The Inequality and Poverty Dashboard
Policies for energy consumption and use have intertwined effects on inequality and poverty, an aspect which is often overlooked. As governments ramp up efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C and accelerate the transition towards a clean energy future, it is essential to ensure that inequality and poverty considerations are placed at the heart of climate action. A more systematic assessment of the social impacts of energy policies is needed to inform the design and adoption of equitable and socially acceptable policies. The Inequality and Poverty Dashboard addresses this by:
- Providing an overview on the state of play of socio-economic inequalities and poverty in 30 countries covered by the Energy Policy Tracker
- Sharing information on the likely effects of various types of energy policies on inequality and poverty, at the country level.
The full methodology of the inequality and poverty dashboard is available here.
Inequality and Poverty Indicators
Gini Coefficient (2020)
The Gini coefficient shows the scale of inequality of the income distribution within a particular country. This indicator measures the extent to which the distribution of income among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution, with an index of 0 representing perfect equality and 1 representing perfect inequality. Alternative indicators can be used to measure income inequality and each may lead to a different assessment of inequality in a country.
Source: World Inequality database https://wid.world/
Percentage change in Gini Coefficient (2008-2020)
This indicator shows the extent to which the Gini coefficient has changed, in percentage terms, from 2008 to 2020 for each country. A positive percentage indicates an increase in income inequality whereas a negative percentage indicates a decrease over time.
Source: World Inequality database https://wid.world/
Per capita emissions of the top 10% to the bottom 50% of the population (2019)
This indicator shows the inequality of per capita emissions of the top 10% of income earners compared to the bottom 50%.
It reveals the ratio of per capita emissions of the top 10% income earners compared to the bottom 50% in 2019.
Source: World Inequality database https://wid.world/
Poverty gap at 3.20$ (most recent available data)
This indicator shows the ratio of the number of people whose mean income falls below the poverty line (set at $3.20 a day and at purchasing power parity), and it is expressed as a percentage of the poverty line.
Source: World Inequality database https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.LMIC.GP
Electricity and energy access rates (most recent available data)
This indicator builds on electricity and energy access rate datasets. Electricity access shows the percentage of the population with access to electricity. Electricity access rates are provided for countries where electricity access is still not universal as well as the remaining countries where electricity access is universal but energy access is not measured consistently. Households' low absolute energy expenditure is used as a measure for energy access. Low absolute energy expenditure shows the percentage of households whose energy expenditure is below half the national median. Electricity access rates are provided for 2019 and energy access rates for 2015 and only in EU countries; for each country, it is specified which indicator is used.
Source: WorldBank.org, European Commission
Argentina
Australia
Bangladesh
Brazil
Canada
| Gini Coefficient | 11 |
| Change in Gini | 22 |
| Inequalities in emissions | 33 |
| Poverty Gap | 44 |
| Electricity Access | 55 |
China
Colombia
European Institutions
Finland
France
| Gini Coefficient | 1 |
| Change in Gini | 2 |
| Inequalities in emissions | 3 |
| Poverty Gap | 4 |
| Electricity Access | 5 |
Germany
India
| Gini Coefficient | 8 |
| Change in Gini | 9 |
| Inequalities in emissions | 10 |
| Poverty Gap | 11 |
| Electricity Access | 12 |
Indonesia
Italy
Japan
| Gini Coefficient | 10 |
| Change in Gini | 10.5 |
| Inequalities in emissions | 11 |
| Poverty Gap | 11.5 |
| Energy Access | 12 |
Mexico
| Gini Coefficient | 2 |
| Change in Gini | 5 |
| Inequalities in emissions | 1 |
| Poverty Gap | 8 |
| Energy Access | 10 |
New Zealand
| Gini Coefficient | 0.8 |
| Change in Gini | 0.9 |
| Inequalities in emissions | 1.0 |
| Poverty Gap | 1.1 |
| Energy Access | 1.2 |
Norway
Poland
Republic of Korea
Russia
| Gini Coefficient | 8 |
| Change in Gini | 7 |
| Inequalities in emissions | 6 |
| Poverty Gap | 30 |
| Energy Access | 4 |
Saudi Arabia
| Gini Coefficient | 6 |
| Change in Gini | 3 |
| Inequalities in emissions | 3 |
| Poverty Gap | 4 |
| Electricity Access | 5 |
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
| Gini Coefficient | 5 |
| Change in Gini | 5 |
| Inequalities in emissions | 5 |
| Poverty Gap | 5 |
| Energy Access | 5 |
The Netherlands
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States
| Gini Coefficient | 5 |
| Change in Gini | 5 |
| Inequalities in emissions | 5 |
| Poverty Gap | 5 |
| Electricity Access | 5 |
Vietnam
How do energy policy categories impact inequality and poverty?
The inequality and poverty analysis groups the policies listed in the Energy Policy Tracker into 32 energy policy categories and provides a summary assessment of their likely inequality and poverty impacts based on existing literature and a conceptual framework. The assessment also provides an overview of the number of energy policies listed in the Energy Policy Tracker database that fall within each policy category and the types of contextual elements, design elements and complementary policies which can influence the direction and magnitude of the inequality and poverty.
| POLICY CATEGORY | CLASSICATION ON EPT | DIMENSIONS OF SOCIAL OUTCOME | CONTEXTUAL FACTORS, INDICATORS & POLICY RESPONSE | Number of Matching Policies | ||||
| Incidence | Policy category | Policy sub-category | Clean / Fossil Fuels / Others | DIMENSION 1: Inequalities | DIMENSION 2: Proverty | Indicators influencing the direction or magnitude of effects | Complementary policies which influence the direction or magnitude of effects | |
| Consumption | Energy efficiency in homes | Increased/decreased transfers, loans and tax credits for energy efficiency or retrofitting programmes in private social housing | Clean unconditional | Inequality decreasing (medium confidence)
As the poorest segments of the population are more likely to live in social housing, this policy would decrease the energy prices paid by these populations and reduce their poverty levels, while energy prices remain the same for higher income populations. |
Poverty decreasing (high confidence)
Alongside creation of jobs for lower-income workers, lowering the cost of energy for those living in social housing would reduce poverty for the most marginalized populations, and the improvement of energy system reliability and efficiency would likely have positive health benefits, which compound to further reduce causes of poverty. |
Role of landlords in determining how much of price benefits are passed on to renters
Ex ante quality of energy systems in private social housing Availability of repairs and maintenance of energy systems Changes in energy prices over time, both affiliated and unaffiliated ot the effects of the energy efficiency programs |
Link benefits to condition that landlords pass a majority of cost savings on to renters
Ensure secondary living options while retrofitting is occurring Develop training programs for the most marginalized segment of workers to learn how to conduct retrofits and apply those skills in the regions in which these programs are occurring Encourage design of retrofits to meet the specific needs of renters (those with health issues, disabilities, etc) and ensure that heating can sustain 20 degrees Celcius or above in winter |
10 |