Political Economy of Sustainable Energy: Power, Institutions and Change

Shifting global energy towards a more environmentally and socially sustainable future is now an established and increasingly important goal for governing bodies at all levels: global, transnational, regional, national and local (Edomah et al., 2020). In this section, we will take stock of the political economy of sustainable energy at these different scales as well as its broader repercussions on the international political economy of energy. Although new sustainable energy policies have been contested politically in most countries, facing strong opposition from incumbent actors, the sustainable energy agenda has persisted (Aklin & Urpelainen, 2015). Indeed, the evolving evidence base shows us that modes of energy production and consumption have started to change – albeit more slowly than needed to meet the 1.5 degree Paris ambition. The COVID-19 crisis and related policy responses are creating additional shocks to energy systems. This will have important implications on progress towards sustainable energy and adds an additional dimension to the discussion of energy system change (Kuzemko et al 2020). The section takes stock of these developments asking questions about the political conditions under which policies were implemented, how successful they have been and how they affect current attempts to decarbonise energy. How have incumbent structures, institutions and actors shaped the emerging political economy of sustainable energy? What can we learn from successes and failures in overcoming the inertia of incumbent regimes? In addition, we explore how these changes are affecting the broader international political economy of energy. The section will be organised according to three, linked themes – power, institutions and change - with three to four panels on each theme: Shifting Power Relations The panels on power will explore what we can learn from over 20 years of exchange between coalitions pursuing sustainability and those seeking to oppose and/or delay change to existing energy systems. A wide variety of conceptual approaches to power can be taken to explore the key actors, power relationships, the range of resources they relied upon, and how the outcomes of key contestations/ informed policy making (Burke & Stephens 2018). There is scope here to also expand on arguments that power relations in energy have started to shift as a result of the energy transition (Brisbois 2020) and its implications for the global energy transition and the broader international political economy of energy (Quitzow & Thielges, 2020). Remaking Institutions The panels in this thematic area explore how energy institutions are being re-made. They take an institutionalist approach - historical, discursive, ideational - to sustainable energy and seek to better understand the institutional conditions under which sustainable changes have been made (Kern 2011; Kuzemko et al 2016). The aim is to reflect on how new policies, regulations, organisational forms and social practices related to sustainable energy emerged and adapted over time. In addition, it explores how new knowledge has developed and informed the types of changes that took place and how this shaped changing political interests and their articulation (Buschmann & Oels, 2019). This could include analysis of sets of new ideas, knowledge regimes, networks, advocacy coalitions and their means - narratives, discourses, framings, resources - through which they have influenced processes of sustainable change and innovation Dynamics of Change Lastly, the panels on the dynamics of change in sustainable energy will focus on energy shifts or transitions and the processes through which they are taking shape at different geographic scales. This could include analyses of how to accelerate transitions); the mechanisms of policy change and feedback; the mobilisation and engagement of different actor groups and how this influences the political conditions under which sustainable energy policymaking is now taking place (Roberts et al 2018. These panels will provide a deeper understanding of how timing and sequencing and the dynamic interplay of policy processes across different policy domains affect the politics of sustainable energy (Meckling et al., 2017). Moreover, panels might address what different social, economic and political outcomes are emerging as a result of policies designed to enable decarbonisation. Taken together the panels in this section, by exploring and taking account of the complex politics of sustainable changes achieved so far, can contribute towards understandings of how we can better shape sustainable energy transitions towards more socially just and environmentally sustainable outcomes. Bibliography: Aklin, M., & Urpelainen, J. (2015). Renewables. The Politics of a Global Energy Transition. MIT Press. Brisbois, M. (2020) ‘Shifting political power in and era of decentralization: Rescaling, reorganization and battles for influence’, Environmental Innovation & Societal Transitions 36, 49-69. Burke, M.; Stephens, J. (20) ‘Political power and renewable energy futures: A critical review’, Energy Research & Social Science 35, 78-93. Buschmann, P., & Oels, A. (2019). The overlooked role of discourse in breaking carbon lock‐in: The case of the German energy transition. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 10(3), e574. Delina, L. L. (2020). Climate mobilizations and democracy: the promise of scaling community energy transitions in a deliberative system. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 22(1), 30–42. Edomah, N., Bazilian, M., & Sovacool, B. K. (2020). Sociotechnical typologies for national energy transitions. Environmental Research Letters, 15(11), 111001. Kern, F. (2011) ‘Ideas, institutions and interests: explaining policy divergence in fostering ‘system innovations’ towards sustainability’, Environment & Planning C 29, 1116-1134. Kuzemko, C.; Bradshaw, M.; Bridge, G.; Goldthau, A.; Jewell, J.; Overland, I.; Scholten, D.; Van de Graaf, T.; Westphal, K. (2020) ‘Covid-19 and the politics of sustainable energy transitions’, Energy Research & Social Science 68, 101685. Kuzemko, C.; Lockwood, M; Mitchell, C.; Hoggett. R. (2016) ‘Governing for sustainable energy transitions: contexts, contingency and change’, Energy Research & Social Science, 12 (2016), 95-105. Meckling, J., Sterner, T., & Wagner, G. (2017). Policy sequencing toward decarbonization. Nature Energy, 2(12), 918–922. Quitzow, R., & Thielges, S. (2020). The German energy transition as soft power. Review of International Political Economy, 1–26. Roberts, C.; Geels, F.; Lockwood, M.; Newell, P.; Schmitz, H.; Turnheim, B.; Jordan, A. (2018) ‘The politics of accelerating low carbon transitions: Towards a new research agenda’, Energy Research & Social Science 44, 304-311.