Is the Right to Energy key to a fair transition?


Report from Right to Energy Conference, Brussels, 2 – 4 December, 2024

William Baker, Fuel Poverty Research Network (FPRN) Committee

Introduction

William Baker represents the FPRN committee on the Advisory group of the EU funded WELLBASED energy poverty and health project. WELLBASED held a special session at the 2024 Right to Energy conference on tackling ill health due to energy poverty. The following is a report back from the conference, with particular reference to health issues. Rather than give a straight account of each conference session, I highlight key themes that emerged during the conference (see Appendix 1 for slides and presentations from the conference).

Healthy housing as an enabler

The health benefit from tackling energy poverty is becoming a central focus of energy poverty initiatives. Tenants’ campaigns refer to ‘sick buildings’, energy poverty projects highlight health benefits to make the issue more tangible to potential beneficiaries, social housing providers refer to the impact of retrofit on reducing the use and cost of health services and energy advisers often base themselves in health centres to reach target audiences.

Involving the health sector in energy poverty is more of a challenge. Front line health workers often face huge pressures on their time just carrying out their core role. Asking them to refer patients/clients to energy advisers (or any other advice provider) only adds to such pressures. Yet poor energy efficiency standards are part of a wider housing deprivation problem and are a central driver of health inequalities.

Involvement of the health sector therefore needs to take place at all levels of decision-making, from the European and national government level to health and municipal authorities to individual primary and secondary health providers. And as public health speakers made clear, many of the big leaps forward in societal health and length of life came about through non-medical interventions, such as the building of decent, affordable housing or provision of green spaces, sewage treatment and potable water. Making our homes resilient to winter cold and summer heat is potentially of a similar scale.

A care worker or medical professional makes a house call to a senior patient at her home . They are standing at the front door as she enters.

Engaging the health sector

The close association between cold, damp housing and a wide range of health conditions is now widely recognised. However, the extent to which health professionals address this varies considerably across different health institutions and across different local and national authorities. Public health organisations, with their focus on the contribution of socio-economic factors to health, tend to be most receptive.

The European Public Health Alliance’s ‘Powering health equity’ report, for example, makes six recommendations for integrating health into energy policy and ensuring a fair transition to net zero. In summary these include:

  • Integrate health in all relevant EU energy poverty policy instruments based on the ‘Health in All Policies’, ‘One Health’ and ’energy efficiency first’ principles
  • Expand energy poverty monitoring frameworks to include the impact on health
  • Recognise, include and support public health professionals, researchers, and healthcare and social workers in cross-sectoral energy poverty interventions
  • Include a methodology for assessing interventions based on the social determinants of health (such as the one in development in the WELLBASED project)
  • Strengthen community engagement in energy poverty interventions to ensure wider uptake and a better understanding of the social and health implications of energy poverty
  • Prioritise marginalised and vulnerable groups in energy poverty interventions through a ‘social determinants of health and intersectionality’ lens

The priority given by primary and secondary clinical agencies to energy poverty is much less consistent. In the UK, for example, the recommendations of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE guidance NG6) for tackling excess winter deaths and cold related ill health resulted in a decidedly mixed response from local health and partner agencies, with few fully implementing the NICE recommendations (NEA, 2023).

Nevertheless, examples of close collaboration between health and energy poverty agencies at a local level are growing, as illustrated by the Valencia’s draft energy poverty and health strategy and the Getafe healthy homes initiative (see presentations, Appendix 1).  The challenge is to build on these local projects and make them common practice across nations and Europe.

Participants agreed that engaging the health sector in energy poverty prevention should form a key theme for the final report of the WELLBASED project.

The health impact of over-heating

While research on cold homes and health is now extensive, the impact of over-heated homes during summer heat has been researched to a much lesser extent. Speakers referred to the strong relationship between low income and inability to keep cool in summer. 20% of households in Europe struggle to keep cool in summer and while the problem is more severe in Southern Europe, with climate change it is also increasing in scale in Northern Europe (see presentations, Appendix 1).

The 2023 heatwave in France led to 5000 extra summer deaths and 20,000 people requiring support from emergency services (Le Monde, 2023). Some housing measures for addressing cold, such as insulation, can also help reduce over-heating. However, other measures such as air conditioning units further exacerbate urban heat (and the installation of air conditioning units has increased by 75% over the past 10 years (Euronews, 2024)).

Groups vulnerable to poor health due to over-heated homes are similar to those suffering poor health due to cold homes, such as people with respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. Nevertheless, the health impact of summer heat is poorly researched (Lancet, 2024). It is often difficult to attribute health incidents and deaths to heat and many countries don’t monitor the impact of heat waves on population health. The growing impact of climate change on summer heat and over-heated housing in Europe will require a much more concerted policy response than has hitherto been the case.

A speaker from the Barcelona Laboratory for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability (BCNUEJ) highlighted the role of green spaces in providing respite from summer heat but noted that areas with such space are often prone to gentrification, resulting in the exclusion of low income communities (see presentation). Urban planning and other measures can address this, e.g. through rent controls, community land trusts, restricting traffic around schools, providing free water and water sprays and protecting access to affordable housing.

A woman sits outside during a heatwave, with a bottle of water

Housing disrepair and poor energy efficiency standards

A range of speakers addressed the role of energy efficiency and low carbon heating retrofit in tackling energy poverty, with most emphasising the beneficial impact of retrofit on health (see presentations, Appendix 1).

The Housing Europe speaker suggested that social housing is driving retrofit in all housing tenures, with many now including renewables as a core component of retrofit. One solar project achieved a 50% saving on energy costs against the state subsidised energy price. However, the pace of improvement has slowed recently due to a substantial rise in material costs and the costs of capital and the adoption of austerity measures by some member states. Nevertheless, social housing providers can take advantage of their scale to reduce measure costs and potentially carry out improvements in other tenures.

Some projects are now carrying out follow up surveys to establish whether improvements are leading to real savings, as opposed to ‘modelled savings’ that form the monitoring of many retrofit initiatives. The Housing Europe speaker noted that for many tenants, the health benefits of retrofit are as important as the energy cost savings. However, many health impact assessments of energy poverty projects have found that it is easier to evidence the impact on beneficiaries’ mental health than on physical health. The former tends to be more immediate while the latter takes much longer to substantiate.

A speaker from comAct, a central East European energy poverty project, referred to the problems of improving the energy efficiency standards of multi-apartment buildings (see presentation). These form a high proportion of stock in these countries, with most residents owning rather than renting such apartments (in response to liberalisation in the immediate post-communist period). Renovation rates are typically low because of the difficulty of getting consensus from all residents in a block. Many apartments also need basic repairs before energy efficiency retrofit can take place.

The comAct project focuses on the whole block, rather than individual apartments, and takes a two stage approach: carrying out repairs and basic retrofit to improve homes to a C standard and then further improvement to A standard. Retrofit is funded through funds from tenants’ service charges, state subsidy and commercial bank loans. 100% state subsidy is provided to the most vulnerable.

Tenants’ action

A speaker from Justice Ensemble highlighted direct action by private tenants’ groups to secure retrofit of their homes (see presentation). This started in Lyon and has been duplicated in other cities. The organisation first mapped the location of the worst housing and then focused organising of tenants in these areas. The campaign highlighted how low efficiency homes are ‘sick homes’. The tenant unions have carried out collective bargaining with landlords to secure improvements. Pressure from public authorities has also given weight to campaigns. There are now moves to build tenant union coalitions across Europe.

Group of volunteers hosting a meeting about their community in the North East of England. They are a diverse group and are all talking together, organising community events.

Is the EU doing enough to tackle energy poverty?

Conference participants’ perspectives on the extent to which the European Commission is now addressing energy poverty, energy efficiency and fair transition varied considerably. Many welcomed the greater recognition now given by the Commission to energy poverty. RAP presented a summary of how the ‘Fit for 55 package’ makes energy poverty a key component of the various energy directives and the Emissions Trading system (see presentation and Appendix 2, taken from RAP, 2024). A number of speakers considered the main challenge is to ensure implementation of the package take place at the member state level.

Other speakers were more sceptical. Some considered the directives only addressed the symptoms of energy poverty, rather than the causes, and that there was too much reliance on market-based solutions. Another speaker highlighted the fact that only half of member states have addressed energy poverty in their National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), despite this being a requirement of NECPs. Among those that had addressed it, many of the provisions were considered inadequate.

A FoE Europe speaker argued that the EU is rowing back on its climate change commitments due to a perspective that these are hampering competitiveness and prosperity (listen to recording, Appendix 1). The Commission’s ‘Green Deal Industrial Plan’ weakens important elements of the original Green Deal, with public funds increasingly being focused on de-risking private investment funds. He referred to the ‘Antwerp declaration’ as prioritising corporate interests, particularly those of the fossil fuel industry, over public welfare.

With respect to energy poverty, a speaker from the Commission argued that private sector investment is essential to improving homes and ensuring the transition to net zero but emphasised the importance of strong social protection. She referred to the various Directives’ energy poverty elements (see Appendix 1 & 2) and forthcoming initiatives such as the Action Plan for affordable energy prices, the Citizens Energy Package, the European Affordable Housing Plan and the Empower project to further encourage ‘prosumers’.

Grassroots involvement, collective action and community energy

The role of community energy, particularly with respect its role in the transition to net zero was another key conference theme. Some argued that a community energy approach could play a key role in building support for decarbonisation. It could help address resistance to decarbonisation that can arise when plans are seen as being imposed from above.

Others cautioned that many exiting energy communities empower the already empowered and are becoming dominated by men. There are also concerns that large corporations are setting up ‘community energy fronts’ which squeeze out more grassroots organisations. RESCOOP is addressing these concerns by focusing on inclusion and initiatives to encourage grassroots engagement in projects (see presentation). This includes providing childcare at meetings, not requiring up-front investment to take part in energy initiatives and clear communication of energy issues. However, some argued that it is not realistic to engage people on low incomes struggling with the cost of living with renewable energy issues.

While the pros and cons of energy communities were contested, there were powerful messages concerning people on low incomes having agency to address their situation. The Justice Ensemble organisation showed how tenant unions carried out collective bargaining with private landlords to improve their homes. The FoE Europe ‘Powerful encounters’ exhibition highlighted citizen campaigns from around Europe. These include the campaign to ban electricity disconnections in Barcelona, an insulation and clean heat project in Poland and social housing tenants installing solar panels in Belgium.

These examples provide potential lessons for health and energy poverty projects. There is growing evidence at the individual level as to how lack of agency can affect an individual’s health, particularly mental health (Pepe et al, 2024; Enaf et al, 2013). Power structures within society often lead to people on low incomes feeling unable to do anything about their situation. Projects that enable people on low incomes at both an individual and collective level to take action can lead to beneficial health outcomes in their own right.

Reflections

From a UK perspective, the conference was striking in its focus on policy at a European and municipal level, while reference to national government policy was minimal. Since Brexit, European policy obviously has less relevance to practice in the UK. However, our tendency to focus on UK government policy also reflects the highly centralised nature of decision-making in the country due to the erosion of municipal autonomy over many years (although there has been significant devolution of powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). In this context, while change is possible at a local level, most NGOs focus their energies at attempting to influence national government policy.

Conflicting messages were presented at the conference about the extent to which the European Commission and member states are taking energy poverty seriously. Some consider both recognition of energy poverty and specific measures to address it within recent directives as representing substantial progress. The challenge is mainly seen as one of implementation. Others were concerned that a backlash is taking place, fuelled by populist politicians identifying net zero targets as holding back competitiveness and exacerbating impoverishment.

Messaging that highlights the positive health benefits of tackling energy poverty may help reinforce the case for retrofitting housing and implementing complementary social measures. However, these must be incorporated within wider measures to address housing affordability and availability, ensure there are adequate welfare safety nets and involve citizens in developing solutions.

The 2024 Right to Energy Forum highlighted both these tensions but also potential action to ensure a just transition and secure energy future. Future forum events will almost certainly develop these themes further.

Appendix 1: Presentations and recordings from the conference

Monday 2 December 2024

Tuesday 3 December 2024

  • New European Commission’s agenda
    Opening and keynote speech by Kim Claes, campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe
    Recording starts at 00:00:01
    Presentation slides
  • Housing crisis x right to energy: ensuring targeted renovations for vulnerable communities
    A panel examining the intersection of the housing crisis and the Right to Energy. It will focus on targeted renovations and the ways that they can address energy poverty.
    Recording starts at 26:56
    All session presentation slides
  • Shaping the EU’s energy poverty strategy
    The newly elected European decision makers have a direct mandate to tackle energy poverty. How can we ensure that the proposed plans from the EU, as presented by incoming Commissioner Dan Jørgensen, like the Citizens Energy Package and Affordable Housing Plan, will deliver on this? A diverse range of voices dives into the opportunities for achieving affordable, sustainable and climate-friendly houses and energy for all EU citizens.
    Recording starts at 1:42:00
    All session presentation slides
    CAN’s report on planning a fair renovation wave

Wednesday 4 December 2024

  • Tackling summer energy poverty
    Energy poverty is not just an issue for those living in cold climates. European countries are heating up twice as fast as the global average, making summer energy poverty a significant threat to citizen’s health and wealth. This session shines a light on the specific issues related to summer energy poverty and the urgent need for adaptive strategies to address it holistically.
    Recording starts at beginning
    All session presentation slides
  • Global energy justice: why it matters and how to work for it
    Defending the Right to Energy from Europe calls for democratising, degrowing and decolonising our energy systems. This panel aims to address how the energy transition in Europe is contributing to labour and environmental injustices and hindering the right to clean energy in the Global South.
    Recording starts at 1:11:43
    All session presentation slides
  • Closing remarks
    Recording starts at 2:35:55
  • Powerful Encounters: Picturing and end to energy poverty
    Satellite event hosted by the Economic and Social Committee
    Photos of the event

Appendix 2: Energy poverty measures in the Fit for 55 package

A process diagram. Please see link below for the full report.

This diagram is an extract from RAP’s report ‘New action on energy poverty: Implementing the new EU provisions‘, available as a pdf.