This panel will discuss the contestations, compliance and disregard for energy transition policymaking globally.
The global transition towards clean and affordable energy is crucial to achieve net zero carbon emissions (cf. SDG7, 13). While the IPCC and the UN continue to highlight the urgency of decarbonisation, few countries are reflecting this urgency in realizing their net zero plans and most continue to rely on fossil fuels. This is true even for countries that have national energy transition (NET) frameworks to operationalise the Paris Agreement and SDG7.
The panel will primarily focus on unpacking the drivers of energy transition policies using three interdisciplinary analytical perspectives. The first concerns the politics of policymaking, where our argument is that the way countries approach energy transition policies is informed by their understanding of fairness, justice, and equity, domestically and internationally. The second concerns the political economy of energy transitions, where we argue that interest groups like trade unions, agricultural, and industrial groups lobby governments to influence the nature, scope, urgency, and integrity of energy transition policies. The third interrogates the broader questions about recognition or denial of agency in international relations.
These three analytical perspectives have been informed by an extensive review of literature and primary research in five countries across four continents, funded by the King’s Climate and Sustainability Seed Fund. Our findings show that three approaches to National Energy Transitions are discernible in the global transitions despite there being some overlaps: Some countries are ‘good faith movers’, others are ’systemic contesters’, and the rest fall into a loose category of ‘laggards’, who are either disinterested in (or give ‘lip service’ to) genuine transitions, or which have the capacity to actand plans in place, but continue to fail to prioritise climate politically.
This panel will interrogate these drivers in four of the case countries (Barbados, Denmark, Ghana and United Arab Emirates), positioned within the global framework of climate and sustainability transitions.