Navigating the world in a Black or any other non-Caucasian body often means facing systemic disadvantages, marginalization, and discrimination especially in predominantly white spaces. These inequities shape all aspects of life, from accessing healthcare and education to economic opportunities and even access to basic resources like energy. Across the globe, Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) communities are disproportionately affected by environmental and social injustices, including energy poverty. As the world grapples with the dual crises of climate change and several enmeshed forms of inequality, the concept of energy justice has emerged as a crucial part of the conversation due to the need for a fair and inclusive transition to renewable energy.
Energy justice is about more than the equitable distribution of resources—it is about addressing the historical and systemic inequalities that have denied certain populations, particularly in the Global South, access to the benefits of modern energy systems. As a number of countries transition to cleaner energy sources, it is critical to ensure that this shift not only reduces carbon emissions but also promotes social equity, particularly for marginalized communities who have long been left behind. A just energy transition is the only path towards the creation of a future where all people, regardless of skin colour, ethnicity, or geography, have access to clean energy. This blog post invites us to reflect on what a global, progressive, climate justice-oriented moral compass should look like. With over 8 billion people inhabiting the only known planet that can sustain human and other forms of life, how should we, collectively, frame our thinking about energy justice?
What is energy poverty?
Millions of people around the world still live in energy poverty, a crisis that disproportionately affects BIPOC communities in both the Global South and marginalized populations in the Global North. Energy poverty refers to the lack of reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy for basic needs like cooking, heating, and electricity. It is not just a technical problem—it is a direct result of systemic inequality. In many regions, particularly in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia, energy poverty has its roots in colonialism, resource extraction, and unequal development. Therefore, the energy transition in these regions faces a complex set of challenges:
- Policy uncertainty remains a major roadblock, with inconsistent regulatory frameworks and shifting government priorities creating a lack of long-term stability for energy projects. This unpredictability discourages investment and slows project implementation. The regions’ energy grids are often outdated, fragmented, or incapable of supporting the integration of new renewable technologies at scale. For example, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has identified significant deficits in energy infrastructure as a major challenge to energy transition in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Financial ability compounds these issues. Many countries in the Global South face volatile economic conditions that result in difficulties in attracting and sustaining investment in large-scale renewable projects. Public funds are often limited, and domestic financial institutions may lack the capacity or risk tolerance to support capital-intensive projects . As a result, governments and companies struggle to access the necessary funds for renewable energy development.
- Limited access to private and foreign financing hampers the energy transition progress. Global investors are often hesitant to fund projects in regions with perceived high risks, such as political instability, regulatory inconsistencies, or currency fluctuations. Even when financing is available, it is often tied to stringent conditions that may not align with local development priorities. This financial gap slows the deployment of critical infrastructure and undermines the momentum needed to shift away from fossil fuels.
Why are these regions underdeveloped?
Historically, the wealth and development of many Global North countries have been built on the colonization of land and the exploitation of natural resources and labour from the Global South. Fossil fuel extraction, mining, and other extractive industries have left many BIPOC communities impoverished and environmentally degraded. Today, the same communities that have borne the brunt of this exploitation are often those with the least access to energy and the most vulnerable to climate change impacts.
What about the impacts on BIPOC people in the Global North?
For BIPOC people in the Global North, the experience is similarly fraught. Marginalized communities in countries like the United States, Canada, and Europe often live in energy-insecure households, facing higher energy costs relative to their income or relying on outdated, inefficient, and polluting energy sources. In urban areas, racialised and minoritized people are more likely to suffer from poor housing conditions and inadequate heating and cooling, which renders them more vulnerable to extreme weather events. These realities make energy justice inseparable from “racial” justice.
What can the Global North do?
The Global North, with its wealth and historical responsibility for the majority of global greenhouse gas emissions, has a moral obligation to address the energy poverty crisis in the Global South, particularly for BIPOC communities that have been disproportionately affected. A just energy transition must include reparations and tangible support from the Global North to ensure that the Global South can transition to clean energy in a way that benefits all. One of the most direct ways the Global North can address energy poverty is by providing financial reparations and investing in renewable energy infrastructure in the Global South. Many African, Latin American, and South Asian countries have abundant renewable resources, such as solar, wind, and hydropower, yet lack the financial and technical capacity to fully harness them.
For example, large-scale investments in solar energy projects in regions with abundant sunlight, like the Sahel in Africa, could provide millions of people with clean, reliable energy. By investing in decentralized, community-based energy systems, countries in the Global North can help empower local communities while addressing energy poverty. Such investments would also reduce the dependency on fossil fuels, which have historically been a source of both environmental degradation and economic inequality in the Global South.
Debt relief and climate financing:
Many Global South countries are trapped in cycles of debt, which makes it difficult for them to invest in renewable energy and sustainable development. Wealthy countries can play a significant role by providing debt relief and enabling these nations to redirect their resources toward building renewable energy infrastructure and expanding energy access. In parallel, climate financing should be expanded to support the Global South’s efforts to transition to low-carbon energy sources.
The $100 billion per year climate finance commitment is 2009 was a promising starting point, but it must be fulfilled and increased to reflect the scale of the challenge. These funds should be used to support projects that prioritize social equity, ensuring that the most marginalized communities benefit from the transition to renewable energy.
Technology transfer and capacity building:
Addressing energy poverty requires more than just financial resources—it also requires technical knowledge and expertise. The Global North can support the Global South through technology transfer and capacity building, helping to equip local engineers, policymakers, and communities with the skills needed to develop and manage renewable energy systems.
This could come in the form of partnerships between universities, research institutions, and energy companies in the Global North and Global South. By sharing knowledge on renewable energy technologies and best practices, these collaborations can help ensure that clean energy systems are not only built but maintained and expanded over time, creating sustainable, long-term solutions to energy poverty.
Supporting decentralized energy solutions for marginalized communities:
In many underdeveloped or developing countries, centralized energy systems are not feasible due to the remoteness of communities and the high costs of infrastructure. Decentralized, off-grid energy solutions, such as solar-powered microgrids, offer a practical and scalable way to provide accessible energy. It is therefore, for the sake of a fair global energy transition that aims to preserve life on earth, the responsibility of developed countries to support these efforts by funding and facilitating the deployment of decentralized energy systems. This approach gives a chance to communities to be autonomous, have energy sovereignty, and reduce their reliance on fossil fuels.
Decolonize the transition of energy. Democratize the dialogue. Put BIPOC leadership at the front, and let the next chapter of climate science and policy be defined not by the voices of the powerful, but by those who have been impacted the most—and those who hold the key to real, transformative change.
Centring BIPOC experiences: Time to decolonize and democratise
People around the world recognise that it is time for us to face these yawning inequalities that persist amidst our struggles to address energy poverty and climate injustice. For far too long, experiences and expertise emanating from Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour communities have been systematically marginalized from these key conversations. Yet, these are the very communities most deeply and painfully afflicted by the dreadful impacts of climate change and energy poverty.
We cannot afford to move forward with partial measures, and we continue to put BIPOC voices on the periphery. If we are going to address energy poverty and make the just transition real, we must dismantle these centuries-old colonial frameworks that have guided global energy policy and innovation thus far. We have to democratize decision-making, centring BIPOC leadership and perspectives in the leading edge of this work, not as tokens, but as change-makers themselves.
BIPOC people are not just passive victims of environmental harm and energy exploitation; they are active agents of change, full of ancestral knowledge and grassroots innovations which could redefine the way we think about sustainability. The need is for scientists and institutions around the world to move away from extractive models of research and toward active partnerships with these communities in codesigning solutions.
Environmental justice is enmeshed with other intersecting forms of justice. We can’t win the fight for climate equity and energy sovereignty without naming and then rectifying these systems of oppression that created and continue to create BIPOC marginalization. Let this be the rallying cry:
Decolonize the energy transition. Democratize the dialogue. Place BIPOC leadership at the forefront, and let the next era of climate science and policy be defined not by the voices of the powerful, but by those who have been most impacted—and those who hold the key to real, transformative change.
