The University of Edinburgh is at the forefront of climate research, teaching, innovation and action by engaging with climate and ecological emergencies alongside a rooted commitment to justice and equity.
On 7 June 2023, the Energy@Ed team and the Edinburgh Earth Initiative organised the ‘Perspectives of Energy and a Just Transition’ event exploring the various interdisciplinary approaches to the topic. In line with the event’s theme, the speakers were drawn from across the disciplines of Law, Social and Political Science, and Geosciences, to name a few.
Energy@Ed
Energy@Ed is an interdisciplinary research group of over 200 researchers working across the University’s many research centres and institutes, recognising and acknowledging the social and technical aspects of energy systems and technologies. The group also works towards addressing climate change and decarbonisation by improving access to clean, affordable, secure, and sustainable energy sources.
Energy@Ed’s recent focus is geared towards addressing the need for a just energy transition that is not only low on carbon but also fair, inclusive, and creates work opportunities without leaving anyone or any community behind.
The Speakers
Navraj Singh Ghaleigh from the School of Law, Dr Kirsten Jenkins from the School of Social and Political Science, and Professor Stuart Haszeldine from the School of Geosciences, in their talk titled ‘Different views of the cathedral: Just Transitions from multiple disciplines,’ gave a lowdown of their work on the UK’s transition from oil and gas, a part of a larger project on the oil and gas transitions in the North Sea. Ghaleigh explored the role of law in just transitions, emphasising the significance of the UK’s movement towards a more structured approach to intergovernmental relations and Net Zero. Expanding on this theme, Dr Hazledine delved into the specifics of the transition, shifting the focus onto the UK’s offshore oil and gas resources and the need to involve labour and supply chain matters in the conversation. At the same time, Dr Jenkins structured her talk around the ways in which a ‘just’ transition differs from previous transitions. Suggesting that just transition is now at the stage of ‘Fossil Fuel +’, Dr Jenkins highlighted how the concept of just transition comes embedded with complex conceptual, analytical, and decision-making roles.
Professor Sean Smith from the Centre for Future Infrastructure began his talk by likening innovations in net-zero technology to Industry 5.0. Further, he spoke of the Scottish Government’s ZEST Taskforce and how its strong focus on ‘fabric first’ addresses fuel costs and fuel poverty. Citing the example of retrofitting buildings and Air Source Heat Pumps, Professor Smith made a case for why it is imperative for technologies to embrace a ‘fit and forget’ mindset while moving towards a just transition.
Introducing the British Academy-funded ‘The Times of a Just Transition’ project, Dr Andrew Hom from the School of Social and Political Science walked the attendees through how the project — and its network of 23 scholars from 14 disciplines and spread across six continents – aims to transform our understanding of time and justice and draw attention to the use and misuse of temporal frameworks and narratives in the context of a just transition. Dr Hom’s talk also brought the concept of ‘pluriversal politics’ to the fore in the context of how communities in the Global South and the marginalised North engage with just transitions, in addition to underlining the project’s manifold exploration of time’s influence on the framing of problems and possibilities, time as a coordination practice, time as lived and experienced, and its subsequent bearing on the question of justice, and the political uses of time, to name a few.
Continuing in the realm of just transition and interdisciplinarity, Dr Julia Taylor from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg spoke about her research into the gender dimensions of energy transitions in Northern Cape, South Africa. With the question of why just transition is usually regarded as a future event in South Africa as the point of departure, Dr Taylor—through her research—also spoke of her probes into the winners and losers in a solar power chain, the indifference of specific communities to solar power, at times exacerbated by their minimal impact, and the role of the state in shifting to renewable energy and social provisioning.
At the beginning of his talk, Ghaleigh insightfully remarked,’ There is no way that serious research in this area is going to be done on a single disciplinary basis’ – capturing the essence of the event and the core of the Edinburgh Earth Initiative’s research.
Useful Links
Navraj Singh Ghaleigh – Edinburgh Law School
Stuart Haszeldine – School of Geosciences
Kirsten Jenkins – School of Social and Political Science
Sean Smith – Centre for Future Infrastructure
Andrew Hom – School of Social and Political Science
Julia Taylor – University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
