“Cooling gap” widens, despite rising heat, as pandemic hikes poverty
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Rising poverty, as the coronavirus pandemic slows economies, means an extra 50 million people this year may struggle without air conditioners, fans or other cooling devices needed to keep them healthy and productive, researchers warned Wednesday. As governments see their budgets squeezed, some will lack cash to expand access to electricity, […]
Quick facts – Heat is on to bring cooling to one billion people without it
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Access to cooling technologies is crucial for reasons far beyond just staying comfortable on a hot day. As global temperatures continue to creep upward as a result of climate change, a little over one billion people face threats because they lack cooling methods, said a report released on Thursday by international […]
Energy aid neglects “health emergency” fuelled by dirty cooking
Barcelona, SpainThomson Reuters Foundation Governments, development banks and businesses are providing less than one per cent of the money needed each year to wean three billion people off dirty, health-harming cooking by an international deadline of 2030, new data on energy access showed on Tuesday. In 2017, the latest figures available, funding commitments for clean […]
Fund smarter to switch on lights for the poor – UN envoy
Barcelona, SpainThomson Reuters Foundation Everyone in the world could be provided with clean, affordable electric power by a global deadline of 2030 if international funding toward the effort is used more intelligently, the UN official in charge of the task said. Rachel Kyte, the UN secretary-general’s special representative for sustainable energy for all, told the […]
Finance for electricity access too little, too dirty – energy body
Thomson Reuters Foundation Finance to provide electric power to nearly one billion people who live without it is rising – but too slowly to meet a global goal to reach everyone by 2030, an international body said on Monday. Meanwhile, funding to expand cleaner, more energy-efficient cooking has declined, Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) said […]
Power-for-all push risks leaving out Africa’s poorest – official
Thomson Reuters Foundation Parts of Africa will get left behind in the global push to provide electric power to all unless national governments and the international community agree on a plan for faster action in places that are lagging, a top energy official has warned. Of the roughly one billion people who still lack access […]