Energy after Rio - Prospects and Challenges - Executive Summary (UNDP, 1997, 38 p.): 2. Energy and Major Global Issues: 2.1 Energy and Social Issues: 2.1.1 Poverty

Energy after Rio - Prospects and Challenges - Executive Summary (UNDP, 1997, 38 p.)

(introduction...)

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Notes on the Authors and Contributors

Abstract

1. Introduction

2. Energy and Major Global Issues

(introduction...)

2.1 Energy and Social Issues

2.1.1 Poverty

2.1.2 Gender Disparity

2.1.3 Population

2.1.4 Undernutrition and Food

2.2 Energy and Environment

2.2.1 Health

2.2.2 Acidification

2.2.3 Climate Change

2.2.4 Land Degradation

2.3 Energy and the Economy

(introduction...)

2.3.1 Investment Requirements of Energy

2.3.2 Foreign Exchange Impacts of Energy Imports

2.4 Energy and Security

(introduction...)

2.4.1 Energy and National Security

2.4.2 Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Weapons Proliferation

2.5 Energy and Global Issues: The Implications

3. New Opportunities in Energy Demand, Supply and Systems

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Demand Side: Energy and Energy-Intensive Materials Efficiency

3.3 Supply Side: Renewables and Clean Fossil Fuel Technologies

3.4 Fuels and Stoves for Cooking

4. Sustainable Strategies

4.1 Global Energy Scenarios

4.2 Implications for the Developing World

4.3 Implications for Energy Exporting Economies

4.4 Some General Implications of Sustainable Energy Systems

4.4.1 Energy and the Economy

4.4.2 Energy and Poverty

4.4.3 Creating Jobs

4.4.4 Women

4.4.5 Rural Development

4.4.6 Urban Development

4.4.7 Energy and the Environment

4.4.8 Energy and Security

4.5 Conclusions

5. Making It Happen: Energy for Sustainable Development

Glossary of Abbreviations

2.1.1 Poverty

people living in poverty pay a higher price per unit of energy services than do the rich

Poverty is indisputably among the world’s largest, most urgent and most fundamental issues. Despite this, poverty has received scant attention from an energy perspective. This neglect of the poverty-energy nexus is most surprising since energy is of vital importance to the satisfaction of basic needs, particularly nutrition and health.

A large proportion of humanity does not enjoy the benefits that modern energy sources and devices bring. About 2 billion people still cook using traditional fuels, and 1.5-2 billion people are without access to electricity.

Energy services constitute a sizeable share of total household expenditure in developing countries. People living in poverty pay a higher price per unit of energy services than do the rich. They also spend more time obtaining these energy services. The substitution of modern energy carriers and more efficient energy conversion devices would confer sizeable gains in purchasing power on poor urban households. Improvements in energy efficiency have considerable potential to reduce poverty in all of its key dimensions, and to facilitate development.

improvements in energy efficiency have considerable potential to reduce poverty

Patterns of energy consumption among people living in poverty tend to further worsen their misery. Firstly, because these people spend a higher proportion of their income on energy, they are less likely to accumulate the investments necessary to make use of less costly or higher quality energy sources. Secondly, the use of traditional fuels has a negative impact on the health of household members, especially when burned indoors without either a proper stove to help control the generation of smoke, or a chimney to vent the smoke outside.

Policies and programmes that directly address the creation of opportunities for people living in poverty to improve the level and quality of their energy services (by making more efficient use of commercial and non-commercial energy and by shifting to higher quality energy carriers) will allow the poor to enjoy both short-term and self-reinforcing long-term improvements in their standard of living. By contrast, the standard poverty-alleviation strategies - macro-economic growth, human capital investment, and redistribution - do not focus on the energy-poverty nexus in developing countries. If energy is left out of poverty elimination strategies, such as those promised by the Copenhagen Social Summit, these strategies are doomed to fail.