What does it mean for States for to uphold basic human rights? Or, more importantly, what does it mean for the links between the rights of citizens and the responsibilities of government? And which countries are taking progressive action in relation to access to energy?

In this first of four podcasts produced from the ENGAGER COST workshop entitled Co-Creating the Right to Energy from Theory to Practice, Marlies Hesselman, Lecturer at the University of Groningen, helps us probe some key aspects of human rights law in relation to energy access. And takes us on a bit of a ‘world tour’ to find out which governments are implementing effective policy…or not yet hitting the mark. Learn more

While carrying out field work related to energy access in rural China and Tibet, Dr. Chian-Woei Shyu recognised how lack of effective policy played key role in trapping people in energy poverty — in turn limiting their ability to fully participate in society, advance economically and achieve a higher level of health and well-being.

Returning to his role as researcher at the National Chung-Cheng University in Taiwan, Dr. Shyu took up the challenge of adopting a policy maker’s perspective to ask what it would take to implement legislation that truly upheld access to energy as a basic human right. In a literature review, he quickly realised few others had broached this topic so directly. Learn more

What happens when a public hospital can’t pay its electricity bill? In Uganda, when the electricity company cut power the Jinja Referral Hospital, a huge number of patients – including new-born infants – quickly died. Human rights lawyer David Kabanda is leading a case to argue that the right to life, which is enshrined in the constitution, must be supported by the right to energy.

“This is a public interest case suing on behalf of all Ugandans, of all people who access public health services,” says Kabanda, Director of the Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights. “Because we know that as any private person under the laws of Uganda, you have the obligation to respect human rights.” directly. Learn more

Much work on access to energy as a basic human right aims to establish minimum levels of energy supply or find ways to reduce consumption and costs. This podcast shifts discussion to social dimensions of energy deprivation, with in-depth exploration of the concepts of ‘energy justice’ and the ‘capabilities approach’.

“If you look at any charter for human rights or national constitutions, the first paragraph usually talks about enabling people to have ‘a dignified life’ as the basis for the legal frameworks,” says Dr. Katrin Großmann, University of Applied Sciences Erfurt, Germany. Learn more