Climate Action, Energy Transition and Support for Renewables

• In Event: Climate Crises, Violence and Governance

Abstract

Energy transition is one of the greatest technological, economic and social transformations that the world faces, necessitated by the threat of climate change. The world’s ability to meet the Paris Agreement targets will depend, to a large extent, on our ability to decarbonize our energy systems, a process with deep economic and social implications, and one that is inherently political (Aklin and Urpelainen, 2013). While there is a great deal of research that seeks to explain support for (or opposition to) climate change action, decarbonisation and adoption of renewables, there is a fair degree of heterogeneity in how these outcomes are framed and defined. This matters both for theory development and for understanding the implications and limitations of empirical findings. This paper undertakes a conceptual and empirical review of the definition and operationalization of energy transition in the literature with the goal of identifying how and to what extent support for climate change action, support for energy transition and support for renewable energy are related, and how they are conceptually and empirically distinct. This refinement of the dependent variable will allow us to identify more precisely, and differentiate between, some of the political factors and processes that drive support or opposition, such as status threat, economic identity and economic loss, efficacy and ideology.

Authors

• Huong Thi Thu Le, university of alberta

• Lori Thorlakson, University of Alberta