The impact of energy poverty on the aggregate and disaggregate material footprints in BRICS.

This study aims to examine the impact of energy poverty on the aggregate and disaggregate material footprint components such as biomass, fossil fuel, metal ores and non-metallic minerals while considering the economic growth and tourism development during 2000–2014 for the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). By applying econometric tools, the study confirms a positive and significant impact of energy poverty on aggregate material footprint and its components. The same finding has been reached for tourism development. Moreover, this study finds a U-shaped Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) for all indicators used for material footprints. Based on the findings, this study proposes a set of policies for energy poverty alleviation to attain a sustainable environment and inclusive economic growth in the BRICS region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]