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- Convenor:
-
Ute Dubois
(ISG International Business School)
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- Format:
- Thematic Panel
- Theme:
- Environment and sustainable development
Short Abstract:
This panel explores the relations between energy and capabilities in contexts of crises and transitions through three contributions which analyse (1) the relations between capabilities and energy poverty in a context of war, (2) the role of energy skills development in the capacity of people to fulfil their aspirations and (3) the well-being impacts of wind energy for indigenous people.
Long Abstract:
Research context
Energy plays a critical role in the attainment of human well-being and capabilities, being necessary for our daily survival, providing ‘essential services’ such as heating, cooking, lighting, as well as power for transport and mechanical work. The role of energy in human development is widely recognized. For example, affordable, reliable and sustainable energy is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals to which world leaders committed in 2015. And it has been recognised that achieving this goal is essential to advancing other Sustainable Development Goals, including those related to poverty eradication, food security, clean water and sanitation, health and education, and combating climate change. Thus, our future development is dependent on the availability of - and access to – energy on the one hand, and on our ability to limit planetary pressures on the other hand, in particular through the transition towards clean energy sources.
The accessibility and affordability of energy for individuals and households has become a of great concern for academics and policymakers, positioning energy as an essential need to live a good, sufficient and just life. At the same time, the precise inter-relations between energy and capabilities are still a topic that needs to be explored, especially in the recent years, which have shown the potential of wars, environmental crises, and climate change mitigation strategies to reveal and reinforce inequalities in the capabilities of already energy-disadvantaged groups.
This panel proposes to explore the various relations between energy and capabilities in contexts of crises and transitions. The three papers of this panel develop the following topics. The first paper focuses on the relations between capabilities and energy poverty in a context of war in Georgia. The second paper explores the role of energy skills development in the capacity of people to fulfil their aspirations in India. The third paper develops a capability approach to analyse well-being impacts of wind energy for indigenous people in Mexico.
Methodology
Building on previous work linking the capability approach and energy (e.g. Day, Walker, and Simcock 2016; Melin and Kronlid 2019; Melin, Day, and Jenkins 2021; Velasco-Herrejon and Bauwens 2020, Bartiaux, Day and Lahaye, 2021) the three papers of this panel use different methodologies. The first paper uses data from a survey in which several thousands of people have been interviewed before and after a war, allowing a panel data analysis of the evolutions of people’s perceptions of their economic and material situation, their energy access problems, their general and mental health, and the extent of social support they receive or do not receive. The second paper relies on the conceptualisation of an integrated skills to capabilities (S2C) framework. It uses and implements a specifically designed survey instrument, drawing from various extant capability lists. The third paper is based on a participatory mixed-methods analysis, where community members are involved as co-researchers.
Analysis & Conclusion
This panel suggests advancing the empirical awareness of the relationship between energy consumption and production, capabilities, and both the attainment and deprivation of well-being. This is needed, we argue, to better recognise and deepen the mechanisms through which how energy poverty, sustainable development and empowerment are understood and linked. The work of Dubois, Kvaratskhelia, Bartiaux and Bocquier provides insights into the role of capabilities in the dynamics of energy poverty. Kaur offers an empirical stand of how to use the Capability Approach for understanding the development of energy skills and how these impact women’s empowerment in India. Finally, Velasco-Herrejón revisits the Capability Approach to analyse the tensions and trade-offs in assessing well-being outcomes generated by the production of wind energy in the Global South.
The broad geographical scope of the papers in the panel aims to deepen our knowledge on the complex inter-relations between energy production and use and capabilities, with a focus on deprived populations. In today’s context, which is shaped by multiple crises and by the need to achieve the transition to more sustainable energy, understanding these inter-relations is crucial because of the central role energy plays in human development and therefore in shaping a future where populations will enjoy both improvements in human development and a liveable planet.
Keywords: capability approach, energy, sustainability, skills, transition, crisis.
References
Bartiaux, F., Day, R., & Lahaye, W. (2021). Energy poverty as a restriction of multiple capabilities: a systemic approach for Belgium. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 22(2), 270-291.
Day, Rosie, Gordon Walker, and Neil Simcock. 2016. ‘Conceptualising Energy Use and Energy Poverty Using a Capabilities Framework’ 93 (May): 255–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2016.03.019.
Melin, Anders, Rosie Day, and Kirsten EH Jenkins. 2021. ‘Energy Justice and the Capability Approach—Introduction to the Special Issue’. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 1–12.
Melin, Anders, and David Kronlid. 2019. ‘Energy Scenarios and Justice Towards Future Humans: An Application of the Capabilities Approach to the Case of Swedish Energy Politics’. Etikk i Praksis-Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics, no. 1: 39–54.
Velasco-Herrejon, Paola, and Thomas Bauwens. 2020. ‘Energy Justice from the Bottom up: A Capability Approach to Community Acceptance of Wind Energy in Mexico’. Energy Research & Social Science 70 (December): 101711. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101711.
Accepted papers:
Paper short abstract:
This paper provides empirical evidence to show that skill development training facilitates opportunities for people to fulfil their aspirations and enhance their capabilities. It examines the case of two skill development programmes in India that provide training to women in the solar energy sector.
Paper long abstract:
Drawing upon the case of Barefoot College and Prime Minister's skill development programmes in India, this paper asks the question – does skill development training facilitate opportunities for people to fulfil their aspirations and enhance their capabilities? For this assessment an expanded view of skill development as a means of human development was adopted and situated within the Capability Approach. Building upon the stylised conceptualisation of the CA by Robeyns, an integrated skills to capabilities (S2C) framework was conceptualised by the author. The S2C framework covers the entire arc of the skill development intervention, which is the means to achieve, to the actual degrees of achievement that are determined by, and dependent on people’s opportunities and subsequent choice to achieve their valued ways of being and doing, i.e., capabilities. The capabilities are in turn derived from people’s aspirations, i.e., their hopes and dreams related to work and life. Factors in the external environment including aspects related to the individual, family and community, socio-cultural gender norms, and institutional and policy level factors, also impact outcomes. They do so by either enabling or restricting the conversion of the intervention into opportunities to achieve valued ways of being and doing.
The results showed that people’s aspirations and capabilities are not limited to valuing only material dimensions like work and money. They are means to reach other equally significant dreams including living a good life, ensuring well-being of their family, and development of the community. Data showed that the prevalence of restrictive socio-cultural norms reduce women’s freedom, mobility and bodily integrity, thereby restricting their agency and limiting their achievements. Data also showed that institutional and policy gaps severely restrict achievements. These include lack of safety and provision of services such as– information centres, counselling and mentoring services, employment services, childcare facilities and financial access. In addition, the impact of market conditions, particularly the lack of local jobs, low wages and poor working conditions, impact work outcomes.
These findings have significant implications for the theorisation of skill development and building local research. Selecting the CA to situate this analysis, this research expands the application frontiers of the CA by conceptualising an integrated S2C framework for assessment of skill development as a means of human development. Finally on policy implications, it is recommended that an integrated view of training, employment and development could be adopted that enables opportunities for trainees to fulfil their aspirations and capabilities.
Paper short abstract:
This paper operationalises the CA to analyse the tensions and trade-offs in assessing well-being outcomes generated by the production of wind energy in three Indigenous (Zapotec) communities. The participatory methodology contributes to a body of theory of locally defined priorities and perspectives
Paper long abstract:
Adopting ambitious renewable energy targets has had profound social implications, particularly on a local scale. To gain a holistic understanding of how these impacts occur in communities where projects are installed, it’s important to understand the well-being implications of these impacts and how they may link to the politics of local approval and resistance of renewable energy infrastructure.
This paper operationalises the Capability Approach to analyse the tensions and trade-offs in assessing well-being outcomes generated by the production of wind energy. Specifically, the paper addresses the difficulties in understanding the voice of Indigenous people living near wind energy infrastructure in Southern Mexico and how their conceptions of well-being can be used to estimate the impact of wind energy development on three different communities.
This paper will expand on the description grounded approach used for the identification of capabilities from Alkire (2002), Clark (2003), Ibrahim (2008) and Uyan-Semerci (2007) among others to visualise the relationship between well-being and energy infrastructure projects. The methodology involved a three-stage process that integrated semi-structured interviews, focus groups, a survey, and participatory workshops, involving 450 participants. The findings conclude that community acceptability of energy infrastructure such as wind farms will only be achieved through inclusive community engagement that considers valued ways of being and doing of the local population. These include increasing the opportunities for people to live in good health, skilled employment in the industry, engaging and integrating local culture, values, worldviews and needs, and having a collective approach to the distribution of economic benefits that may strengthen social networks.
By focusing on the recognition of valuable human capabilities from a participatory mixed-methods perspective, this paper contributes to a more compelling body of theory on social wind energy impacts that focuses on locally defined priorities and perspectives. Furthermore, this study also shows how the inclusion of community members as co-researchers is crucial to validating and locating local knowledge at the forefront while allowing local stakeholders to exercise greater voice and agency in how the research is conducted and designed. We hope that this methodology can offer useful insights for the design and implementation of future renewable energy projects that have environmental and social sustainability in mind.
Paper short abstract:
This paper analyses the consequences of war on people's access to energy, energy poverty, and its correlates in terms of well-being. Based on survey data for 2006 and 2009, we conduct a panel analysis of the relations between capabilities and energy poverty in Georgia.
Paper long abstract:
Georgia has faced a war from Russia in August 2008. This paper investigates how this war has affected people’s daily lives, particularly in terms of access to energy and energy poverty. Energy poverty, a condition associated with discomfort and difficulties such as inadequate housing, health problems, and material deprivation, can be related to the capability approach that focuses on peoples’ opportunities to live a good life. We explore the extent to which the opportunities for the Georgian population to live a good life are associated with energy poverty, which we estimate based on their perceptions of their budget and their difficulties in accessing energy services. We then examine the drivers of energy poverty evolutions from 2006 to 2009.
Two surveys (2006, 2009) allow to follow the situations of households, their perceptions of their energy access problems, health, and of the extent of social support they receive. These data were used to develop a measurement method of energy poverty and a set of capability indicators. We analysed different groups of households according to their energy poverty status, their socio-demographic characteristics, and their capabilities.
The prevalence of energy poverty was high in Georgia in the early 2000’s and many households were severely energy poor. Energy poverty was related to a combination of low income for a large proportion of the population, of low energy efficiency of buildings and of a lack of access to reliable energy infrastructure. It was more prevalent in rural areas, probably due to the use of wood as a heating fuel.
Our capability approach using quantitative methods appears relevant for understanding energy poverty and its dynamics: our capability variables provide more robust predictions of energy poverty dynamics than the socio-demographic variables traditionally used in energy poverty analyses. In particular, peoples’ capabilities are strongly related to their ability to escape energy poverty or, on the contrary, to the risk of worsening their energy poverty status and of falling into severe energy poverty.
Our analysis of the co-evolution of energy poverty and capabilities during a military conflict also contributes to a better understanding of energy poverty in a context of crisis. We show that in this context, all groups of households faced a high risk of deterioration in their energy poverty situation, while households that were already the most energy poor in 2006 were in energy poverty traps.
Keywords: Energy poverty, Capabilities, Panel data, War, Rural, Georgia