An assessment of energy vulnerability in Small Island Developing States

Anna Genave, Stéphane Blancard and Sabine Garabedian

Ecological Economics, 2020, vol. 171, issue C

Abstract: Small Island Developing States (SIDS) suffer from several structural characteristics that jeopardize their ability to achieve a sustainable energy future. Their reliance on imported fossil fuels exacerbates their exposure to external threats on international energy markets. Their energy systems are also exposed to internal disturbances that disrupt the proper production, transmission and distribution of energy. The aim of this paper is to investigate the extent to which island energy systems are vulnerable to shocks and internal dysfunctions over which they have no control. For this purpose, we build a composite index of energy vulnerability using the Multi-Layer Benefit-of-the-Doubt approach. Such an approach enables the identification of economic, environmental and social dimensions that play an important role in the relative energy vulnerability of SIDS. Ultimately, we shed light on the priority areas requiring immediate attention in order to mitigate energy vulnerability in SIDS.

Keywords: Energy vulnerability; SIDS; Composite index; Energy security; Multi-Layer Benefit-of-the-Doubt Model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800919306330
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:171:y:2020:i:c:s0921800919306330

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106595

Access Statistics for this article

Ecological Economics is currently edited by C. J. Cleveland

More articles in Ecological Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().