Júlia, Slovakia, 17 years old

Every eighteenth person in Slovakia lives in an inadequately heated home.(1)

When, in areas where people cannot afford expensive home heating, they burn everything available to keep warm, and this affects us all. The price of home warmth is polluted air, with a direct impact on everyone’s health and quality of life. Energy poverty affects 5.8% of our population living in inadequately heated homes, which is 309,000 inhabitants (2,3), but it is felt by all of us (10). With rising energy prices and the cost of living, more and more households are having to deal with the problem „heat or eat “. And with them comes air pollution. The solution lies in building renovation programmes (4), insulation of heat leaks, and above all  social programmes and support(5).

Link to 2030 Agenda goals:

• 1. No poverty
• 3. Quality of health and life
• 7. Affordable and clean energy
• 10. Reducing inequalities
• 11. Sustainable cities and communities
• 13. Climate protection

Explanation of the link between the topic of the article and the identified 2030 Agenda goal(s):

Air pollution harms both human health and the environment (SDGs 3,11,13) (6) . It is not just a local problem. Substances released into the air can be transported into the atmosphere, causing poor air quality in other countries or making it worse. When people in local areas, where they cannot afford expensive home heating, burn whatever is available to keep warm, it affects us all ( SDGs1,3, 7, 10)(7,10). The price of home warmth is polluted air, with a direct impact on everyone’s health and quality of life. Energy poverty affects 5.8% of our population living in inadequately heated homes,which is 309,000 inhabitants (2,3), but it is felt by all of us (8) . As energy prices and the cost of living rise, more and more households have to deal with the problem of energy poverty (SDGs1,3, 7) (9). And with them comes air pollution. The solution lies in building renovation programmes (4), insulation of heat leaks, and above all  social programmes and support (SDGs 3, 10, 11, 13) (3,5).

References:

• Štatistika | Eurostat (europa.eu)
• https://www.asb.sk/zelena-obnova/energeticka-chudoba-na-slovensku-co-to-je-a-kto-je-nou-najviac-ohrozeny
• Report (gov.sk)
• Obnova rodinných domov (obnovdom.sk)
• ÚRSO otvára verejné pripomienkovanie návrhu koncepcie ochrany odberateľov pred energetickou chudobou | Úrad pre reguláciu sieťových odvetví (gov.sk)
• Air pollution (who.int) Targets of Sustainable Development Goal 3 (who.int)
• sdg7-report2022-full_report.pdf (esmap.org)
• https://www.teraz.sk/zdravie/eea-pre-znecistenie-ovzdusia-v-europ/709711-clanok.html
• Energeticky chudobných ľudí bude po tejto zime viac. Vláda riešenie neponúka – euractiv.sk
• https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/topics/in-depth/air-pollution