Premium
The energy‐extractives nexus and the just transition
Author(s) -
Bainton Nicholas,
Kemp Deanna,
Lèbre Eleonore,
Owen John R.,
Marston Greg
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
sustainable development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.115
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1099-1719
pISSN - 0968-0802
DOI - 10.1002/sd.2163
Subject(s) - nexus (standard) , context (archaeology) , transition (genetics) , mainstream , energy transition , contradiction , politics , economic justice , environmental justice , climate justice , injustice , sociology , economic system , climate change , environmental ethics , political economy , economics , political science , epistemology , neoclassical economics , ecology , law , computer science , chemistry , philosophy , alternative medicine , pathology , biology , embedded system , paleontology , biochemistry , panacea (medicine) , medicine , gene
The concept of a ‘just transition’ to a low‐carbon economy is firmly embedded in mainstream global discourses about mitigating climate change. Drawing on Karl Polanyi's political economy elaborated in The Great Transformation , we interrogate the idea of a just transition and place it within its historical context. We address a major contradiction at the core of global energy transition debates: the rapid shift to low‐carbon energy‐systems will require increased extraction of minerals and metals. In doing so, we argue that extractive industries are energy and carbon‐intensive, and will enlarge and intensify social and ecological injustice. Our findings reveal the importance of understanding how the idea of a just transition is used, and by who, and the type of justice that underpins this concept. We demonstrate the need to ground just transition policies and programmes in a notion of justice as fairness.