Navigating Pushback in DEI Initiatives within the Energy Industry; All-Energy Conference 2025

Emma Behjat, our Axis Network Chair attended All-Energy 2025, a low-carbon and renewable conference and had the opportunity to speak with Erikka Askeland from Energy Voice about DEI and whether the events unfolding in the US will have an impact on us here in the UK. The discussion was held on the New Talent stage with opportunity for the audience to engage.

Erikka opened up the discussion by asking Emma to describe her initial reaction to President Trump executive orders, repealing government policies on gender and diversity. Emma reflected that Trump had said during his campaign that he wanted to ‘address’ DEI, so she knew something would happen but was surprised at how quickly he acted and how harshly. She expressed sympathy for those whose livelihoods have been put at risk as ‘we in the industry know how destabilising and stressful this can be.'

Further exploring the impact President Trump has made, Erikka asked whether DEI is ‘woke’ or good if it is good for business?

Emma stated that classing DEI as woke is weaponizing it for a political agenda. ‘DEI stands for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – its not, and never has been, about unfairly promoting a minority group over the majority one; its about ensuring everyone has a fair chance to sit at the table.  It has been clearly shown in research that diversity improves decision making, innovation and creativity, all of which contribute to being good for business and helping the bottom line.'     

Looking to explore whether what’s happened in the US will be mirrored in the UK, Erikka asked ‘If the US sneezes, the UK catches a cold so will we see the same pushback here?'

Emma responded with a reassuring message. 'The policies in the UK are different from the US. In the UK, many DEI policies are informed by the Equality Act, which doesn’t influence hiring based on a protected characteristic. However, in the US they had (prior to President Trump’s roll back) what’s called ‘positive affirmative action’ which incentivised (in certain circumstances) hiring based on a protected characteristic. This can lead to assumptions hired candidates have not been offered the role based on merit, even if that is not the case, potentially causing resentment. It also opened up organisations to law suits, which kick started the political backlash for DEI programmes. In the UK however, the reverse is happening; new legislation is being brought in that strengthens workers’ rights through the Employment Rights Bill and any roll back on DEI could open up an organisation to legal action. So, no I don’t think we will go down the same path as we have approached DEI differently. Without positive affirmative action targets the UK and UK legislation is in a different place in terms of DEI which will mitigate us from the same level of backlash seen in the US. However, with so much still to do in this space, there is no room for complacency. Not only must we ensure we don’t stagnate or give way to pushback against DEI programmes but continue to progress to a more inclusive future.'