Guidelines for inclusive and equitable energy and transport modeling

Energy and transport models are powerful tools for shaping policy, development pathways, and financial decisions. However, these models often fail to account for gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), perpetuating systemic inequities and excluding the needs of marginalized communities. This perspective presents guidelines, developed through a collaborative process informed by a scoping literature review and expert consultation with modelers and social scientists, for integrating GESI into large-scale energy and transport systems modeling processes, particularly in low- and lower middle-income countries. By addressing key challenges-such as data disaggregation, the limits of current model architectures, and the complexities of quantifying social factors-we outline steps to incorporate GESI considerations throughout every stage of the modeling life cycle. While developed with energy and transport systems in mind, the principles of these guidelines are broadly applicable to other infrastructure modeling domains. Ultimately, this work demonstrates how inclusive modeling practices can produce more equitable, context-sensitive results, and foster sustainable development outcomes.