Millward-Hopkins, J and Johnson, E orcid.org/0000-0002-9196-6622 (2023) Distributing less, redistributing more: Safe and just low-energy futures in the United Kingdom. Energy Research and Social Science, 95. 102915. ISSN 2214-6296
Abstract
Low energy demand pathways may be essential for the transition to net zero. However, to date, the distributional impacts of these futures have been neglected, leaving open crucial questions about living standards and inequality. Using the lens of ‘decent living energy’, this article begins to piece together the puzzle by providing a distributional analysis of a recent low-energy-demand, net-zero scenario for the UK. We find that if the UK succeeded in following a low-energy pathway, but income and energy inequality continued increasing at the current rate, 9 million people could lack sufficient energy for meeting decent living standards in 2050. Theoretically, this can be mitigated either by achieving considerable reductions in income inequality, or by ensuring highly energy-efficient technologies are available at all income levels as this reduces the energy required to meet decent living standards. Reviewing various specific policies that could forge a low-energy-demand future, we find some are inherently equitable and others can easily be designed to be so. However, policies could also prove regressive in numerous ways. We thus argue that an equitable, socially-just, low-energy-demand policy pathway would need to be responsive and dynamic, bold and targeted, and joined-up with respect to both policy implementation and assessment.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Climate change, Decent living standards, Energy justice, Energy poverty, Energy demand, Inequality, Just transitions |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) EP/R035288/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 03 Feb 2023 15:12 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 23:14 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.erss.2022.102915 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:195802 |