Energy Poverty Alleviation Priorities for Inclusive Urban Climate Action: Key Lessons From Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa

South Africa’s worsening inequality and unemployment and high greenhouse gas emissions require climate-resilient strategies that empower local governments. Responding to the country’s highly contested energy transition and bringing together decarbonization and development priorities are critical for all spheres of government. The energy transition presents a confluence of challenges and opportunities for climate action that are exacerbated in urban settings. The needs of vulnerable households must deliberately be centred for energy transition responses that support just and inclusive climate action. Targeting energy poverty sheds light on household energy behaviour that can promote inclusive shifts to cleaner, affordable, and safe energy sources and inform appropriate urban climate action strategies by local governments. Drawing from experience with energy poverty alleviation in the City of Cape Town (CCT), we argue that a context-sensitive understanding of energy poverty is required to support urban climate resilience and inclusive development. CCT has made progress with centring energy poverty in its climate resilience and urban development strategies, signified in the establishment of the Energy Poverty Alleviation team in 2017, plus the inclusion of energy poverty as a pillar in the 2050 Energy Strategy. We reflect on these efforts to mainstream energy poverty alleviation within CCT and elaborate on interventions and partnerships that demonstrate this strategic commitment. We further emphasize five priorities for research and innovation for climate action from the vantage point that energy poverty alleviation is a critical dimension of local governments’ climate action strategies and South Africa’s broader just energy transition.