Energy Poverty and Socioeconomic Rights: Framing Energy as a Human Rights Issue

This paper examines the nexus between energy poverty and the non-realisation of socioeconomic rights. Currently, there is a scholarly debate as to whether a right to energy exists within the international human rights framework. Adopting a doctrinal research approach, this paper argues that there is an emerging legal recognition of the right to energy. It assesses the impact of energy poverty on realising socioeconomic rights and draws on international, regional and domestic legal instruments to investigate the nature, contours and contents of the right to energy.