The Concept of Just Energy Transition
Abstract
Energy transition is an inevitable process of restructuring energy systems in response to climate challenges. Justice, although frequently invoked in this context, remains an ambiguous concept interpreted in various ways by researchers, policymakers, and society. Despite growing interest in this concept in scientific literature, there is a lack of coherent understanding of this phenomenon. The purpose of this article is to identify and analyze the key dimensions of just energy transition in order to better understand the multidimensional nature of this concept. To achieve this, a systematic literature review was conducted. The study analyzed publications on just energy transition available in the Scopus database. Based on the analysis conducted, a synthetic framework integrating existing approaches was presented. The study describes just energy transition as a multidimensional socio-economic process, extending beyond technological aspects, which requires addressing the needs of the entire society.
Keywords:
just energy transition, energy transition, energy justice, just transitionReferences
Arystoteles. (1956). Etyka nikomachejska. D. Gromska (tłum.). Warszawa: PWN. Google Scholar
Bommel, N. van, & Höffken, J.I. (2021). Energy Justice Within, Between and Beyond European Community Energy Initiatives: A Google Scholar
Review. Energy Research & Social Science, 79, 102157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102157. Google Scholar
Bouzarovski, S. (2022). Just Transitions: A Political Ecology Critique. Antipode, 54(4), 1003-1020. https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12823. Google Scholar
Bouzarovski, S., & Petrova, S. (2015). A Global Perspective on Domestic Energy Deprivation: Overcoming the Energy Poverty-Fuel Poverty Binary. Energy Research & Social Science, 10, 31-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2015.06.007. Google Scholar
Bouzarovski, S., Thomson, H., & Cornelis, M. (2021). Confronting Energy Poverty in Europe: A Research and Policy Agenda. Energies, 14(4), 858. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14040858. Google Scholar
Boyle, A.D., Leggat, G., Morikawa, L., Pappas, Y., & Stephens, J.C. (2021). Green New Deal Proposals: Comparing Emerging Transformational Climate Policies at Multiple Scales. Energy Research & Social Science, 81, 102259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102259. Google Scholar
Cantarero, M.M.V. (2020). Of Renewable Energy, Energy Democracy, and Sustainable Development: A Roadmap to Accelerate the Energy Transition in Developing Countries. Energy Research & Social Science, 70, 101716. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101716. Google Scholar
Carley, S., & Konisky, D.M. (2020). The Justice and Equity Implications of the Clean Energy Transition. Nature Energy, 5(8), 569-577. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-020-0641-6. Google Scholar
Dall-Orsoletta, A., Ferreira, P., & Dranka, G.G. (2022). Low-Carbon Technologies and Just Energy Transition: Prospects for Electric Vehicles. Energy Conversion and Management: X, 16, 100271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecmx.2022.100271. Google Scholar
European Sustainability Reporting Standards ESRS S3 Affected Communities: Basis for Conclusions. (2023). European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG). Retrieved from https://www.efrag.org/sites/default/files/sites/webpublishing/SiteAssets/BfC_ESRS%20S3_Affected%20Communities.pdf (20.03.2025). Google Scholar
Fairchild, D., Weinrub, A. (2017). Energy Democracy. In: D. Lerch (eds). The Community Resilience Reader. Washington DC: Island Press. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-861-9_12. Google Scholar
Healy, N., & Barry, J. (2017). Politicizing Energy Justice and Energy System Transitions: Fossil Fuel Divestment and a “Just Transition”. Energy Policy, 108, 451-459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.06.014. Google Scholar
Henry, M.S., Bazilian, M.D., & Markuson, C. (2020). Just Transitions: Histories and Futures in a Post-COVID World. Energy Research & Social Science, 68, 101668. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101668. Google Scholar
Hu, Z. (2020). When Energy Justice Encounters Authoritarian Environmentalism: The Case of Clean Heating Energy Transitions in Rural China. Energy Research & Social Science, 70, 101771. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101771. Google Scholar
Jenkins, K., Sovacool, B.K., & McCauley, D. (2018). Humanizing Sociotechnical Transitions Through Energy Justice: An Ethical Framework for Global Transformative Change. Energy Policy, 117, 66-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.02.036. Google Scholar
Kalt, T. (2021). Jobs vs. Climate Justice? Contentious Narratives of Labor and Climate Movements in the Coal Transition in Germany. Environmental Politics, 30(7), 1135-1154. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2021.1892979. Google Scholar
Komunikat Komisji do Parlamentu Europejskiego, Rady Europejskiej, Rady, Komitetu Ekonomiczno-Społecznego i Komitetu Regionów: Europejski Zielony Ład. (2019). Komisja Europejska. Google Scholar
Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/PL/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52019DC0640 (20.03.2025). Google Scholar
Lamb, W.F., Antal, M., Bohnenberger, K., Brand-Correa, L.I., Müller-Hansen, F., Jakob, M., Minx, J.C., Raiser, K., Williams, L., & Sovacool, B.K. (2020). What are the Social Outcomes of Climate Policies? A Systematic Map and Review of the Ex-Post Literature. Environmental Research Letters, 15(11), 113006. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abc11f. Google Scholar
McCauley, D., Ramasar, V., Heffron, R.J., Sovacool, B.K., Mebratu, D., & Mundaca, L. (2019). Energy Justice in the Transition to Low Carbon Energy Systems: Exploring Key Themes in Interdisciplinary Research. Applied Energy, 233, 916-921. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.10.005. Google Scholar
Middlemiss, L. (2022). Who is Vulnerable to Energy Poverty in the Global North, and What is Their Experience? Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, 11(6), e455. https://doi.org/10.1002/wene.455. Google Scholar
Newell, P., & Mulvaney, D. (2013). The Political Economy of the ‘Just Transition’. The Geographical Journal, 179(2), 132-140. https://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.12008. Google Scholar
O’Sullivan, K., Golubchikov, O., & Mehmood, A. (2020). Uneven Energy Transitions: Understanding Continued Energy Peripheralization in Rural Communities. Energy Policy, 138, 111288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111288. Google Scholar
Rawls, J. (1971). A Theory of Justice: Original Edition. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Google Scholar
Smil, V. (2010). Energy Transitions: History, Requirements, Prospects. Santa Barbara, CA: Praegar. Google Scholar
Sovacool, B.K., Del Rio, D.F., & Griffiths, S. (2020). Contextualizing the COVID-19 Pandemic for a Carbon-Constrained World: Insights for Sustainability Transitions, Energy Justice, and Research Methodology. Energy Research & Social Science, 68, 101701. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101701. Google Scholar
Streimikiene, D., Kyriakopoulos, G.L., Lekavicius, V., & Siksnelyte-Butkiene, I. (2021). Energy Poverty and Low Carbon Just Energy Transition: Comparative Study in Lithuania and Greece. Social Indicators Research, 158(1), 319-371. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-021-02685-9. Google Scholar
Yenneti, K., Day, R., & Golubchikov, O. (2016). Spatial Justice and the Land Politics of Renewables: Dispossessing Vulnerable Communities Through Solar Energy Mega-Projects. Geoforum, 76, 90-99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2016.09.004. Google Scholar
York, R., & Bell, S.E. (2019). Energy Transitions or Additions? Why a Transition from Fossil Fuels Requires More than the Growth of Renewable Energy. Energy Research & Social Science, 51, 40-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.01.008. Google Scholar
License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
An Author declares that his paper has not been published before (under the same or another title, or is a part of another publication) and does not infringe copyrights of other persons**. At the same time, the Author transfers to the Publisher the exclusive right to publish and to circulate this work in print in the form of a non-serial journal publication and in a form of an electronic publication.
The journal is available on Creative Common license CC-BY-NC-ND

