Abstract
Purpose
Global crises and disruptions increasingly affect energy systems in ways that extend beyond market outcomes to environmental quality pressures and household vulnerability. However, crisis-impact evidence remains fragmented, limiting its usability for integrated monitoring and prioritisation.
Design/methodology/approach
This study proposes an adaptive, indicator-based framework to identify environmental quality and household energy vulnerability impact domains of global crises affecting the energy sector and demonstrates its application using Lithuania during the initial COVID-19 crisis phase. The framework integrates four domains (energy demand and energy efficiency; air pollution and emissions pressures; renewable energy development; household energy vulnerability) operationalised through 33 sub-indicators drawn from Eurostat, national statistics and a complementary household survey.
Findings
Results indicate crisis-period reallocation patterns rather than uniform sectoral contraction: aggregate final energy consumption declined while residential electricity and gas use increased; NO2 concentrations and emissions from stationary sources decreased; renewable capacity and renewable shares increased, reflecting both continued deployment and demand-related shifts and EU-SILC energy poverty outcomes did not worsen in 2020 despite rising electricity prices and reported affordability constraints, suggesting time lags between pressure indicators and deprivation measures.
Originality/value
The framework contributes by integrating environmental quality, energy-system and household vulnerability indicators within one monitoring structure, thereby enabling crisis-period signals to be interpreted jointly rather than as separate environmental, energy or social outcomes. Designed for use across crisis episodes and phases, the framework supports integrated monitoring and evidence-informed prioritisation under uncertainty in Lithuania and comparable EU contexts.
Šikšnelytė-Butkienė, I.; Štreimikienė, D.; Baležentis, T. 2026. Environmental quality and household energy vulnerability during global energy-sector disruptions: an adaptive indicator-based framework with evidence from Lithuania. Management of environmental quality : Emerald. ISSN 1477-7835. eISSN 1758-6119. p. 1–25. DOI: 10.1108/MEQ-04-2026-0231. [Emerging Sources Citation Index (Web of Science); Scopus].