The energy poverty literature has identified numerous factors that influence the phenomenon. However, only a limited number of studies examine the role of environmental consciousness, especially in the case of cooking fuel. This variable might be essential due to the close association of energy poverty with environmental quality to aid the overall environmental sustainability discourse. This study investigates the level of environmental consciousness and its impact on household cooking energy decisions using survey data from more than 1200 households in Ghana. The study employs an instrumental variable estimation approach to investigate the impact of environmental consciousness on energy poverty. The study finds that being environmentally conscious positively affects cleaner cooking fuel choices, and thus, such households are less inclined to be energy poor. Furthermore, it was discovered that awareness of global environmental issues has a more substantial effect on household energy poverty. Further robustness analysis confirms the findings. The study has implications for reducing energy poverty. A nationwide awareness campaign of contemporary, global environmental concerns is recommended to make people more environmentally conscious, reduce energy poverty, and accelerate the transition to cleaner cooking energy.
Keywords: Environmental awareness; Environmental consciousness; Energy poverty; LPG; Firewood; Climate change
Citation: Kwame Adjei-Mantey, Roula Inglesi-Lotz, Anthony Amoah,2024. Environmental consciousness and household energy poverty in Ghana, Global Environmental Change,
Volume 88, 2024, 102896.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378024001006)
This research was made possible by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York (Grant number: G-20-57628). The authors gratefully acknowledge the support from the Future Africa Research Leader Fellowship (FAR-LeaF) Program at the University of Pretoria.
