Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources, Inclusive Growth, and Energy Poverty: An Empirical Investigation for BRI Countries

Abstract

Energy poverty is a main challenge to attain sustainable development goals (SDG). Global policymakers focused on renewable and non-renewable resources to combat rising energy poverty. This research analyses the effect of non-renewable and renewable resources and inclusive growth overall as well as rural and urban EP for BRI countries from 2000 to 2020. This study uses generalized methods of moments (GMM) for empirical analysis. According to the results, (i) electricity production from coal, natural gas, and water resources significantly decreases energy poverty by increasing electricity accessibility but for rural energy poverty, coal resources contribute more than all other sources. (ii) For the accessibility of clean fuel technology for cooking, coal natural gas, and water resources are significant contributors but for rural and urban accessibility, the share of hydroelectric resources is greater than all other resources. (iii) Inclusive growth is used as an indirect channel and is a highly significant factor for accessibility to electricity and clean fuel technology. These findings recommend separate policies to overcome rural and urban energy poverty for selected BRI countries.