Socio-economic conditions for meeting human needs with low energy use: an international analysis of social provision

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102287

Commentary

One of the problems of the future is to be able to continue to use energy at sustainable levels. This is fundamental to meeting human needs, avoiding catastrophic climate change, and ensuring the well-being of all people.

However, in the current political and economic system, no country has taken measures to use sustainable energy. This study will assess the socioeconomic conditions under which societies can meet human needs with low energy use and harmonize human well-being with climate mitigation.

Using a new multivariate regression-based moderation approach and a new analytical framework, along with data from 106 countries, the relationship between energy use and six aspects of meeting human needs is in goods and services.

We find that factors such as quality of public services, income equality, democracy, and access to electricity are associated with higher need satisfaction and lower energy requirements, and that extractivism and economic growth beyond moderate levels of affluence are associated with lower need satisfaction and higher energy requirements.

However, the main pillars of change required for provisioning are contrary to the dominant political and economic system, suggesting that a broader transformation of the economic system will be required to prioritize the satisfaction of human needs with low energy use and to organize provisioning.

In other words, they say, no country can make fundamental changes as long as it does not change its current system and as long as it remains in its current value system.