The Iran war worsens global inequality via regressive fuel subsidies favoring the wealthy, energy shortages hitting developing nations, and disrupted food and medicine chains. Vulnerable populations in Africa and Asia face rising hunger and health crises.
The war that the U.S. and Israel initiated against Iran at the end of February has devastated communities in Iran and Lebanon. But it’s also enlarging the gap between the better-off and the worse-off worldwide. Here are a few examples.
Regressive Fuel Subsidies
Understandably, many countries are lowering the prices of oil and gas to protect their residents from fuel shocks. This is a lifeline to the many people who depend on fossil fuels for the basics. But broad fuel subsidies disproportionately help richer households, which tend to use more energy. This is one reason that the International Energy Agency has called for targeted support to vulnerable groups, rather than universal fuel subsidies.
Subsidies exacerbate inequality not only within countries, but also between countries as they start competing for scarcer supplies. “The more that the developed world resorts to…cushioning price spikes through subsidies, the less you get demand reduction in the developed world, which means shortages will show up in the form of absolute scarcity in the developing world,” said Karthik Sankaran, a geoeconomics researcher at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, in a recent webinar.
Less Cooling
As record-setting heat stifles the Western U.S., and as South Asia prepares to enter its usual heat season, some places are seeking to turn down the cooling. The government of Bangladesh has called for an air conditioning limit of 25°C (77°F), while Thailand is encouraging a limit of 26°C (79°F). Air conditioners, and cooling devices more generally, remain out of the reach of billions of people who need them. But where cooling is usually accessible, people living in well-ventilated homes, in well-shaded neighborhoods, will be less likely to feel the pinch of limits.
Scarcer Food And Medicine
The International Rescue Committee has referred to the reverberations of the Middle East war as a triple emergency of humanitarian need, economic shock, and a strained support system. “It is the world’s most vulnerable who risk paying the highest price,” the humanitarian organization has warned.
Countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, which depend heavily on imported food, fuel and fertilizer, are expected to have the largest surges of hunger. If current conditions continue, the World Food Programme estimates, the numbers of people living with food insecurity could increase by 24% in Asia, 21% in West and Central Africa, and 17% in East and Southern Africa. To continue bringing food into Sudan, which was already dealing with widespread hunger, World Food Programme vessels are now having to take longer routes to avoid the Strait of Hormuz. This is racking up additional costs for risk insurance, emergency logistics and longer transport.
As with food, shipments of health supplies have been prolonged or stalled. Save the Children has reported that essential medicines worth $600,000, destined for Sudan, have instead been stuck in Dubai ports.
Humanitarian agencies have urged more support to farmers and people in need in countries dependent on imports. They have also called for alternative trade routes. Of course, the biggest impact would come from an end to the hostilities that have already done so much damage.