Energy poverty in Asia

This chapter presents a review of energy poverty situation in Asia, with a particular emphasis on South Asia. Lack of access to electricity and clean cooking energy is presented, followed by a summary of initiatives being taken in the region to address the challenge. Examples of successful and not-so-successful initiatives are then discussed to highlight the cross-learning potentials. Policies and interventions required to achieve universal energy access by 2030 are discussed in the final section. The chapter shows that Asia has made impressive improvement in enhancing energy access, particularly in the area of electricity access but clean cooking energy provision remains a challenge. Coordinated efforts are required to eradicate energy poverty in the region and countries can learn from each other in meeting the objective of universal energy access.