As worldwide 770 million people are still deprived of access to electricity and 2.6 billion people meet their fundamental life necessities like cooking with unhealthy and inefficient fuels.[1] Although energy poverty is concentrated in low-income countries generally, this problem is observed to be common in developing countries, either. This situation is dependent on various reasons, such as low infrastructure investments, insufficient resources, geopolitical problems and high energy prices.[2]
While energy poverty restricts economic growth and social development, causes a major inequality in education, health and overall quality of life. For instance households which are lack of electricity survive with limited lighting sources in education of their children while hospitals cannot provide services in a sustainable way because they cannot use their necessary medical devices.[3] This situation undermines economic equality of opportunity and social stability.
According to the studies conducted, when the total energy spendings of a household exceeds 25 percent of its monthly or yearly budget, can be described as ‘energy poor’. In terms of the electricity sector we can have the same description for households which consume less electricity than 100 kWh monthly-1200 kWh yearly or allocate more than 10 percent of the total budget for electricity expenses. In accordance with the boundaries of status of being ‘water poor’, the poverty line is 3 percent in developed countries, while the evaluation criterion for developing and poor countries is that more than 5-6% of the total budget is allocated for water.
A specific study on natural gas hasn’t been conducted. But taking the total poverty evaluation into account can mean that a household must allocate more than 10% of its disposable income for natural gas consumption to be classified as ‘natural gas poor.’ These percentiles can range in accordance with economies and level of development of countries.[4]
Energy poverty which challenges achieving the goals of sustainable development and climate change having potential to transform into a global crisis in the future. Especially, dependency on fossil fuel in regions with energy poverty accelerates climate change increasing carbon emissions. According to the IEA’s 2022 report, developing countries turn towards fossil fuels which are cheap but dangerous for environment because they cannot access sufficient renewable energy to reduce carbon emissions. That causes intensification in global warming and triggers environmental crises.
At the same time, energy poverty can result in social and economic instability and so, migration crises. People may have to migrate for better living conditions in places where access to energy is limited or doesn’t exist at all. This kind of internal migrations can be examined common in regions such as Africa and South Asia, particularly, in where access to energy is limited. [5] This condition can cause social tensions in large cities facing resource scarcity and increase economic inequalities between countries.
In terms of health, dangers of energy poverty is significant, too. In households which cannot access to clean cooking, in particular, 3.8 million people lost their lives due to indoor air pollution.[6] This number imposes a heavy burden on healthcare systems and it is expected that these causalities will increase as energy poverty continues.
Developed countries have an important role in decrease of energy poverty. Countries of European Union are working to decrease energy poverty with its energy subventions for low-income households, projects on energy efficiency and investments for renewable energy. To the data of Eurostat, (Eurostat, 2021), households in European Union which hasn’t access to energy or face with energy poverty due to high energy costs are around 7 percent. EU adopts directives for energy efficiency and policies aimed at increasing energy consumption to reduce this ratio.
Additionally, USA is also taking various precautions against energy poverty. It conducts projects in favour of increasing the energy efficiency especially in low-income regions and invested approximately 6 billion dollars for energy efficiency programmes in 2020 (EIA, 2021). These investments aim low-income households to increase their access to energy by reducing energy costs.
Nevertheless, approach of developed countries to energy poverty is not sufficient to achieve sustainable development goals. The regions where are challenged by deeper energy poverty, in specific, need more international aid. International institutions like World Bank and United Nations ensure financial support to developing countries via cooperating on this subject. According to the 2021 report of World Bank, the need to increase of renewable energy financing and resources to reduce energy poverty for low-income countries are emphasized.
Conducted academic studies and international reports highlight how a serious problem the energy poverty is in a global scale. To the 2021 report of IEA, when the number of people which has not an access to the energy in 2019 was 770 million, this number is estimated will increase after COVID-19 pandemic even further. For Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations, the access of overall world population to modern energy services until 2030 is aimed, but it seems hard to reach this target considering the current rate of progress (UN, 2022).
Also, examining the data of 2022 presented by World Bank we can say that more than 40% of the population in Africa still lacks access to electricity and this situation forms a great obstacle against economic development of the continent. Development of energy infrastructure and investment for renewable energy resources needs to be done. World Bank notifies that a minimum investment of 30 billion dollars yearly has to be done to decrease the energy poverty.
Energy poverty causes dependency of countries which lack of energy infrastructure on energy suppliers in both economic and political senses. For that reason, influence of countries which are already developed in global balance of power will increase and countries which have limited access to energy will be remained vulnerable. For example, to the data ensured by International Energy Agency,[7] ratio of access to energy in the Sub-Saharan Africa region is under the 50 percent. This situation restricts the growth potential of region and increases its dependency on foreign aids. So, access to energy becomes one of the essential factors to determine countries’ economic dependencies. China’s Belt and Road Initiative empowers the country’s influence ensuring to invest huge amounts on energy infrastructure projects in energy poor countries of Asia and Africa.
Energy poverty is making it difficult for countries to combat climate change, leading to the preference for low-cost fossil fuels, which increases global carbon emissions. Countries without or with limited access to energy are forced to use cheap but environmentally harmful fossil fuels, contributing to the intensification of global warming. These countries are struggling to meet their international commitments, such as the Paris Climate Agreement, because they require financial and technical support for this transition.[8]
Poverty impacts the social structure of developed countries by causing social unrest and migration. People in regions with no or limited access to energy are migrating in search of better living conditions. According to a report by the International Organization for Migration, migration caused by energy poverty has rapidly increased in recent years. Therefore, migration policies in many countries, particularly in Europe, need to be restructured.[9]
A portion of the migration from Africa and the Middle East to Europe originates from regions facing energy access issues. This leads to social problems such as anti-immigrant sentiment in developed countries, creating pressures in domestic politics.
Consequently, energy poverty creates numerous issues in global politics, including economic dependency, security threats, social instability, climate change, and migration, all of which are factors that threaten global peace and security. To mitigate the impact of energy poverty on global politics, developed countries must provide the necessary financial and technological support for the transition to renewable energy in developing countries. Addressing the issue of energy poverty will promote peace, stability, and sustainable development worldwide.
[1] IEA. (2022). Energy Access Outlook. International Energy Agency.
[2] World Bank. (2022). Energy Poverty and Sustainable Development. World Bank.
[3] UNDP. (2022). Energy and Development Report. United Nations Development Programme.
[4] “Dünyada ve Türkiye’de Enerji Yoksulluğu Görünümü.”, Türkiye Doğal Gaz Dağıtıcıları Birliği, https://enerji.mmo.org.tr/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Dunyada_ve_Turkiye_de_Enerji_Yoksullugu_Gorunumu.pdf,(Date Accession: 01.11.2024).
[5] Eurostat. (2021). Energy Poverty in the EU: Statistics Explained. European Union.
[6] WHO. (2022). Household Air Pollution and Health. World Health Organization.
[7] International Energy Agency (IEA). (2021). Africa Energy Outlook 2021.
[8] United Nations (UN). (2022). Paris Agreement Progress Report.
[9] International Organization for Migration (IOM). (2023). World Migration Report 2023.
