The Interplay between Energy Transitions and Security pre and post 2022

Energy transitions based on decarbonised energy sources, electrification and digitalisation are accelerating all over the world – with new impetus but also changing conditions created by the war initiated by Russia in Ukraine in 2022. Energy transitions have an array of connections with different aspects of security, which have increased in the past year. These range from traditional military security concerns and geopolitics to security of energy and materials supply, internal domestic security, cyber security, and climate security. This presentation is focused on highlighting some of the issues presented in a forthcoming book that explores the interplay between energy transitions and security in selected small Northern countries in Europe (Finland, Norway, and Estonia) and Scotland as a region in the United Kingdom. Based on interview and document analyses conducted during 2019-2023, the presentation will focus on how energy transitions were shaped by and influenced security policies prior to 2022, and how this interaction shifted post-2022 events. The research draws from sustainability transition, security and policy studies to analyse these interconnections. The findings show, for example, partly incoherent policies and lack of integration, leading to both ineffective policies from the perspective of decarbonisation and also of national security – the latter evident in the European energy crisis in 2022. Further, it shows that while generally energy policy development is quite slow and gradual, external crises can create substantial policy changes by shaping the worldviews of the policymakers.