Institutions, Democracy, and the Transition to Clean Cooking Energy in Emerging Nations

Climate change and its associated health impacts represent the most pressing global challenges confronting policymakers and governments. These issues demand urgent attention and coordinated action, as they threaten public health, environmental stability and socioeconomic well-being. One of the crucial goals of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG-7) is to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Despite the notable economic growth in emerging nations, the shift from traditional to clean cooking energies has been sluggish, particularly, when examining the rural–urban divide. Conventional energy sources continue to pose severe threats to human health and environmental quality, making the transition to clean energy essential. While numerous studies have analyzed economic factors driving clean energy adoption in emerging nations, there has been limited attention to the role of institutions and democracy. This research utilizes secondary data from 20 emerging nations from 2000 to 2021 to address this gap. The study employs panel cointegration and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) models to investigate the impact of institutional quality and levels of democracy on the energy transition. The findings reveal that institutions and democracy play a significant role in adopting clean cooking energy. In all four empirical models, the coefficients for democracy and institutions are found to be 0.30, 0.35, 0.19, 0.30, and 1.89, 3.68, 3.92, and 7.98, respectively, indicating that stronger institutions and democracy increase the adoption of clean cooking energies. Moreover, macroeconomic factors such as foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, financial development, and economic growth contribute to improving clean energy supply and adoption; however, their positive effects are contingent on strong institutions. The study concludes that the success of macroeconomic strategies in promoting clean energy is intertwined with the quality of institutions and democratic governance. Based on these insights, the paper offers several policy recommendations to enhance the transition to clean cooking energy in emerging nations.