Defining of the energy poverty of the state through the analysis of Belt and Road influence on its alleviation in the context of sustainable development

Abstract

Energy poverty is an issue, which is new to the scientific field and often omitted from the research. The contemporary approaches to it are various, still the major of them points that energy poverty exists in case the national energy sector and the economy in general lack the possibilities to provide sufficient, safe, reliable, and affordable energy to the consumers. This paper examines the energy sector of Pakistan to prove or refute the idea of energy poverty existence in the country. In addition to that the energy poverty in Pakistan, in case it exists needs to be defined, its reasons are to be examined and the possible solutions for its alleviation provided. The paper proves the mentioned idea with the help of the approach from the side of international infrastructure construction. The proposed approach includes the examination of the role of BRI in energy poverty alleviation in Pakistan. While the Initiative has a significant impact on the economy of the country, its energy sector isn’t directly affected by BRI. The major results of the study encompass the following: the energy poverty measurement through index method is developed, based on demand for energy and its supply and imports’ changes; the energy poverty in Pakistan persists and can’t be alleviated by the international institutions; the effects of economic growth aren’t automatically distributed in the economy, especially in the energy sector of the country and have limited effects on energy poverty.