TY - JOUR
T1 - Just transition
T2 - A conceptual review
AU - Wang, Xinxin
AU - Lo, Kevin
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the four anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments. This work was supported by the General Research Fund (12600718) of the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - The growing attention paid to the idea of a just transition away from the incumbent fossil fuel energy paradigm has led scholars to devise diverse definitions, understandings, and viewpoints of the term. This review seeks to clarify the different perspectives surrounding the concept, to consolidate knowledge, and to provide a concise account of current debates in the literature as well as a research agenda. It identifies five themes around which the concept has been discussed: (1) just transition as a labor-oriented concept, (2) just transition as an integrated framework for justice, (3) just transition as a theory of socio-technical transition, (4) just transition as a governance strategy, and (5) just transition as public perception. Overall, this review suggests that the literature on just transition employs rich theoretical and empirical insights from various disciplines yet contains several gaps. Specifically, it argues that the literature would benefit from more empirical studies rooted in practice, more discussion on the relationship between different concepts of just transition, an expansion of geographical scope to include developing countries and non-democratic regimes, and more attention to power dynamics in just transition.
AB - The growing attention paid to the idea of a just transition away from the incumbent fossil fuel energy paradigm has led scholars to devise diverse definitions, understandings, and viewpoints of the term. This review seeks to clarify the different perspectives surrounding the concept, to consolidate knowledge, and to provide a concise account of current debates in the literature as well as a research agenda. It identifies five themes around which the concept has been discussed: (1) just transition as a labor-oriented concept, (2) just transition as an integrated framework for justice, (3) just transition as a theory of socio-technical transition, (4) just transition as a governance strategy, and (5) just transition as public perception. Overall, this review suggests that the literature on just transition employs rich theoretical and empirical insights from various disciplines yet contains several gaps. Specifically, it argues that the literature would benefit from more empirical studies rooted in practice, more discussion on the relationship between different concepts of just transition, an expansion of geographical scope to include developing countries and non-democratic regimes, and more attention to power dynamics in just transition.
KW - Conceptual review
KW - Energy transition
KW - Just transition
KW - Low-carbon transition
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115933199&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.erss.2021.102291
DO - 10.1016/j.erss.2021.102291
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85115933199
SN - 2214-6296
VL - 82
JO - Energy Research and Social Science
JF - Energy Research and Social Science
M1 - 102291
ER -