Energy Access for the Poor

Of the approximately 7 billion people living on the planet, around 3.1 billion, or 55 per cent of the total, live in rural areas. Further, around 1.4 billion of them continue to live in extreme poverty, i.e. on less than US $ 1.25 per day. Almost two-thirds of those living in poverty, i.e. around a billion live in rural areas of developing countries. Therefore addressing global poverty is the biggest challenge confronting the world today.

To address the challenge of reducing global poverty, the United Nations adopted the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals). These goals aim to address key development challenges with the aim of reducing global poverty. The current Thought paper highlights how lack of access to clean and efficient energy sources is the most significant barrier to alleviation of poverty, while analyzing the prevailing regulatory scenario.