Does China’s Belt and Road Initiative Empower Energy Poverty Eradication in the Host Countries?

In this study, we evaluate the effect of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (B&RI) on energy poverty, an essential energy issue that needs to be solved urgently in modern society, by deeply discussing whether energy poverty can be eradicated by expanding electricity supply during the gradual promotion of the B&RI. In this regard, this study applies the data of 126 countries from 2000 to 2019 to test the energy poverty eradication (EPE) effect of the B&RI, and the heterogeneous impacts and ecological consequence are further examined. We discover the following: (1) While the B&RI alleviates energy poverty from the perspective of electricity access, it does not alleviate multidimensional energy poverty, possibly due to limited improvements in energy affordability and cleanliness. (2) The EPE effect of the B&RI is particularly significant in low-income nations; moreover, across all countries, the effect is most prominent in those with stable official governments, low socioeconomic conditions, reliable investment profiles, and low levels of corruption. (3) The promotion and popularization of electricity in the B&RI countries is positively related to greenhouse effect, which may be closely related to the different types of national power generation. Accordingly, we further propose some policy implications to solve the issue of energy poverty.