Global Energy Poverty Poem by Unnikrishnan Sivasankara Menon

In a starkly unequal world,
per capita consumption of energy
second only to consumption of food
is the most accurate index of poverty.

Per capita consumption of energy
of people in sub-Saharan Africa
of the least developed nations
is just 487 Kilo Watt Hours
while that in the developed nations
is seven thousand seven fifty kWh.
This astonishing disparity evidences
the extreme poverty of millions of people,
and the total apathy of the richer countries.

The richer countries blame
the developing economies
for using unclean energy
like cow-dung or coal for cooking,
for, this causes higher emissions.

One Greta Thunberg can't educate
the developed nations on the urgent need
to cut carbon emissions and help poor countries
to develop clean energy facilities,

The richer nations need to make severe
sacrifices to reduce their carbon footprint,
by cutting energy consumption and by helping
the poorer countries switch to clean energy.

Will COP 27 address this?