Does energy poverty contribute to gender inequality and environmental degradation in Africa?
International Journal of Energy Sector Management
ISSN: 1750-6220
Article publication date: 26 June 2024
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine whether energy poverty impacts gender inequality and CO2 emissions in African countries with the biggest economies by gross domestic product (GDP) per capita from 1996 to 2020. Additionally, this study examines the existence of the gender Kuznets curve (GKC) and the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) theories. Furthermore, it evaluates the connection between economic development and carbon emissions, on the one hand, and economic development and gender inequality on the other.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses the augmented Dickey–Fuller and Phillip–Perron unit root tests to determine the degree of integration between the variables. It also uses the Pedroni and Fisher–Combine Johansen cointegration tests to assess a long-run relationship between the variables. The authors adopted the pooled mean group (PMG)-autoregressive distributed lag model and used the E-Views 12 software to run the analysis.
Findings
The empirical analysis approves the long-run correlation among the variables used in this study. Increased energy poverty and GDP increase CO2 emissions, whereas income square hurts CO2 emissions. These results are consistent with the EKC hypothesis, which proposes a non-linear relationship between CO2 emissions and economic growth in the studied areas (similar to an inverted U shape). Long-term foreign direct investment (FDI) has a negative correlation with CO2 emissions. On the contrary, energy poverty, GDPsq and FDI find a positive relationship with gender inequality, whereas GDP finds a negative association with gender inequality. The negative relationship between GDPsq and gender inequality establishes a “U”-shaped connection between income and gender inequality. Thus, it supports the hypothesis of the GKC. Therefore, this study proposes that decreasing energy poverty is vital for promoting a clean environment and mitigating gender inequality.
Originality/value
This study supports the hypothesis of the GKC. Therefore, this study proposes that decreasing energy poverty is vital for promoting a clean environment and mitigating gender inequality.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding: There is no funding for this research.
Acknowledgement: None.
Conflicts of interest/competing interests: All authors have participated in conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of the data; drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and approval of the final version. This manuscript has not been submitted to, nor is it under review at, another journal or other publishing venue. The authors have no affiliation with any organization with a direct or indirect financial interest in the subject matter discussed in the manuscript.
Citation
Butty, O.N., Seraj, M. and Özdeşer, H. (2024), "Does energy poverty contribute to gender inequality and environmental degradation in Africa?", International Journal of Energy Sector Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJESM-01-2024-0027
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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