Policies to alleviate energy poverty in times of crisis

Abstract

In view of the current energy crisis, supply chain disruptions, as well as rising fossil fuel and electricity prices, combating energy poverty has become a vital issue. In the last year, the number of people experiencing energy vulnerability or poverty throughout Europe has risen and will likely continue to do so. Various reasons can be traced back as to why such an increase in energy poverty numbers has happened, including the last two major disruptions experienced in the past 5 years, namely the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war. To combat this phenomenon, new policy measures need to be introduced by governments. Since energy poverty is a socio-economic issue, touching upon various areas of knowledge, a multidisciplinary approach needs to be taken. For this reason, the following panel considers diverse policies proposed to alleviate energy poverty. These may stem from varying fields of research and backgrounds, so long as the common end-goal is combating energy poverty. This holistic approach avoids the limitation of gathered knowledge to be centered on one specific area of expertise, enabling comparison between approaches as well as lessons learnt from national contexts. By gathering papers from different countries, scientific fields, and climatic conditions, a broad but specific overview of possible policies proposed to combat energy poverty can be obtained.

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