Thinking about ways to tackle hunger and poverty also implies reflecting on universal access to energy. In an exclusive article for the G20 Brasil website, André Leão, researcher from Ineep (Institute for Strategic Studies of Petroleum Natural Gas and Biofuels), discusses the concept of energy poverty, pointing out how investments to overcome the problem can help tackle hunger and poverty- a priority of the Brazilian presidency of the G20. In the text, Leão, who is also a PhD in Political Science from the Institute of Social and Political Studies of the State University of Rio de Janeiro (IESP-UERJ) recalls that the topic is one of the priorities of the G20 Energy Transitions Working Group, which holds its next ministerial meeting between September 30 and October 2.
The creation of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty at the G20 Summit, launched during the group's ministerial meeting in Rio de Janeiro in July, gives Brasil a new chance to become, once again, a global protagonist in tackling hunger and poverty, an agenda put forward worldwide by President Lula already in his first term, in 2004. But it is necessary to reflect on the various facets of poverty, for example, the energy issue and the impacts that it has on it. In this way, the concept of energy poverty is reached.
In Brasil, this concept is still little debated, and the G20 appears as a space that sheds light on it, helping to understand how the absence of energy resources in certain regions is an obstacle to people's access to modern services and to overcoming poverty. In this context, within the scope of the Energy Transitions Working Group - and supported by past public policy experiences, such as Luz para Todos ("Light for All") - the Brazilian government listed energy poverty as a priority theme, which links the social issue to the energy transition.
According to the most recent data (2022) from the International Energy Agency (IEA), approximately 2.3 billion people worldwide lack access to clean energy sources, relying primarily on firewood, kerosene, and coal for cooking. In percentage terms, this means that 71.3% of the global population has access to clean cooking, while 28.7% do not.
Thinking about ways to tackle hunger and poverty also implies reflecting on universal access to energy. The need for thermal comfort, food cooling, lighting and water heating are major financial challenges for low-income families with precarious infrastructure. The way out for many of these families, when faced with such expenses, is to use "dirty" energy sources, for example, for cooking.
Access to technologies that ensure clean cooking depends on the formulation of effective public and investment policies and public and private financing. Considering that the poorest regions of Asia and Africa are those where populations suffer most from lack of access to clean cooking, South-South cooperation actions are essential to transfer/disseminate successful public policies. In this way, the Brazilian proposal to create a global coalition to support countries with low state capacities for energy planning is interesting. Assisting in developing long-term energy transition policies in countries whose matrices are still highly concentrated in fossil energies should be a path to contribute to the goal of reducing global carbon emissions.
According to the most recent data (2022) from the International Energy Agency (IEA), approximately 2.3 billion people worldwide lack access to clean energy sources, relying primarily on firewood, kerosene, and coal for cooking. In percentage terms, this means that 71.3% of the global population has access to clean cooking, while 28.7% do not. When looking at the data by regions, the inequality is striking. Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest percentage of access: only 18.5% of the population. Then, the Asia-Pacific region, with 72.2%, slightly above the global average. With the exception of these two regions, all others have percentages around 90% or higher, as shown in the following graph.
To begin reversing this uneven scenario and achieve the goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, IEA forecasts indicate that approximately 300 million people need to gain access to clean cooking technologies each year, such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), biomass-powered stoves (especially in rural areas), biogas, ethanol, and electricity. However, the expansion of the use of such energy sources depends on a massive increase in investments, which should reach 8 billion dollars per year by 2030.
These figures demonstrate the urgency of tackling energy poverty in the world. The concept should be the subject of broad debates by political actors, such as governments, parliamentarians, parties and unions, civil society, and the private sector, to address two fundamental issues: the formulation of solid public policies that contribute to the development of new energy technologies that help to alleviate household budgets; and means of financing from the public sector and the private sector that sustain, in the long run, the continuous reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. In this context, the G20 emerges as a foundational platform that can serve as a catalyst for a joint effort to combat energy poverty.
