Decent living gaps and energy needs around the world
File(s)
Published version
OA Location
Author(s)
Kikstra, Jarmo Sybren
Mastrucci, Alessio
Min, Jihoon
Riahi, Keywan
Rao, Narasimha D
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Interest has grown in recent years to define the terms of decent living standards (DLS), the material underpinnings of human well-being. We assess the gaps in health, shelter, nutrition, socialization and mobility needs within countries, across the world. Our results show that more people are deprived of such provisions than the number of income poor, even when measured against income poverty thresholds. We estimate the energy needs for building out new infrastructure to support the provision of DLS to all by 2040 to be about 290 Exajoules, which is less than three-quarters of annual global energy demand today. The annual energy requirements to support decent living for the global population thereafter is estimated at 156 EJ/year. Present energy demand levels in most countries exceed hypothetical DLS energy needs. Still, the required rate of increase in energy for decent living in the coming two decades would be unprecedented for many countries. Greater attention to equity would significantly reduce the need for growth. Countries' per capita energy needs to provide the same DLS vary by up to a factor of four due to differences in climate, urbanization, diets and transport infrastructure. Transport energy dominates energy for decent living worldwide, while housing requirements additionally dominate upfront energy investment needs. This study supports the claim that the increase in energy provision for eradicating poverty does not in itself pose a threat to mitigating climate change at a global scale. Distinguishing energy for affluence and for decent living could provide a basis to define equitable access to sustainable development in energy terms.
Date Issued
2021-08-10
Date Acceptance
2021-08-10
Citation
Environmental Research Letters, 2021, 16 (9), pp.1-12
ISSN
1748-9326
Publisher
Institute of Physics (IoP)
Start Page
1
End Page
12
Journal / Book Title
Environmental Research Letters
Volume
16
Issue
9
Copyright Statement
© 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd. As the Version of Record of this article is going to be/has been published on a gold open access basis under a CC BY 3.0 licence, this Accepted Manuscript is available for reuse under a CC BY 3.0 licence immediately.
Although reasonable endeavours have been taken to obtain all necessary permissions from third parties to include their copyrighted content within this article, their full citation and copyright line may not be present in this Accepted Manuscript version. Before using any content from this article, please refer to the Version of Record on IOPscience once published for full citation and copyright details, as permission may be required. All third party content is fully copyright protected, and is not published on a gold open access basis under a CC BY licence, unless that is specifically stated in the figure caption in the Version of Record.
Although reasonable endeavours have been taken to obtain all necessary permissions from third parties to include their copyrighted content within this article, their full citation and copyright line may not be present in this Accepted Manuscript version. Before using any content from this article, please refer to the Version of Record on IOPscience once published for full citation and copyright details, as permission may be required. All third party content is fully copyright protected, and is not published on a gold open access basis under a CC BY licence, unless that is specifically stated in the figure caption in the Version of Record.
License URL
Sponsor
Natural Environment Research Council [2006-2012]
Identifier
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac1c27
Grant Number
NE/S007415/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Physical Sciences
Environmental Sciences
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
decent living
energy
poverty
human needs
climate
equity
POVERTY
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-09-02