Conference Agenda

With increasing electrification, electricity is emerging as a potential cooking fuel in developing countries. Although it can replace alternative fuels like fire-wood and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), currently it is limited as a secondary method. Cost and access along with user habits are a key barrier to electric cooking. In this context, our study makes a contribution to the growing literature on what are the enabling conditions for electric cooking. We study a government run program in Kerala where Anganwadis (child-care centres) are given inductions and compatable utensils at no cost for cooking three meals for children per day. Using a difference-in-difference method we evaluate the impact of induction stove on the consumption of the alternate fuel–LPG. Electric cooking is resulting in a 15-18% fall in LPG consumption and a 13-6% decrease in the total time taken to cook the meals per day. We argue that electric cooking is not taking place at its full potential since infrastructure and training are key factors for it to have significant effects. Our study provides a unique institutional context in energy use and is relevant for scaling of similar policies as we show through the different levels of scaling of this program.

Despite significant global investments in rural electrification, nearly one billion people continue to live without access to electricity, most of them in rural South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. This paper examines the impact of India’s Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), a large-scale rural electrification program launched in 2005, on women’s empowerment outcomes. Leveraging the staggered rollout of the program across districts under the 10th and 11th Five-Year Plans, I use a difference-in-differences instrumental variable (DD-IV) strategy to estimate the causal effects of electrification. The results show that program eligibility led to a significant increase in household electrification, which in turn improved women's decision-making power, mobility freedom, age at marriage, and health-seeking behavior. I identify four key mechanisms driving these effects: (i) reductions in time burdens from water and fuel collection, (ii) expanded female labor force participation, (iii) improved safety through better lighting and reduced kerosene dependence, and (iv) increased access to information and income-generating tools through appliance ownership. These findings underscore the potential of rural electrification when delivered reliably and at scale, to drive meaningful gains in women’s socio-economic empowerment.

While the aggregate impacts of climate change on energy demand are well documented, the distributional consequences at subnational scales remain underexplored. This study addresses this gap by quantifying the impact of temperature on energy inequality across prefecture-level cities in China. Using nighttime light intensity as a proxy—validated against household electricity survey data—we construct city-level Gini coefficients to assess temperature-driven inequality. Our results demonstrate a U-shaped relationship, indicating that both temperature extremes exacerbate energy disparities. Projections under the high-warming pathway reveal a pronounced spatial divergence: by 2081–2100, within-city energy inequality is projected to rise by 26.08% in Southern China, whereas changes in the North remain statistically insignificant. These findings suggest that uniform national policies may be insufficient; instead, climate adaptation strategies must be spatially differentiated and incorporate equity metrics to protect vulnerable populations in rapidly warming regions.

Fertility is declining worldwide, yet the extent to which climate-related hazards shape realised fertility remains uncertain. Using a global country-year panel for 1950–2023 linking UN fertility estimates with EM-DAT disaster records, we estimate dynamic fertility responses under two impact dimensions: population disruption (affected-rate exposure) and lethality (death-rate exposure). Climate-related hazards show no systematic fertility response under population disruption, but exhibit persistent fertility reductions under lethality lasting at least 15 years. Pooled climate estimates mask sharp heterogeneity: storms and drought-related hazards drive fertility declines, whereas heat and cold waves are associated with modest fertility increases; hydrological events show additional negative effects in higher-lethality episodes. Over time, population-disruption effects are generally weak in earlier decades, while lethality-based effects are modest but consistently negative and attenuate in the most recent period. Effects differ little across broad income groupings, and non-climate disasters remain consistently fertility-reducing, providing a benchmark.

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing poses a major threat to ocean sustainability and global fisheries governance. The Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) shifts enforcement responsibility from flag states to port states by requiring inspections, denial of port entry, and data sharing. While the treaty’s legal obligations are explicit, its impact on domestic policy implementation remains unclear. This study examines whether ratification of the PSMA leads countries to fulfill its provisions by adopting more port state measures (PSMs) at the national level. Using panel data from the FAO database, we apply a staggered difference-in-differences and event study approach to evaluate the treaty’s policy effect. The results show that PSMA ratification leads to a significant and sustained increase in PSM adoption, with event study estimates indicating steady post-ratification growth. These findings suggest that international agreements like the PSMA can effectively incentivize domestic regulatory responses, thereby strengthening port-based governance against IUU fishing.

Climate change is intensifying extreme weather worldwide, and public awareness as well as societal responses depend on if and how these impacts are communicated. Yet, quantitative evidence on the media salience of climate impacts remains limited. Here, we systematically investigate which factors shape the media salience of climate impacts abroad using a machine learning–based analysis that quantifies the relative importance of competing drivers. We compile a dataset linking three decades of coverage in nine major German newspapers to more than 8,800 climate impacts across 221 countries. Media salience is highly unequal: impacts in countries economically or socially connected to Germany receive disproportionately more coverage. Higher reported financial damage is associated with higher media salience, privileging wealthier countries, where damages are most costly. In addition, impacts with high casualty numbers and those affecting major German export destinations receive particularly high media salience. In a second step, we investigate how media salience is associated with emergency aid: Panel regressions with fixed effects show that higher salience is related with elevated likelihood that Germans express donation interest, particularly for low income countries.