Ending the nexus between energy and poverty is a critical priority for advancing just energy transitions and meeting many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. To achieve these goals, integrated energy planning needs to attend to: (a) how energy users will use energy productively or to create tangible value; (b) the knowledge, skills, and equipment to use energy effectively; and (c) the net value created through energy use, including benefits, costs, risks, and burdens. In this way, energy investments and projects can be designed in ways that result in high levels of societal benefit, contribute to economic growth and sustainable development, and are bankable to investors and sustainable over the long-term.

This research was conducted under the Energy and Economic Growth Applied Research Programme, funded by UK AID, and managed by Oxford Policy Management.This material has been produced under the Climate Compatible Growth (CCG) programme, which brings together leading research organizations and is led out of the STEER centre, Loughborough University. CCG is funded by UK aid from the UK government. However, the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the UK government's official policies.