Socio-economic inequalities in climate policies: unpacking energy efficiency barriers in low-income households

Abstract

<p><span>While it seems sensible for households to invest in energy-efficient appliances if for nothing else than to save money, many do not. Studying this from the perspective of Low-income Households (LIH) is of particular interest as it must be recognized that they face a different set of barriers. This paper establishes that there is an energy efficiency gap in LIH and the analysis of survey results revealed a few key reasons as to why this is the case based on an analysis of the interrelationship between the barriers. The findings of this study not only show that any single policy is unable to address the energy efficiency gap for LIH, it also sheds light on the importance of considering the interactions between different factors affecting sustainable consumption decision-making for LIH for policy-making. This paper argues that a policy toolkit must be adopted to address these different factors simultaneously.</span><br></p>