Low income and living in a rural area increases the risk of double energy vulnerability
Two substantial stepping stones in addressing climate change have taken place in the last three months, with the UK government launching its Net Zero Strategy, in October 2021 and hosting the international community at COP26 in November 2021. Both initiatives aim to work towards delivering a low-carbon, or net-zero, transition. Such a transition must be just and ethical, ensuring that those who are on a low-income, vulnerable or marginalised are not further disadvantaged.
As societies move toward low-carbon futures, it is essential that everyone can access low-carbon energy and transport options. To do that, we need to first reveal who may be currently vulnerable, disadvantaged or excluded, so that they are not further negatively impacted by net zero policies. New research from our ‘Fuel and transport poverty in the UK’s energy transition’ (FAIR) project has aimed to do just that. Reviewing 250 academic articles on energy poverty and transport poverty, we identified the people and places that each set of literature found to be at greatest risk of experiencing these two problems.
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