Energy Poverty and Energy Justice
Why 750 million people still lack electricity, how energy poverty traps nations in underdevelopment, and what energy justice demands.
The Scale of Energy Poverty
Roughly 750 million people worldwide lack access to electricity, and 2.3 billion cook with polluting fuels that cause nearly 4 million premature deaths annually. Energy poverty is overwhelmingly concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Without electricity, children cannot study after dark, clinics cannot refrigerate vaccines, businesses cannot operate machinery, and digital connectivity is impossible.
The numbers mask stark inequalities. A person in the US consumes roughly 300 times more electricity than a person in South Sudan. The poorest billion people on Earth use less energy than the richest 10 million. Energy poverty is not just an inconvenience -- it is a fundamental barrier to human development, education, health, and economic opportunity.