Energy Justice For Real: Participation, responsibility and power

This thesis is about equity considerations in climate change and the energy transition. My goal is to demonstrate the importance of these when making public decisions. I do it this way: first, I emphasize the importance of access to clean energy. Such access is necessary to address concerns around climate change and ensure access to basic needs. Therefore, I argue that the public must play an important role in making those decisions. I support that idea based on empirical research in the social sciences, which suggests that public resistance to renewable energy projects stems from a lack of trust in how those decisions are made. Further empirical evidence shows that the public often contributes valuable insights. These make decisions fairer and therefore more likely to be implemented. The norm is to focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Based on this research, I offer an alternative. The focus should be on structural measures, as an appropriate response to a structural problem. I also argue that this approach is not only fairer, but also plays a role in addressing or even dismantling the main obstacle to fair and effective climate policy. The results of my research point to economic power as that obstacle.