Energy disruptions stemming from the Iran war are forcing families across Africa and South Asia to abandon cleaner fuels, reverting to charcoal and firewood. This shift threatens conservation efforts, wildlife habitats, and the funding mechanisms for protected areas, placing the burden of geopolitical conflict directly on the economically dispossessed and the natural environment.
In Nairobi’s Kibera settlement, Brenda Obare reported that her stove is frequently cold, compelling her to cook over a charcoal burner outside her tin-roofed home. The cost of cooking gas has become prohibitive, and its availability unreliable, leaving families with few alternatives. “We don’t have many options,” Obare stated. “You use what you can afford.”
Governments in these regions had previously promoted cleaner fuels like liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to address air pollution, which was responsible for 2.9 million deaths five years ago, according to the World Health Organization. These initiatives also aimed to reduce pressure on forests and wildlife habitats. However, the rising costs of LPG are now systematically undermining these gains.
The Cost of Capital's Wars
The impacts of the energy shock extend from gas pumps to the kitchens of the working class, and into forests and wildlife habitats. As more people are forced to search for fuel in forests, encounters with wildlife are increasing. Economic pressures also intensify poaching and bushmeat hunting, elevating the risk of zoonotic disease transmission.
Mayukh Chatterjee, co-chair for the International Union Conservation for Nature’s conflict and co-existence specialist group, warned that “The longer this debacle runs, the harder it is going to hit conservation.” The crisis is impacting more than forests, with rising demand for biomass fuels degrading watersheds and ecosystems as people penetrate previously undisturbed areas.
Paula Kahumbu, CEO of Nairobi-based WildlifeDirect, noted that families turn to firewood and charcoal when LPG, kerosene, or electricity become too expensive or unreliable. These biomass fuels are more accessible in cash-poor settings, despite their environmental harm. “The first conservation risk from an energy shock in Africa is not abstract. It is household fuel switching,” Kahumbu explained.
Charcoal, produced by slowly burning wood, is a primary cooking fuel in sub-Saharan Africa and a significant driver of deforestation. Demand is climbing among customers in Nairobi’s low-income settlements, according to charcoal seller Munyao Kitheka. A similar reversal is occurring in India, the world’s second-largest LNG importer, which sources approximately 60% of its supply from the Gulf region.
Rama, a social worker in Bhalswa, a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of New Delhi, spent years encouraging waste-picking families to adopt LPG. However, with daily incomes below $3, many can no longer afford the pricier LPG cylinders. They are now reverting to firewood stoves or returning to villages where wood is more readily available. “Things are very, very bad,” Rama reported.
Privatizing the Commons, Discarding Labor
Neha Saigal, a consultant with Asar Social Impact Advisors, highlighted that this shift places a heavier burden on women and girls. They spend hours each day foraging for fuel, which limits their time for work or education. “Years of work went into making LPG aspirational. But a global issue like this can reverse some of those gains,” Saigal stated.
Chatterjee of Chester Zoo cited an elephant conservation project in India’s Assam state where eateries had reduced wood use, a gain now at risk of unraveling as households revert from LPG. He warned, “That all risks going back to square one.”
The energy shock also strains funding for global conservation efforts. Airlines are reducing routes to Africa due to rising fuel prices, impacting tourism. Even a modest decline in visitor numbers can have significant effects in countries like Kenya and Tanzania, where tourism contributes about 14% of GDP and underpins park management, anti-poaching patrols, and community conservation initiatives.
Kahumbu noted that “Less tourism means less income for conservation initiatives, fewer rangers and more opportunistic poaching.” Rising food and fuel costs also push more people towards bushmeat as an affordable protein source, further increasing pressure on wildlife populations.
Conservation work in remote areas, which relies on extensive travel by vehicles, faces disruption from higher fuel prices. Chatterjee explained that rapid deployment of staff is critical in cases of human-wildlife conflict in South Asia to prevent escalation. Fuel shortages and delays increase the risk of injury or death for both humans and animals.
The State's Failed Reforms
African governments possess options to mitigate these impacts, but action has consistently lagged. Kahumbu advocated for protecting households from reverting to polluting fuels through targeted subsidies, stronger local supply chains, and support for local energy sources such as biogas, solar, and geothermal. She urged, “Treat conservation as essential infrastructure during economic shocks.” These proposals, however, operate within the existing economic framework that has proven unable to protect the most vulnerable from the systemic shocks of global capital and imperial conflict.