Heatwaves hurt the poor most: time for an EU plan

(EurActiv, 1 Jul 2019) Recurring heatwaves across Europe have been most devastating for the poor. New EU institutions have a mandate to make Europe’s energy transition a just one, but this can only be done if a European Marshall plan is implemented to fight climate change and protect the vulnerable, writes Yamina Saheb.

Yamina Saheb is the lead author of IPCC Assessment Report 6 and an international expert on climate and energy policies.

In my op-ed ‘Keeping cool in a warming world is not a luxury for the rich”’ I forecast that this summer we again have to show the increased frequency and severity of heatwaves would affect Europe’s poorest.

The European Energy Poverty Index  (EEPI) tool is the instrument which allows us to assess the progress made by EU member states in alleviating energy poverty. Users can estimate the impact of each driver of energy poverty on countries’ scores by moving the cursor.

The EEPI was built to provide a holistic picture of energy poverty and to compensate for the lack of data on summer and transport energy poverty. The EEPI is composed of two sub-indicators: the European Domestic Energy Poverty sub-Index (EDEPI) and the European Transport Energy poverty sub-Index (ETEPI).

The EEPI is the first EU indicator that allows for cross-country comparisons of the progress made in alleviating both domestic energy poverty (summer and winter) and transport energy poverty (car constrained users and public transport users) combined or taken separately.

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EurActiv, 1 Jul 2019: Heatwaves hurt the poor most: time for an EU plan