Powering Minds, Empowering Lives: Understanding The Effects of Energy Poverty- Low-Carbon Energy Transition Nexus on Children in MENA

Energy poverty across the Middle East and North Africa leads to health and growth hazards for millions of children, who are exposed and vulnerable to poor climate conditions at home. These hazards are heightened by the increasing occurrence of extreme temperature and precipitation events, as children become even more exposed and their organisms even more vulnerable to indoor climate conditions. This paper investigates the nexus between indoor and outdoor climate conditions, on the one hand, and children s anthropometric development (stunting, wasting) and mortality (neonatal and infant), on the other hand. Children s access to clean energy is gauged using a Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index or a principal component analysis score of households connection to electricity, and usage of clean fuels and cooking facilities. Highresolution temperature data are matched to households at the level of provinces. The analysis is applied to household-level microdata from 22 health surveys across ten MENA developing countries, and trends over time are assessed. We find that energy poverty has positive effects on longer-term anthropometric growth (i.e., risk of stunting) across most countries, but the effects on shorter-term or more acute health indicators, including wasting and mortality, are limited. Energy poverty is associated with stunting particularly in Morocco, Mauritania, Palestine and Tunisia. It is also modestly associated with infant mortality, especially in Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey. Girls, and children of wealthier, more educated parents in urban areas face lower stunting, wasting and mortality risks in most countries. These results underscore the necessity for targeted genderresponsive policies addressing energy poverty and climate resilience to improve child health outcomes in the region.