Ending Energy Poverty

Hisham Zerriffi, Assistant Professor and Ivan Head South/North Research Chair, Liu Institute for Global Issues, discussed Ending Energy Poverty on The Agenda with Steve Paikin on April 27, 2016. Much of his research focuses on institutional factors impacting the diffusion of new technology, determinants and patterns of household energy choice and welfare implications of rural energy use.
Watch the full panel video here.
Learn more about TVO’s set of programs that explore global communities without electrical power here.
Professor Zerriffi discussed the complexities of household energy choices and their subsequent health impacts. Four million people die prematurely around the globe every year as a result of household air pollution from cooking with fuels such as animal dung and wood. Women and children are most at risk from the daily demands of cooking.
He also explored the social and technical strategies to enable energy access. The amount of money required is not the issue, he argues. It is a matter of political will and establishing the political, policy, and regulatory systems that will provide incentives to enable access to energy to those around the globe who urgently need it.
The Agenda Episode Description:
As the 21st century enters its late teens and much of the world has been transformed by digital technology, 1.1 billion people continue to live without access to electricity. A further billion have unreliable access. The United Nations has made one of its sustainable development goals to provide reliable and modern energy to all by 2030. Is this possible? How would it transform lives and communities? Can global carbon dioxide emissions targets and the need for mass electrification be balanced? Is a clean energy breakthrough required to meet this goal? The Agenda examines global energy poverty and how to end it.