Electricity as Human Right?

In The International Journal of Human Rights, Löfquist (2020) “considers three answers to the question whether electricity access should be a universal human right. A first position is that there is no human right to electricity but perhaps contractual rights related to various societies. A second position is that electricity is a derived human right, a right based on other rights, grounded on rights such as the right to adequate housing. A third position is that there is a universal human right to electricity. It is argued that the second position is the strongest since it supports the idea that humans often need access to electricity but avoids the stronger claim that all humans must have this access. The latter claim faces the challenge that rights language should focus on the needs of humans and not be extended too far to include everything that could be beneficial for humans. Such an extension might diminish the attention on the actual aim of human rights: That all humans should have a good enough life.”

[Source: Löfquist, L., 2020. Is there a universal human right to electricity? The International Journal of Human Rights 24, 711–723. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2019.1671355]

“By a “right to electricity,” we refer to the social norm that all people deserve electricity regardless of payment. This entitlement has driven universal electrification programs around the world for decades and remains salient in developing countries investing in electrification today. In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi writes, “Everyone has a right to a life of dignity. Traditionally, food and shelter have been seen as the most basic necessities. However, the Modi government has gone beyond this core basket of necessities to include even electricity” (Modi 2019).”

[Source: Burgess, R., Greenstone, M., Ryan, N., Sudarshan, A., 2020. The Consequences of Treating Electricity as a Right. Journal of Economic Perspectives 34, 145–169. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.34.1.145]

“While access to an affordable range of energy services is required to meet basic needs, most national constitutions and laws in SSA do not yet recognise the right of access to energy [27]. One of the reasons for this is that many countries’ primary laws, and particularly their constitutions, pre-date the international consensus on energy as a development pre-requisite [27]. Constitutions are also deliberately difficult to change; they favour principles over specifics and are generally designed to allow for future interpretation that may give effect to additional rights that are not explicitly provided for in the countries’ founding or primary laws. For example, although South Africa’s relatively young Constitution, adopted in 1996, makes no mention of a right to energy or electricity, its Constitutional Court ruled in 2010 that electricity is an important basic service and that local government has a constitutional obligation to provide it (see [28]). Indeed, South Africa has an array of laws and policies that not only confirm the state’s obligation to provide all with access to energy services, but also require local government to provide its indigent residents with free basic energy [23,29]”

[27] A.J. Bradbrook, Achieving access to modern energy services: a study of legal strategies, in: Y. Omorogbe, A. Ordor (Eds.), Ending Africa's Energy Deficit and the Law: Achieving Sustainable Energy for All in Africa, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2018, pp. 26–44. [29] DPLG, National Framework For Municipal Indigent Policies, Department of Provincial and Local Government, Republic of South Africa, Pretoria, 2012 [Online] Available: https://www.westerncape.gov.za/text/2012/11/national_framework_ for_municipal_indigent_policies.pdf [20 January 2018].

[Source: Damian Conway, Conway, D., Blake Robinson, Robinson, B., Patience Mudimu, Mudimu, P., Tawanda Chitekwe, Chitekwe, T., Kweku Koranteng, Koranteng, K., Swilling, M., 2019. Exploring hybrid models for universal access to basic solar energy services in informal settlements: Case studies from South Africa and Zimbabwe. Energy research and social science 56, 101202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.05.012]

Internationally there are a number of (non-binding) agreements and commitments that support the right to energy services [27]. In addition to Goal 7 of the SDGs, Article 16 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights [30] (the right to the best attainable state of mental and physical health) leads to the logical conclusion that basic services, such as electricity, need to be delivered to give effect to these basic rights. It is likely that developing states will need to start explicitly identifying clean energy as a right in their national laws and policies and allocate appropriate funding.

[27] A.J. Bradbrook, Achieving access to modern energy services: a study of legal strategies, in: Y. Omorogbe, A. Ordor (Eds.), Ending Africa's Energy Deficit and the Law: Achieving Sustainable Energy for All in Africa, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2018, pp. 26–44. [30] OAU, African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. 1987, Organisation of African Unity, Nairobi, 1987 [Online] Available: http://www.humanrights.se/wp-content/ uploads/2012/01/African-Charter-on-Human-and-Peoples-Rights.pdf [4 June 2018].

[Source: Damian Conway, Conway, D., Blake Robinson, Robinson, B., Patience Mudimu, Mudimu, P., Tawanda Chitekwe, Chitekwe, T., Kweku Koranteng, Koranteng, K., Swilling, M., 2019. Exploring hybrid models for universal access to basic solar energy services in informal settlements: Case studies from South Africa and Zimbabwe. Energy research and social science 56, 101202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.05.012]

~~DISCUSSION|Discussion Section - PAGE OWNER: Klaus Kubeczko~~