The Impact of Energy Poverty Alleviation on Carbon Emissions in Countries along the Belt and Road Initiative

Xinyu Wang, Yinsu Wang and Kui Zhou ()
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Xinyu Wang: Research Institute of Economics and Management, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 610074, China
Yinsu Wang: School of Economics, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 611130, China
Kui Zhou: School of Economics, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 611130, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 11, 1-21

Abstract: Energy poverty and climate change are global challenges. While the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has fostered energy cooperation and alleviated energy poverty in BRI countries, its impact on climate change requires careful examination. This study investigates the impact of energy poverty alleviation on carbon emissions in BRI countries and analyzes the underlying mechanisms. In particular, this study constructs an integrated energy poverty assessment framework that includes three dimensions of energy accessibility, cleanliness, and affordability and utilizes the entropy-TOPSIS method to assess the status of energy poverty in 70 BRI countries. Subsequently, an empirical analysis using the Gini index as an instrumental variable was conducted to explore the impact of energy poverty alleviation on carbon emissions and the specific mechanisms. It is found that alleviating energy poverty in BRI countries will lead to an increase in per capita carbon emissions. However, improving energy cleanliness is effective in reducing per capita carbon emissions, while improving energy affordability has no significant impact on carbon emissions. This study shows that energy poverty alleviation and carbon emission reduction are two non-conflicting sustainable development goals. BRI countries can synergize energy poverty alleviation and carbon emissions reduction by focusing on clean energy development and providing energy subsidies.

Keywords: BRI countries; energy poverty; carbon emissions; instrumental variable (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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