Confronting Energy Poverty in Europe: A Research and Policy Agenda

Stefan Bouzarovski,Harriet Thomson,Marine Cornelis

doi:10.3390/en14040858

Stefan Bouzarovski, Harriet Thomson + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/en14040858

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Journal: Energies	Publication Date: Feb 7, 2021
Citations: 91	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Birmingham, University of Manchester

Abstract

This paper scrutinizes existing policy efforts to address energy poverty at the governance scale of the European Union (EU) and its constituent Member States. Our main starting point is the recent expansion of energy poverty policies at the EU level, fuelled by the regulatory provisions of the Clean Energy for all Europeans Package, as well as the establishment of an EU Energy Poverty Observatory. Aided by a systematic and customized methodology, we survey the extensive scientific body of work that has recently been published on the topic, as well as the multiple strategies and measures to address energy poverty that have been formulated across the EU. This includes the principal mitigation approaches adopted by key European and national institutions. We develop a framework to judge the distributional and procedural justice provisions within the recently adopted National Energy and Climate Plans, as an indicator of the power, ability and resolve of relevant institutions to combat the causes and consequences of energy injustice. We also provide a research and policy agenda for future action, highlighting a series of scientific and decision-making challenges in the European and global context.

Highlights

Following a long history of relative obscurity and neglect, energy poverty has gradually emerged as a central policy issue within the European Union (EU)
We focus on the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) at the Member State level, investigating the pertinent provisions and measures that have been formulated in this domain
Based on the source data and classification of COVID-19 measures developed by the authors [108], it is possible to examine how many COVID-19 policies are cumulatively present in different groups of European countries, in relation to the severity of energy poverty

Summary

Introduction

Following a long history of relative obscurity and neglect, energy poverty has gradually emerged as a central policy issue within the EU. This paper examines existing and recent policy commitments to address energy poverty at the governance scale of the EU and its constituent Member States. We focus on the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) at the Member State level, investigating the pertinent provisions and measures that have been formulated in this domain. Considering that the term “secure” involves both affordability and access dimensions, such a framing allows for multiple governance challenges around energy provision to be taken into account [28] Building on this conceptual approach, the paper consists of six parts. We highlight the principal avenues for future research and policy, including the need for greater attention towards local and regional measures to combat energy poverty, the involvement of different decision-making silos, as well as the systemic challenges associated with existing monitoring and policy framings

Materials and Methods

Energy Poverty in Europe

Combatting Energy Poverty via EU Policy

Energy Poverty

Conclusions