Energy poverty remains a critical development challenge in low- and middle-income countries, central to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7). This study investigates the causal impact of deforestation on energy poverty, focusing on two key dimensions: access to electricity and access to clean cooking fuels. Using a panel of 95 developing countries from 2000 to 2023, we employ robust econometric techniques, including ordinary least squares (OLS), two-stage least squares (2SLS), and smoothed instrumental variable quantile regression (SIVQR), to account for endogeneity and distributional heterogeneity. The results consistently show that deforestation significantly worsens energy poverty, particularly in more deprived contexts, by reducing access to clean fuels and electricity. These findings remain robust across alternative deforestation measures and model specifications. Furthermore, income growth, human capital, and carbon efficiency mitigate energy poverty, while population pressure, natural resource dependence, and institutional weaknesses exacerbate it. The findings call for integrated policies that link forest conservation with equitable energy access to support inclusive and sustainable energy transitions.

Deforestation, Energy poverty, Developing countries, Sustainable development Goals.