{"id":57539,"date":"2022-12-15T10:02:51","date_gmt":"2022-12-15T09:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=57539"},"modified":"2024-06-13T12:22:21","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T10:22:21","slug":"health-issues-fossil-criminals-poisoned-gift-to-households","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/57539\/health-issues-fossil-criminals-poisoned-gift-to-households\/","title":{"rendered":"Health issues: fossil criminals\u2019 poisoned gift to households"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\u00a9 Wiktor Szymanowicz\/Anadolu Agency via Getty<\/div>” alt=”Fuel Poverty Action campaigners on a march to Downing Street in October 2022. They\u2019re calling on the government to introduce a new energy pricing system with a free energy package that would cover the cost of basic necessities. And a windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas companies and an end to fossil fuel subsidies to fund the free energy package.
\u00a9 Wiktor Szymanowicz\/Anadolu Agency via Getty<\/div>” class=”wp-image-57540″\/>
Fuel Poverty Action campaigners on a march to Downing Street in October 2022. They\u2019re calling on the government to introduce a new energy pricing system with a free energy package that would cover the cost of basic necessities. And a windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas companies and an end to fossil fuel subsidies to fund the free energy package.
\u00a9 Wiktor Szymanowicz\/Anadolu Agency via Getty<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

The cost of energy, fuelled by the rise of fossil fuel prices, makes meeting their basic energy needs unaffordable for many people. In the meanwhile, fossil fuel companies keep making record profits.<\/p>\n\n

Physical access to energy infrastructure is still not a given for more than one person out of 8 on this planet. Almost 1 billion people across the globe do not have access to electricity in their homes. Sub-Saharan Africa countries account for 75% of this number.<\/p>\n\n

In other regions, like in Southeast Asia, there are 45 million people without access to electricity<\/a>, living mainly in Cambodia and Myanmar where other poverty issues coexist. In the Middle East and North Africa region<\/a>, about 65 million people of 214.8 million have no access to electricity<\/a>, while an additional 60 million suffer from prolonged power outages and undersupply.<\/p>\n\n

Inadequate housing, often closely associated with energy poverty, can have terrible health consequences<\/a>, such as cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, asthma, home injuries such as burns and falls, household carbon monoxide poisoning, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer in adults and pneumonia in children. Inadequate housing in the 27 countries forming the European Union and in the UK is estimated to cost a total additional \u20ac194 billion in healthcare costs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Fossil fuel prices are driving more and more people into energy poverty<\/h3>\n\n

Energy poverty occurs when energy bills represent a big part of an individual\u2019s or a family\u2019s income, or when they must reduce their household\u2019s energy consumption to a degree that negatively impacts their health and well-being.<\/p>\n\n

Energy poverty was already a major issue before the ongoing energy crisis<\/a>. Not being able to ensure its energy needs, or having to choose between heat or eat, is a problem faced by millions of households around the world. Soaring fossil fuel prices – and thus energy bills – are now pushing people further into energy poverty: according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA)<\/a>, 160 million more households have been pushed into energy poverty since 2019 and the number of people without reliable access to heating, cooling, clean cooking and other energy services has risen to around 2.5 billion worldwide.<\/p>\n\n

\"Mobilization
For the first \u00ab National day against fuel poverty \u00bb, residents of several cities in France participated in citizens’ rallies to denounce the poor energy quality of their homes and the heavy heating costs on their budget.
\u00a9 Mahka Eslami \/ Greenpeace\u00a0<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Around 75% of buildings in the EU<\/a> are energy inefficient and 36 million people<\/a> were not able to heat their homes adequately in 2020. Clearly, Europeans are not the only ones affected by energy poverty. In the USA in 2015, up to one in three households<\/a> faced challenges in maintaining correct temperatures in their home.<\/p>\n\n

Hoy hemos salido a la calle en Madrid para decir bien alto que la justicia clim\u00e1tica pasa por garantizar el derecho a la energ\u00eda limpia y poner a las personas q sufren de #PobrezaEnergetica<\/a> delante de los beneficios de las corporaciones f\u00f3siles. #NadieSinEnerg\u00eda<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/9mdLCQ6WSx<\/a><\/p>\u2014 Greenpeace Espa\u00f1a (@greenpeace_esp) February 20, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>