Op. 36, No. 2). I have carried the book of music (which includes six short sonatas) with me ever since occasionally playing the piece on college dorm pianos, or in our homes when we have had a piano. The yellow book is now a bit rough around the edges, but in fairly good shape after all the years of packing and unpacking.

Yesterday, I took out my book to play the music once again and noted the many pencil markings which my long-suffering piano teacher, Mrs. Vixie, had added to the pages. She had circled areas where I needed to adjust my tempo or pay attention to my volume. After all these years, I can play the sonatina at approximately the same level of expertise as when I was 11. Muscle memory kicks in during the parts I learned well, and I might convince someone for a moment that I have real talent. Unfortunately, the same muscles which demonstrate mastery of some sections continue to struggle with all those circled portions from my past.

I tend to pass some judgment on myself when I play this piece. I find great enjoyment in playing the parts I know well. Energy and creative power seem to flow through my unpracticed fingers for a few minutes out of my week. And yet, those troublesome parts continue to be concerning, and I feel critical of my lack of effort toward greater musical talent. I dont have an ear for music, as my husband and sons do. They may hear a tune in a movie score and recreate it on our piano after only a few minutes of trying.

As I have asked myself in the past, how is it helpful to focus on my perceived deficiencies, and perhaps compare my musical abilities with others? I am convinced it really is not very helpful at all. Where I tie this in with a broader life perspective is the concept of how we judge our own (and others) growth through difficulties. If I reached out to a dear friend, who is a phenomenal piano teacher, and asked for help to improve my piano skills, I know that could make a big difference. If I then committed to practicing and learning the skills my sixth-grade self never internalized, Im confident I would improve. But honestly, I dont really want to use my limited time and resources to improve at my piano playing. For now, I am content with adjusting my mindset about how I play this piece and focusing on the enjoyment I get from playing the portions I have mastered.

What about the growth processes we see in others? With our children, our spouses, our siblings, our friends, how do we judge the speed or effort with which they work through their own challenges? I have certainly been guilty in the past of feeling self-righteous about the superiority of my methods for handling spiritually troubling questions as they arose. I felt like I was handling things the right way as I researched, talked with others, and took action regarding my questions. As I have had subsequent challenging experiences and emerged from my all-knowing young adult mindset, I now see much greater value in sitting still with questions and discomfort.

Sometimes a crusade for answers, truth, and knowledge is not actually the right path. Getting hard questions answered is sometimes not even especially important.

As life stretches on, we may look back on seasons marked with searching and others marked with waiting. Sometimes we are learning so much about ourselves and our world as we walk jauntily along our path. Other times we are simply clinging tightly to what matters most, trying to keep our tired eyes open and our feet trudging through a frigid downpour. No matter how we are moving through life, we can acknowledge we are never alone on the path, whether we are actively searching or waiting out a storm.

Palmer is a mother of four and doctoral student at the University of Idaho. She has lived on the Palouse with her husband and children since 2012. Palmer is studying youth development through overnight camp programs and can be reached at acpalmer@uidaho.edu.

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Her View: The value of progress versus the power of stillness - Moscow-Pullman Daily News

London, April 20, 2022

SHELL PLC

NOTICE OF 2022 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND SHELLS ENERGY TRANSITION PROGRESS REPORT

Shell plcs 2022 Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled to be a hybrid meeting, facilitating both physical and virtual attendance

Board requests shareholder support for Companys annual progress on its energy transition strategy

Shareholders encouraged to vote in advance of the AGM, but voting enabled during the meeting

Today, Shell plc (Shell) posted its Notice of 2022 Annual General Meeting (the Notice), which can be viewed and downloaded from http://www.shell.com/agm. The Notice states that the AGM is scheduled to be held at Central Hall Westminster, Storeys Gate, Westminster, London, SW1H 9NH, United Kingdom at 10:00 (UK time) on Tuesday May 24, 2022.

Shells Board requests support for the Companys annual progress on its energy transition strategy Shells Energy Transition Progress Report has also been published today. The document is published simultaneously with the Notice and shall be deemed to be incorporated in, and form part of, the Notice.

At last years AGM, 88.74% of Shells shareholders that voted, supported Shells Energy Transition Strategy. Shell is implementing that strategy and this year the Board is asking shareholders to support the Companys progress by submitting Shells Energy Transition Progress Report to a shareholder advisory vote.

Although the Shell Energy Transition Progress Report is included in this announcement, we recommend you view the online PDF of the document, which is available at http://www.shell.com/agm.

Arrangements for the 2022 AGMAt the time of this announcement, it is anticipated that the AGM will be a hybrid meeting. This provides three ways in which shareholders can follow the proceedings:i) attending and participating in person; ii) attending and participating in the webcast by registering through an electronic platform (virtually attending); or iii) simply watchingthe webcast (www.shell.com/AGM/webcast). Shareholders not physically present at the meeting that want to vote or ask questions at the meeting, should access the virtual meeting by registering through the electronic platform.

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More information can be found in the Notice and via the website referred to above.

Shareholders are encouraged to register in the Keep up to date section of the Shell website at http://www.shell.com/investors to receive the latest AGM news.

Shareholder questionsA question-and-answer session will be held during the AGM and will allow in-person and virtual participation. Instructions about how to ask a question will be provided to shareholders once the meeting has been accessed on May 24, 2022. Further information can also be found on pages 20 and 23 of the Notice, available on our website at http://www.shell.com/agm.

VotingIt is as important as ever that shareholders cast their votes in respect of the business of the AGM. We strongly encourage our shareholders to submit their proxy voting instructions ahead of the meeting. Any advance voting must be done by completing a proxy form or submitting proxy instructions electronically. We strongly encourage you vote as early as possible.

If appointing a proxy, shareholders are strongly encouraged to appoint the Chair of the meeting to ensure their appointed proxy is present and can vote on their behalf.

National Storage MechanismIn accordance with the Listing Rules, a copy of each of the documents below have been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and are/will be available for inspection at: https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism.

Annual Report and the Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2021

Notice of the 2022 Annual General Meeting

Shell Energy Transition Progress Report

Notice of Availability of Shareholder Documents

Proxy Form relating to the 2022 Annual General Meeting

The Annual Report and the Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2021 can also be viewed and downloaded from the Companys website: http://www.shell.com/annualreport.

Printed copies of the Notice and associated documents will be despatched to those shareholders who have elected to receive paper communications.

Shell plcEnergy Transition Progress Report 2021

CONTENTS

01 INTRODUCTION02 Chairs message04 Chief Executive Officers introduction06 Carbon performance at a glance07 Progress summary

08 OUR PERFORMANCE09 Absolute emissions11 Net carbon intensity

14 SECTORAL DECARBONISATION15 Transforming the energy system16 Building new supply chains19 Changing demand across sectors

23 FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK24 Investments and returns25 Investing in net zero

26 POLICIES AND GOVERNANCE27 Climate policy engagement27 Climate governance28 A just transition29 Climate standards and benchmarks

31 LITIGATION AND ACTIVISM32 Climate litigation and activism

33 MILESTONESINTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY

Welcome to the Shell Energy Transition Progress Report. This report aims to update investors and wider society on how Shell is progressing with the energy transition strategy that investors supported in 2021.

02 CHAIRS MESSAGE04 CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERS INTRODUCTION06 CARBON PERFORMANCE AT A GLANCE07 PROGRESS SUMMARY

CHAIRS MESSAGE

Sir Andrew Mackenzie, Chair, Shell plc

As we publish this report, the war continues in Ukraine. We are working hard to ensure the safety of our staff and contractors, and to support relief efforts. We have also announced our intention to withdraw from Russian oil and gas.

As well as being a human tragedy, the war has led to rising energy prices and uncertainty about supplies.

This extreme disruption in global energy markets has shown that affordable, secure, and reliable energy cannot be taken as a given. It must be protected and managed, through international co-operation: companies, governments and wider society working together. This co-operation includes working with our shareholders and maintaining their support.

Shell will play a leading role as the worlds energy systems change. We will continue to supply the oil and gas that people need today. As one of the worlds largest suppliers of liquefied natural gas (LNG), we can ship natural gas to where it is needed most. At the same time, we are accelerating the transition to low- and zero-carbon energy, which is at the heart of our strategy.

Essentially, an accelerated transition is the best way to ensure security of energy supplies. It is also the best way to help people in some parts of the world who do not yet have access to energy, which is essential for a better quality of life.

Towards net zeroWe firmly believe our climate targets are aligned with the more ambitious goal of the UN Paris Agreement on climate change: to limit the increase in the average global temperature to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. The actions Shell takes over the coming years, and our progress against our short- and medium-term targets, will be crucial steps to ensure that we become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050.

In the first year of our Powering Progress strategy, we have laid the foundations for success. We have taken critical investment decisions in the production of low-carbon fuels, solar and wind power, and hydrogen. We have made significant changes to our Upstream and refinery portfolios, we reshaped the organisation and we simplified the company and its share structure. We have formed partnerships with some of the worlds biggest companies in sectors from aviation to road transport and technology.

In 2021, we added an ambitious new target to halve absolute emissions from our operations and the energy we buy to run them by 2030 (Scope 1 and 2), compared with 2016 levels and on a net basis. We are well on our way with an 18% reduction by the end of 2021.

For comparison, we estimate that global energy- and fossil-related CO2 emissions actually rose by 2.4% in the period between the end of 2016 and the end of 2021, based on International Energy Agency (IEA) and other data.

Change in demandWe believe that for the world to decarbonise, a dramatic change in demand for energy is just as critical as changes to supply. That is why an essential part of Shells strategy is working with our customers across different sectors to reduce emissions.

We are helping our customers to identify and use low- and zero-carbon alternatives to the energy products they have used for many decades: renewable electricity and hydrogen to power homes, cars, trucks, businesses, and industry; biofuels for cars, trucks and planes; LNG for power, trucks and ships; and carbon capture and storage and nature-based carbon offsets to deal with any remaining emissions.

This is not only the right approach for the world. It also makes good business sense. We see great business opportunities for Shell in the fast-growing low- and zero-carbon markets where we are well positioned to provide the different products and solutions our customers need.

We are leading the way in new technologies that will help to decarbonise our operations, and to reduce emissions for our customers. Our scientists are developing new ways to store hydrogen safely, including underground, for example, which will be critical to ensure secure, large-scale supplies of hydrogen to our industrial customers in the future. And our engineers are designing LNG projects which are powered by renewable electricity.

RemunerationWe included progress in the energy transition in the calculation of the annual bonus for almost all Shells employees in 2021. Now we are going further. From 2022, we have extended how we measure progress to cover three key themes; reducing emissions from our operations, sales of low- and zero-carbon products and partnering with others to decarbonise road transport.

In 2019, we were the first major energy company to include an energy transition performance metric in our Long-term Incentive Plan for senior executives. This has vested for the first time at 180%, reflecting our progress in transforming Shells business for a lower-carbon future.

Stronger and more profitableLast year, 89% of Shells shareholders voted in favour of our energy transition strategy. We are implementing that strategy, and this year we are asking shareholders to vote on our progress, as we will do every year until 2050. The next energy transition strategy update for an advisory vote is in 2024 and we will give another update on our progress next year.

Securing shareholder support as we implement our Powering Progress strategy is good governance. The vote on our progress towards our targets and plans is purely advisory and will not be binding on our shareholders. The legal responsibility for Shells strategy lies with the Board and Executive Committee.

When I look at what we have achieved in 2021, and our plans for the years ahead, I believe that Shell will become stronger and more profitable by providing the low- and zero-carbon energy products and services that our customers need. That is good for our shareholders. It is good for our customers. It is also good for the worlds climate goals and the planet.

The continued support of our shareholders is critical for us to become a net-zero emissions energy business and a leader in the energy transition. We believe that Shells energy transition strategy is in the best interests of our shareholders as a whole and wider society.

The Board recommends that you vote in favour of Resolution 20 in support of the progress that Shell has made in its energy transition strategy over the past year as described in this report.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERS INTRODUCTION

Ben van Beurden, CEO, Shell plc

In a time of great uncertainty, it is vital that our long-term energy transition strategy remains on track. This report shows the strong progress we have made towards our target to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050.

It will take bold moves for Shell to achieve net zero. In 2021, we took some significant steps. We completed one of the biggest restructurings in our history, making us a more agile company. We decided to simplify our share structure, and moved Shells headquarters from the Netherlands to the UK.

TargetsIn this Energy Transition Progress Report, we show our progress against our climate targets in the year since our shareholders overwhelmingly supported our energy transition strategy.

We are making significant progress in a long-term plan. Crucially, we set a new target to reduce absolute emissions from our operations by 50% by 2030, compared with 2016 on a net basis. By the end of 2021, we had achieved a reduction of 18%. We achieved our short-term target to reduce the net carbon intensity of the energy products we sell by 2-3% by the end of 2021, also compared with 2016.

Now our targets start to get more ambitious. We are working towards a 9-12% reduction in net carbon intensity by 2024, and a 20% reduction by 2030. To put our targets into context, the International Energy Agency Net Zero by 2050 scenario suggests that the transport sector, which accounts for most of Shell's emissions, needs to see a reduction in net carbon intensity of 18% by 2030.

From today, our target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 is no longer conditional on societys progress, marking a further step forwards. This reflects the leading role we will play in the energy transition. We must find ways to be ahead of society where we can, while remaining a successful and profitable company.

As we have seen from the recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world needs to take urgent action to meet its climate goals. While countries, companies and individuals are making significant changes, there is still a risk that the world will not achieve net-zero emissions by the middle of the century. This could mean that Shell would find it hard to meet its 2050 target as well. We are rising to that challenge and will demonstrate over time how we will reach our goal.

Working sector by sectorWe are investing in low- and zero-carbon products such as renewable electricity, hydrogen, biofuels and chemicals. We are building a leading hydrogen business, and now operate 10% of total electrolyser capacity in the world. We are already one of the worlds largest producers of biofuels through our joint venture in Brazil. And last year we started building one of Europes biggest biofuels facilities.

Crucially, we are working sector by sector to identify the low- and zero-carbon products and services that our customers need. And we are laying the foundations for future expansion by building capacity and expertise. At the beginning of 2022, for example, with our joint-venture partners, we won bids to develop 5 gigawatts of floating wind power in the UK, enough to power 6 million homes. That is more than double the number of homes in Scotland.

Investing in net zeroOur Upstream business continues to provide the oil and gas the world needs today, and generates the returns to fund distributions to shareholders and our investments in the energy transition. Our production and sales of oil and gas will decrease in the coming years as we transform our business.

At the same time, our investments in the energy system of the future will increase significantly. By 2025, we expect around half of our total expenditure (cash capital expenditure and operating expenses) to be on low- and zero-carbon products and services including biofuels, hydrogen, power, charging for electric vehicles, carbon capture and storage, nature-based solutions, chemicals and lubricants. In 2022, we expect that around one third of our total expenditure will be on these low- and zero- carbon products and services.

Our planned investments in countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and the UK put us among the leading investors in the energy transition there. In the UK, for example, we plan to invest 20-25 billion ($26-33 billion) over the next ten years, mostly in low- and zero-carbon projects including offshore wind, hydrogen and charging for electric vehicles, subject to Board approval.

Shareholder engagementA central part of our Powering Progress strategy is delivering value for our shareholders. We have made good progress here too. In 2021, we produced a strong financial performance and announced an $8.5 billion share buyback programme in the first half of 2022.

We will continue our dialogue with shareholders as Shell transforms and evolves. It is important that we are transparent about our progress in the energy transition. From the first quarter of 2022, we intend to publish more information about the profitability of our Renewables and Energy Solutions business, something that investors have asked for.

We believe that our strategy delivers secure and reliable energy that will accelerate the energy transition and deliver strong profits and returns to shareholders. I ask our shareholders to vote for Resolution 20 in support of our progress towards our targets and milestones as we accelerate towards net zero.

CARBON PERFORMANCE AT A GLANCE

PROGRESS SUMMARY

We are transforming into a net-zero emissions energy business. In 2021 and the beginning of 2022 we:

Reduced our Scope 1 and 2 emissions from our operations by 18%, and reduced the net carbon intensity of the energy products we sell by 2.5%, both by the end of 2021 compared with 2016.

Formed more than 50 collaborations with other leading companies aiming to be at the forefront of the energy transition. Continued to build a material power business. We had 1.6 million retail customers worldwide by the end of February 2022, compared with 900,000 at the end of 2020. We have 4.7 gigawatts (GW) of renewable generation capacity in operation, under construction and/or committed for sale. We have a further 38 GW of renewable generation capacity in our pipeline of future projects.

Expanded our hydrogen business. We have started production from 30 megawatts (MW) of electrolysers that can produce around 4,300 tonnes a year of decarbonised hydrogen. We are looking to take final investment decisions on 10 times this capacity in 2022. We own and operate 10% of global electrolyser capacity today.

Took a final investment decision on a facility in the Netherlands to produce 820,000 tonnes of biofuels a year. This facility will be one of the largest in Europe to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel made from waste, and is expected to start production in 2024.

Continued to build the infrastructure that our customers will need as they move to low- and zero-carbon energy.

Expanded our electric vehicle charging network to almost 90,000 charge points at the end of 2021, from around 60,000 in 2020.

Increased the number of liquefied natural gas (LNG) refuelling sites in Europe and increased the number of sites for hydrogen refuelling in Europe, North America and China.

Announced our ambition for SAF to make up at least 10% of our aviation fuel sales by 2030.

Expanded our LNG bunkering operations, including the worlds first bio-LNG bunkering, to help to reduce emissions from the marine sector. We also worked with others on programmes to develop hydrogen fuel cell propulsion for ships.

Worked with customers across sectors such as commercial, light industry and technology to decarbonise their energy use by providing renewable electricity.

Developed partnerships in the heavy industry sector to explore how hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS) can be used to reduce global carbon emissions.

Invested in CCS. We have two CCS projects in operation and more than 10 under development. Retired around 6 million tonnes of nature-based credits, excluding trading activities, in 2021.

Supported climate-related government policies that advance the goal of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

OUR PERFORMANCE

Read in more detail about our performance against our climate targets and how we are working to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

09 ABSOLUTE EMISSIONS11 NET CARBON INTENSITY

ABSOLUTE EMISSIONS

REDUCING OUR ABSOLUTE SCOPE 1 AND 2 EMISSIONSTo achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, we are transforming how we produce energy as we continue to meet growing demand.

In October 2021, we set a new target to halve the emissions from our operations (Scope 1), plus the energy we buy to run them (Scope 2), by 2030 compared with 2016 levels on a net basis.

We have identified six main ways to decarbonise our operations:

making portfolio changes such as acquisitions and investments in new, low-carbon projects. We are also divesting assets and reducing our production through the natural decline of existing oil and gas fields;

improving the energy efficiency of our operations;

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Notice of 2022 AGM and Shells Energy Transition Progress Report - Yahoo Finance

During the global COVID-19 pandemic, women have carried much of the unpaid emotional and domestic burden of caring for their families and communities, often simultaneously holding down paid jobs, many on reduced hours or salaries.

Women have also been disproportionately affected by job losses, particularly women of color and ethnic minorities. Worldwide, women lost more than 64 million jobs in 2020 alone, resulting in an estimated US$800 billion loss of income.

Mirroring these trends, women in Aotearoa New Zealand faced greater economic, social and health challenges than men. In 2020, women made up 90% of pandemic-related redundancies. In 2021, many more women were working in precarious jobs. Whine Mori and Pacific women, already facing greater inequalities, have been even harder hit by job losses.

During this time, rates of domestic violence against women and girls surged in New Zealand and around the world, prompting some to refer to a double pandemic or shadow pandemic. Womens physical and mental health has been heavily affected for both frontline workers and in the home.

As ongoing research by a cross-cultural team of feminist scholars has been documenting, New Zealand women have found different ways to cope through the various stages of the pandemic. But with the pandemic exacerbating gender inequalities in most areas of life, the fear is that decades of (albeit uneven) momentum towards gender equity is being lost.

While some governments have taken steps to address womens well-being during the pandemic, such as introducing shorter or flexible work hours, they remain the minority.

Organisations such as the United Nations and the OECD have identified the need to develop better support for women within pandemic recovery programmes. And some countries have advocated more progressive strategies, including prioritising local feminist and Indigenous knowledge. But the uptake of such initiatives has been minimal at best.

Read more: NZ Budget 2021: women left behind despite the focus on well-being

In Aotearoa New Zealand, the 2021 Wellbeing Budget sought to support into employment those most affected by COVID-19, including women. But the focus on male-dominated industries (such as construction and roading), and lack of initiatives aimed at women as primary carers, meant this was largely a missed opportunity.

While this general lack of gender-responsive policy has been troubling, women have been far from passive in their own responses, both individually and collectively.

As the stories of women from diverse backgrounds in Aotearoa New Zealand have shown in our own and others research, many have turned to their own cultures, social networks and religions to help them through the pandemic. Others have used sport and exercise, nature and digital technology to build a sense of belonging and support during difficult times

Read more: Working out at home works for women so well they might not go back to gyms

Such strategies have helped them manage unprecedented levels of stress in their own lives, and the lives of those around them. Women have been active and creative in the ways theyve found to care for themselves and others.

Yet these everyday acts of care by women for their families and communities are rarely seen, valued or acknowledged.

As the pandemic continues, women everywhere are suffering the hidden costs of caregiving. In Aotearoa New Zealand, as elsewhere, new COVID variants have seen them even busier caring for sick family members often while unwell themselves.

The effect has been to rethink priorities, who and what is most important, and to question the expectations shaping their lives.

Read more: Fewer than 1% of New Zealand men take paid parental leave would offering them more to stay at home help?

Some of the women in our studies have taken bold steps starting a new business, moving town, reorganising work-life balance, putting their own health first. Others have simply acknowledged their own vulnerability and need for community. As two of the women we interviewed said:

I think for me its been more of a reaffirmation that what I am doing is good enough [] Like I dont need to be all of these things. We put so much pressure on ourselves [] we spread ourselves too thin [] trying to be a whole bunch of other peoples ideas of being the best person.

You need to be real about how you are feeling and a little bit vulnerable, not hide things or bottle things up or try to be everything to everybody. I learned the power of being vulnerable, of people and community, and the importance of connection and the importance of kindness and being okay with whatever youve got in your mind.

The stress and mounting fatigue characteristic of life during COVID-19 are undoubtedly prompting many women in Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas to ask questions about the gendered economic and social systems that may no longer be working for them, and the infrastructures that are failing to support them.

Some are turning away from their busy working lives, opting instead to find a slower pace, to live more sustainably, and to give back to their communities in a range of ways.

Read more: The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates the pressures faced by women caregivers

Some even refer to the gendered effects of the pandemic economy as the great she-cession. But its clear we need to better understand the social, economic and cultural conditions prompting these changes.

What we can say, however, is that genuinely gender-responsive policies are urgently needed. The often used mantra of building back better must prioritise the knowledge of local women in all their diversity, and there is much we can learn by listening to womens everyday experiences of the pandemic.

Not doing so risks decades of gender equity work slipping away.

The rest is here:

The pandemics disproportionate impact on women is derailing decades of progress on gender equality - The Conversation Indonesia