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- Convenors:
-
Weishen Zeng
(Oxford Department of International Development)
Raphael Heffron (University of Pau CNRS)
Alix Dietzel (University of Bristol)
Jodi-Ann Jue Xuan Wang (University of Oxford)
Send message to Convenors
- Discussants:
-
Raphael Heffron
(University of Pau CNRS)
Alix Dietzel (University of Bristol)
Weishen Zeng (Oxford Department of International Development)
Jodi-Ann Jue Xuan Wang (University of Oxford)
- Format:
- Paper panel
- Stream:
- Energy transitions and environmental justice
Short Abstract:
This panel seeks papers that explore the intersections of justice and energy transitions, particularly those that critically examine prevailing notions of the ‘energy transition’ and ‘justice’ themselves.
Description:
The burdens of climate impacts and the pathways to mitigate/adapt to them are unevenly distributed. They underscore vast inequalities both across and within geographical regions and time scales. The concept of ‘energy transition’ carries the promise of a greener way of production and consumption, yet it remains intertwined with existing structures of power, politics, and historical legacies that shape which communities benefit and which are marginalised. For some, the shift towards renewable energy and decarbonisation represents an avenue for justice and equity; for others, it reinforces enduring systems of exploitation and exclusion.
This panel invites papers that critically interrogate the intersections of justice and energy transitions, aiming to broaden our understanding of how power operates in shaping environmental, socio-economic and climate futures. We encourage contributions that examine the multiple dimensions of ‘justice’—from distributional and procedural to restorative, recognitional, and ecological forms—in relation to energy policies, practices, and imaginaries.
Key questions include: Who holds the power to define what ‘justice’ means within the context of energy transitions? And, what encapsulates ‘green energy’ under the notion of ‘justice’? What do ‘green energy transition’ and ‘justice’ look like on the ground? How do dominant narratives about the transition obscure or overlook the needs of the most vulnerable? What are the implications of framing energy transition as an objective necessity, and who benefits from this framing? How do broader, intersecting questions of power and violence reify justice in the transition? Who are the opposition to justice and the green transition, and why?
Accepted papers:
Session 1Paper short abstract:
I investigate the drivers of onto-epistemic exclusion of peripheral communities in Colombia's energy transition agenda. It examines how relational and dialectical asymmetries within institutional arrangements and political discourses underpin the agency and political sovereignty of these communities
Paper long abstract:
As global efforts to combat climate change intensify, consensus-driven approaches to decarbonization have become dominant frameworks shaping energy transition policies. However, in countries like Colombia, this approach has marginalized peripheral communities—particularly ethnic and campesino groups—whose livelihoods and ontologies often conflict with state- and market-driven renewable energy initiatives. Drawing on an intersectional and decolonial lens, this research critiques the onto-relational dimensions of policymaking in Colombia’s energy transition. It argues that institutional arrangements and dominant discourses perpetuate epistemic and procedural exclusions, sidelining alternative ways of knowing and living that challenge the technocratic framing of decarbonization.
The study examines how Colombia's institutional architecture reinforces asymmetric power dynamics through policies that prioritize extractive and large-scale renewable projects while undermining community sovereignty and participation. Using a multi-method approach, including institutional analysis, critical discourse analysis, and fieldwork, this research aims to explore how relational and dialectical interactions between competing knowledge systems shape the energy transition discourse. By investigating the intersections of race, class, gender, and historical memory, it reveals the deep entanglement of epistemic exclusion with broader questions of justice, equity, and political sovereignty.
Ultimately, this study seeks to illuminate the possibilities for a more inclusive energy transition, grounded in the recognition of relational ontologies and the lived experiences of peripheral communities. By challenging state-centric and technocratic narratives, it contributes to broader debates on environmental and epistemic justice, offering pathways toward more equitable and transformative climate action in Colombia and beyond.
Paper short abstract:
Environmentally displaced people along the banks of the Brahmaputra River in Assam, India navigate extreme precarity to access energy. The politics and impacts of navigating technological services from NGOs is analysed in this paper through the lens of gendered labour by “human infrastructures”.
Paper long abstract:
Material dispossession is a part of everyday life for people displaced by floods and riverbank erosion by the Brahmaputra River in Assam, India. As state agencies address challenges of natural disasters, emphasis is placed on electricity access for internally displaced people. This raises questions about distributive and procedural energy justice. What does it mean for environmental refugees to have infrastructural access when they have to migrate frequently? How does electricity access mediate legitimacy in the eyes of the state that continuously questions the citizenship of certain people? How do cultural identities shape interactions in bureaucratic spaces? And more importantly, what does it mean to perform illegible labour by community members at local power offices, in the time of digital technology, for the governance of infrastructure?
In Tengaguri village, by the Brahmaputra, displaced people – Muslims with a colonial history of migration to Assam from present-day Bangladesh – narrate stories of dispossession and repossession in a dynamic flux. Dispossession transitions from earlier legitimate grid connections to improvised illegitimate hooking of new electric poles at present. Repossession and new grid connections are rift with tensions over the calculability of electrical materiality such as the electric meter and consumption bills. Further, the introduction of digital technology to the bureaucratic processes of grid governance add to the complexity of interacting with the state.
Analyzing ethnographic material, gathered during a year-long fieldwork in Tengaguri, this paper discusses people’s interactions with electric materials at home and in communal spaces at the margins of the state.
Paper short abstract:
Communities affected by mining in the global South are collaborating with advocacy partners to sue mining corporations in foreign courts over harms caused at extraction sites. This paper explores the scope of this transnational tort litigation to facilitate justice from the communities’ perspective.
Paper long abstract:
The urgency of the energy transition is increasing demand for critical minerals which are essential for clean energy resources. However, this is also increasing the risk of harms to local people and environments at the front line of resource extraction (Business and Human Rights Resource Centre 2024). In response, coalitions of actors from the Global South and North are employing transnational litigation strategies to sue the perpetrators of environmental and human rights abuses for damages in foreign courts (Bouwer 2021). While global regulatory capitalism typically protects the interests of private sector actors, this ‘transnational civil litigation’ is destabilising long held boundaries between parent and subsidiary companies and between jurisdictions in the Global North and South (Bertram 2022).
This paper draws on cases from mines in Zambia and Tanzania and asks how communities adversely affected by resource extraction experience the process of seeking remedy in foreign courts for the harms they experienced and what the litigation outcomes mean for them. Examining how regulations, campaign coalitions and corporations transcend political boundaries, this paper explores the power relations shaping transnational litigation strategies and questions whether this form of resistance increases corporate accountability or reproduces power asymmetries between the Global North and South. Taking a cultural political economy approach, the analysis considers how actors’ differing knowledge, identities and visions of mining and regulation may complicate the ability of transnational litigation to deliver justice for communities.
Paper short abstract:
This paper examines how legal frameworks in Vietnam ensure social justice through community engagement in renewable energy projects. Case studies (Cua Dat, Yen Dinh, and Huadian Dak Lak) show how inclusive participation builds trust, equity, and sustainability in renewable energy development.
Paper long abstract:
This paper examines the intersection of justice and community engagement within the context of renewable energy (RE) projects, particularly in Vietnam. At the heart of this intersection is the legal framework that ensures social justice through equitable and inclusive participation of local communities. Legal provisions, such as those related to environmental protection, land acquisition, and public consultation, require the inclusion of vulnerable groups—such as women, ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities—in decision-making processes, safeguarding their rights and promoting fair compensation for impacts.
The paper explores how these principles of justice are implemented in practice by analyzing case studies from recent RE projects in Vietnam. Notable examples include the Cua Dat Hydropower, Yen Dinh Solar Power, and Huadian Dak Lak Wind Power projects, which showcase how early community involvement, transparent communication, and inclusive grievance mechanisms foster social equity and enhance the legitimacy of RE initiatives. These case studies highlight that justice in community engagement is not only a legal obligation but also a means of building trust, addressing local concerns, and ensuring the long-term success and sustainability of renewable energy development.
In conclusion, this paper argues that justice—through legal regulations and genuine community participation—is fundamental to ensuring that renewable energy projects deliver benefits to all, especially marginalized communities, while fostering sustainable development.
Paper short abstract:
I examine the nuanced meanings of 'justice' from diverse perspectives, showing how these views are shaped by one's position in the social system and highlight that justice dimensions are interconnected and dynamically influenced by cultural, political, environmental, and socio-economic contexts.
Paper long abstract:
Western investors and donors frequently promote green hydrogen projects in the Global South as ‘win-win’ initiatives, promising decarbonization for the Global North and green industrialization for the Global South. However, critical scholarship has challenged this narrative, arguing that such projects risk perpetuating patterns of unequal exchange and fostering ‘green extractivism,’ while calling for a shift toward a ‘just transition.’ But what does ‘justice’ mean for those directly affected by these projects?
This paper explores subjective conceptions of a just transition in Namibia’s Hyphen Green Hydrogen project. Based on extensive empirical data—including 50 in-depth interviews and five participatory systems mapping workshops with stakeholders such as Hyphen, the Namibian government, civil society, traditional authorities, and local communities—the study identifies four counter-narratives that challenge the dominant ‘win-win’ discourse.
Adopting an understanding of justice as perception, informed by the psychology of justice literature, the analysis employs an integrated framework rooted in energy and environmental justice scholarship to map the justice dimensions relevant to diverse stakeholders. This approach is further enhanced by Systems Thinking, which moves beyond siloed perspectives by examining justice dimensions as dynamic and interconnected systems shaped by cultural, political, environmental, and socio-economic contexts.
By doing so, this study transcends the binary framing of ‘win-win’ versus ‘green extractivism,’ highlighting the multiplicity of ‘just transitions’ and providing a nuanced analysis of the tensions and opportunities embedded in green hydrogen projects. It underscores the importance of bottom-up, context-sensitive strategies to advance just transitions in the Global South.
Paper short abstract:
Siting practices do not uphold procedural and distributive as policy elites aim to achieve solar capacity targets at the cost of vulnerable populations such as the landless and those dependent on common property resources, as well as the biodiversity of those regions.
Paper long abstract:
This paper analyses the siting practices of two large-scale solar parks, the Pavagada Solar Park in Karnataka and the Bhadla Solar Park in Rajasthan, India. We conducted semi-structured interviews with different stakeholders (policy elites and local communities of differing socio-economic backgrounds) to analyze the formal and informal rules in use to the site and develop large-scale solar parks. Through actor analysis, we explain the key resource interdependencies and conflicts or confluence in the objectives and interests of different actors. We further use procedural and distributive justice to indicate free and informed consent violations, and vulnerable populations.
Preliminary findings suggest variation in the siting practices of the two states. In Rajasthan, the land bureaucracy plays a decisive role in siting processes, neglecting engagement with local communities. Solar parks have primarily come up on government-owned lands misclassified as ‘wastelands,’ neglecting the complexity of local land uses and cultural relationships of people with the land. This has prompted protests by communities to protect local biodiversity and Orans, sacred bioreserves in this region.
In Karnataka, on the other hand, the Pavagada solar park has come up on privately owned land, compelling policy elites to build some consensus for leasing land for the solar park and informing them about the plans for the solar park. However, locals complain of the inability to negotiate better compensation for the land they have leased, the lack of jobs from the new solar economy, and increased vulnerability for landless and small-holders.
Paper short abstract:
The study discusses justice issues surrounding land acquisition issue in a Global South country (India). It highlights the operation and exploitation of asymmetrical power relations to undermine cultivators' land rights.
Paper long abstract:
The land acquisition for energy transition has been associated with different kinds of injustices (distributive, procedural, recognition, and restorative) across the globe, including India. The protests due to these injustices have often caused delays in project implementation as well as scaling down of the project’s original capacity. This, in turn, has slowed down the pace of solar deployment and energy transition in India. The study explores the justice issues surrounding the development of the solar plant in Mikir Bamuni village in the state of Assam, India. The 15 MW solar plant, developed by Azure Power, has been at the centre of the protests by the cultivators, whose land has been acquired in violation of the state statutes. Through interview with different stakeholders, the study finds that the state agencies were complicit in the unlawful land acquisition by concealing (or misleading) important facts and information about the cultivators’ rights to the acquired land. In this context, the limitation of the role of the state and public policy as state’s tool to dispense justice is highlighted. Moreover, the importance of restorative justice, in the form of adequate compensation, is also underscored, particularly when other kinds of injustices can’t be addressed. In this context, the role of social movements will be examined.
Paper short abstract:
This paper explores critically unpacking and reconstructing the dominant narratives of 'justice' and 'energy transitions' in the Global South by examining how utility-scale renewable energy projects reinforce socio-ecological inequalities and injustices.
Paper long abstract:
At the heart of Olkaria, Kenya, amidst the captivating geothermal energyscapes, unfolds an ethnographic narrative of the Maasai community as rich and complex as the earth beneath them. The Maasai, Indigenous semi-nomadic pastoralists reliant on vast communal grazing lands, have faced the predicaments of the 'green' transition, which have left the community emotionally and psychologically destabilized and deprived of livelihoods and cultural identity—impacts that remain unseen and unheard yet deeply experienced. Therefore, this study critically unravels how deploying renewable energy mega-projects perpetuates and exacerbates socio-ecological inequalities and injustices. The study focuses on the overlooked duality of coexisting progress represented by unbalanced synergies and the consequences resulting from unaddressed trade-offs. Through a Critical Nexus-justice-oriented approach, the study reconstructs the on-ground realities of dominant 'just energy transition' narratives in the Global South. By tracing the roots and tracking the trails of injustices throughout the project lifecycle, this paper interrogates whether this case study reflects the "...often-disregarded dark side of the sustainable energy transition" (González et al., 2023, p. 2).
Paper short abstract:
Development banks can better promote socially-oriented green industrial policies, especially in (neo)extractivist economies, for energy transitions to serve as developmental opportunities, and to overcome a globally hegemonic green transition dominated by high-income countries and private interests.
Paper long abstract:
For South America’s developing and fossil fuel-dependent economies, energy transitions create openings with the potential to transform (neo-)extractivist development models. Decarbonization can reduce hydrocarbon extraction and generate industrial capacity for more sustainable energy sectors to improve terms-of-trade and progress social welfare. At the same time, these openings pose risk whereby pursuing new energy sectors can entrench (neo-)extractivist challenges. Development financing institutions (DFIs) have an outsized financial and policy influence on whether opportunities outweigh challenges for South America’s hydrocarbon economies. They impact green industrialization approaches—critical to whether energy transition can serve long-term development goals and escape the existing trend of being concentrated in high-income countries and by private transnational corporations.
This article examines DFIs’ impact on energy transitions in Brazil and Ecuador, as two paradigmatic yet diverse sites of hydrocarbon (neo-)extractivism and energy transitions heavily leaning on predominantly United States- and Chinese-led DFIs. By advancing a critical international political economy (IPE) perspective to analyze patterns of DFI energy initiatives in Brazil and Ecuador, I made three key arguments. First, US- and Chinese-led DFIs strategies tend toward maintaining existing globalized capitalist dynamics of energy and financial networks. There is a particularly detrimental lack of focus on green and just industrialization. Second, Brazil and Ecuador are increasingly turning to regional and national DFIs to serve developmental goals, with varying degrees of success that can be attributed to their respective positions in the IPE. Third, this shifting landscape uncovers opportunities for a more productive reform of the existing DFI network.
Paper short abstract:
This paper disaggregates green energy transitions in India by showing that the proximity of private business interests and the state has not changed in the country’s implementation of its climate agenda, resulting in repeated cycles of social and economic disenfranchisement.
Paper long abstract:
This paper explores questions of justice and green energy in India’s solar energy parks through focusing on the overlapping relationships between institutions, capitalism, the state, and the people most affected by the climate crisis. Based on fieldwork conducted in the Indian state of Karnataka at the Pavagada Solar Park, the world’s third largest solar installation, this paper analyses questions of justice and green energy through examining the business-state institutional arrangements which created the solar park and the variety of problems which have resulted since its construction.
This paper provides three levels of analysis. First, it historicizes and contextualises the region, proving that the various institutions used to create the solar park strategically “prepared” the land and people undergoing green transitions to best support the interests of private capital. The second segment examines the contemporary inequalities which have been generated by the park and how such issues are intentionally obscured by the business-state relationship. The final level explains that India’s future green transitions lie in the continued subjugation of its rural areas, and that the inequalities observed in Pavagada will become omnipresent across the country should India not attempt to change its approach. This paper situates critical political economy and climate justice literature and fieldwork across the past, the present, and the future of the solar park while connecting approaches ‘from below’ to the institutions which work in tandem with private capital. This unique approach and analysis provides novel insight into the state of justice and green transitions in India.
Paper short abstract:
This paper problematises the just transition frameworks that have come to predominate in academic and policy debates and, inspired by Nancy Fraser, argues for a more radical approach centres on the unequal relations of power that generate injustice within green transitions.
Paper long abstract:
In recent years, the concept of ‘just transition’ has become central to academic and policy discourse focused on the problematique of reconciling competing justice claims within efforts to address climate change and ecological destruction more broadly. A notable feature has been the development of just transition ‘frameworks, most notably the ‘JUST’ Framework, introduced in 2018 and actively promoted to international organisations and national governments as a way of evaluating their progress towards a ‘just transition’. This paper takes stock of the project of just transition framework construction and promotion and its implications. We argue that the often-abstracted nature of framework construction from the struggle(s) to advance just transitions, along with a related inattention to power, has led to frameworks that can obscure rather than identify and challenge the social relations that produce inequality and injustice. Drawing on the work of Nancy Fraser, we argue this tendency leads to a strong emphasis on change through technocratic structures while circumscribing redistributive justice in such a way as to avoid challenging existing social and power relations. To counter these tendencies, we call for a more radical approach to theorizing just transitions, one that not only addresses questions of redistribution, recognition and representation but centres on the uneven relations of power that generate injustices within and across these three dimensions. Case-study evidence drawn from both the global North and global South helps to illustrate the potential of this new approach in analytical, explanatory and political terms.
Paper short abstract:
The energy transition means more mining, increasing private sector presence in frontier areas. This paper examines grievance mechanisms in South Africa’s platinum belt, revealing how they 'restrict' and 'constrict' access to justice, creating systemic barriers to fairness for affected communities.
Paper long abstract:
The energy transition will drive unprecedented mining activity, bringing increased private sector presence into rural, peasant, informal, and indigenous territories. Concerns of looming injustices are quelled with assurances that corporate responsibility practices will be implemented and that remedies will be accessible through grievance procedures should infringements occur. This paper examines these operational-level grievance mechanisms and claims for environmental justice in mining territories. It draws on data collected in platinum-producing regions in Limpopo, South Africa, through interviews, observation and extensive engagement with mine representatives, aggrieved community members as well as various other actors involved in efforts to address disputes in the area. The analysis is anchored in Environmental Justice (EJ) and political ecology literatures, which reveals how the distribution of environmental costs is maintained through distinct modes of resource governance – often codified in law. The case study illustrates how company-administered grievance mechanisms 'restrict' and 'constrict' access to justice at major points of the grievance management process. Restriction is defined as deliberate limitations or controls imposed on the process, whereas constriction describes the gradual narrowing of access through practical barriers or systemic inefficiencies. For the aggrieved, grievance procedures are perceived as “barriers”, designed to put time and space between the operation and those affected by it. Organisational limits furthermore have a notable bearing on procedural and epistemic aspects of justice. The study builds on existing literatures of the failings of operational-level grievance mechanisms, highlighting their role in the increased juridification of socio-environmental relationships in extractive territories.