Externe Publikationen

Poverty-energy-emissions pathways: recent trends and future sustainable development goals

Malerba, Daniele
Externe Publikationen (2019)

in: Energy for Sustainable Development 49 (April ), 109-124

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2019.02.001
Information

How feasible is it to eradicate poverty by 2030, whilst tackling climate change? What would be the impact of poverty eradication on emission levels and needed mitigation rates? The question is crucial as it addresses the two most critical challenges of our time. Despite the necessity to address both issues simultaneously, a significant gap exists in the empirical literature as poverty and environmental outcomes, including both the level of emissions and energy use per capita, have been researched separately. While it has been shown that no country has achieved high human development with sustainable environmental consumption, more research is needed to link emissions and energy use with poverty directly. The study concludes by underlining the need for a stronger decoupling. Nonetheless given the difficulty of achieving further reductions in energy intensity, and the barriers for a complete de-carbonization of the energy system, alternative development approaches are also proposed.