On the Journey to Just Energy Transition in Developing Countries: Implementation Challenges

The time for action is now (Ban Ki-moon and Kofi Annan)

“Energy justice” is the study agenda of how justice might be achieved considering the rapid pace of low-carbon transitions. The broader proliferation of many “justice” notions for sustainability challenges includes the “CEE” dimensions of climate, environment, and energy justice (Heffron & McCauley, 2018). According to predictions made by the International Energy Agency, developing nations will supply more than two-thirds of the world’s energy demand in the coming decades when global energy transitions are considered (IEA, 2021). It is still too early to declare that the developing field of energy justice research has been extensively applied in contexts of developing nations, even though it has begun to assume global dimensions (Damgaard, McCauley, & Long, 2017). As a recent example, the “low-carbon energy systems and energy justice” special issue of the Applied Energy journal from 2018 contains some of the most recent developments in the field’s study. Surprisingly, it largely relies on case study data and empirical evidence from contexts in affluent nations; out of 19 new papers, only two pay attention to developing countries (Broto, Baptista, Kirshner, Smith, & Alves, 2018).

Why developing countries?

Energy transition must consider the peculiarities of developing regions. Despite contributing less than 5% of global emissions, Africa is one of the continent’s most at risk from climate change. At least 592 million people in Africa lack access to energy, according to SEforALL. At the Forum, Rwandan President Paul Kagame made/highlighted the following statement: “Africa cannot bear the burden alone, particularly given that its emissions did not cause the global emergency. But Africa will contribute to the solution, he said. Seven transformative measures for SDG7 in Africa were presented by the African Ministerial Roundtable:

a. Provide the entire continent with access to contemporary sustainable energy.

b. The African Development Bank (AfDB) has set out its vision for the continent’s energy future, which is to: Increase private and public sector spending on new generating, transmission, and distribution infrastructure to $ 2 trillion to meet growing demand for energy.

c. To assist local economies, create millions of local employments in the new sustainable energy industry, particularly by establishing regional supply chains and national energy transition programs that are climate-aligned.

d. Remove the constraints on development finance that now prevent projects in Africa from addressing regional needs and boosting domestic resource mobilization.

e. Encourage a paradigm shift in technology transfer practices to give the entire continent equitable access to the newest energy advancements.

Africa can only fulfil its transition goals and achieve universal energy access through such measures. The elimination of coal by countries like South Africa and the inclusion of renewable energy in Nigeria’s national development are both commendable.

Implementation Challenges of achieving a just energy transition in Developing Countries

Because of rising populations and expanding economies, developing countries are on track to produce more greenhouse gases than developed countries by the year 2030. (Dowlatabadi and Oravetz, 1997). E/GDP as a gauge of energy intensity is even less precisely defined for the developing world due to challenges with defining GDP and insufficient data on energy consumption. This contributes to projections of future energy intensities and carbon emissions around the globe.

Moreover, an assessment of technology transfer in developing countries reveals recipients are unwilling to utilize new energy-efficient technologies unless they are successful in the donor country (Sagar and Kandlikar, 1999). Developing countries lack the technology to innovate and commercialize breakthrough decarbonization solutions in these industries. Access to personnel with the technical knowledge and competence to handle, install, and maintain hydrocarbon and hydrocarbon infrastructure is crucial to a country’s ability to adopt green hydrocarbon solutions. Some countries are getting better at developing the technical expertise to design and run hydrocarbon projects due to the extensive usage of hydrocarbon as an industrial gas. This is particularly the case in nations that are abundant in natural gas, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Argentina. The few individuals with good expertise to install, construct, and maintain hydrocarbon-related equipment are from a few big hydrocarbon-consuming industries that use a large volume of hydrocarbon.

In addition, much as with any other combustible fuel, the need for safety cannot be overstated for any application using hydrocarbons. When compared to more traditional fuels that are utilized for energy purposes, hydrocarbons have distinct characteristics that need a different kind of processing. The first challenge is that hydrocarbon is odourless, colourless, and burns with an undetectable flame. Because of these characteristics, it might be difficult to manage first responders who have not had sufficient training.

Moreover, it is also necessary to place more emphasis on how to accomplish just transitions in developing countries. Research on transitions in developed economies has rather been the focus of most studies. The political, social, economic, and environmental circumstances that affect the results of transitions in Western nations may be outlined in retrospective case studies. Developing countries, on the other hand, bear a significant constraint since many still rely on fossil fuel extraction and others have just recently found new fossil fuel resources with enormous economic potential. Countries with limited economic resources and social welfare have the challenge of coping with environmental and economic concerns in a sustainable manner. Is it reasonable to ask these countries to bear the responsibility of cutting global emissions since they are less guilty of world emissions and climate change? A quick but just transition is needed. Policymakers in developing Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa would benefit from case studies that go into detail about specific issues in their regions. Additionally, these case studies should be translated into languages other than English to facilitate participation by stakeholders in the Global South.

Another major issue is a lack of capability at the local level. In certain circumstances, national mandates, and strategies to deal with just transitions may be required to stimulate and support local action. Just transitions, however, must be owned by local or regional governments, not just by global and central governments, to succeed. It is expected that cities and regional governments would be at the forefront of dealing with transitions, but they often lack the political and institutional capacity to prepare and execute big systemic changes, and they also lack clarity about what their role should be in the process. In other cases, national policy severely restricts the alternatives available to extremely competent local governments. As a result, local governments are unable to manage labour displacement and fund worker training, new adjustment programs, and other social insurance. The literature on long-term structural changes includes case studies of Germany and other nations. On the other hand, there is insufficient knowledge in many developing countries, which often have less developed institutions and social dialogue systems.

References

Castán Broto, Vanesa & Baptista, Idalina & Kirshner, Joshua & Smith, Shaun & Neves Alves, Susana, 2018. “Energy justice and sustainability transitions in Mozambique,” Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 645–655.

Heffron, R.J., & McCauley, D. (2018). What is the ‘Just Transition’? Geoforum, 88, 74–77.

IEA (2021), Recommendations of the Global Commission on People-Centred Clean Energy Transitions, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/recommendations-of-the-global-commission-on-people-centred-clean-energy-transitions

Damgaard, C.S., McCauley, D., & Long, J.A. (2017). Assessing the energy justice implications of bioenergy development in Nepal. Energy, Sustainability and Society, 7, 1–16.

H. Dowlatabadi and M. Oravetz. (1997). U.S. long-term energy intensity: back cast and projection, Working paper, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University

Kandlikar, M., & Sagar, A.D. (1999). Climate change research and analysis in India: an integrated assessment of a South — North divide. Global Environmental Change-human and Policy Dimensions, 9, 119–138.