SERC Chile researcher and academic at the School of Sociology of Universidad Diego Portales, Tomás Ariztía, explained that the concept of “just transition” has three dimensions: distributive, procedural, and recognition, and that the main objective is to be able to “equitably manage costs and benefits in all areas related to energy.”

What is the just energy transition? The concept of a just transition has its origin in the trade union movement as an effort to protect the population and jobs that depended on coal-intensive industries from the costs of decarbonization processes, and it refers to the labor impacts of decarbonization processes. However, over the years, the concept has extended to the consideration of principles of justice and equity in ongoing energy transitions.  

Photo: Tomás Ariztía, SERC Chile researcher and academic at the School of Sociology of Universidad Diego Portales

In this way, the just transition seeks to emphasize the importance of advancing the decarbonization goals established at a global level, such as the Paris Agreement or the 2030 Agenda, but without imposing a cost on the most vulnerable population. According to Tomás Ariztía, sociologist and researcher at SERC Chile, the principle of a just transition seeks to account for and address the inequities that arise as a result of ongoing energy transitions, along with balancing social and environmental impacts.

The researcher explained that the “just transition addresses principles of justice in the decarbonization of economies,” considering different dimensions: “A distributive one, which focuses on the equitable distribution of the costs and benefits associated with the energy transition; a procedural one, which examines how these inequalities are managed within the framework of energy transitions; and one of recognition, which respects diverse ways of understanding and conceiving environmental change associated with the transition.”

“Originally, this idea emerged from trade union movements that faced the consequences of decarbonization, but today it is used to speak about the just management of the impacts of the energy transition,” he maintains.

A key aspect is to identify the costs and inequalities associated with the development of new technologies or the closure of fossil fuel technologies, and then establish how to address them. “These costs and benefits generally develop in a deterritorialized manner; for example: benefits generally reach a different place than where the costs are generated.” This occurs especially in territories where renewable energy infrastructure is imposed without an adequate distribution of benefits among affected communities, focusing on generating benefits for actors in other parts of the planet.

For this transition to be just, it is fundamental that public policies reconcile the effectiveness of decarbonization with principles of distributive, procedural, and recognition justice. Ariztía highlights that “an objective to consider within the framework of a just transition is to identify and properly manage the various inequities that arise associated with the installation of renewable energies.”

Research on social and environmental impact

In Chile, SERC studies the transformation processes associated with the energy transition from this perspective. Among the research topics is the social and environmental impact of the development of new fuels such as green hydrogen and large-scale solar projects. “We are interested in understanding how these developments affect communities and the environment, what frictions and tensions they create, and how they can be addressed from a just transition perspective,” explains the researcher.

The SERC Chile researcher mentions that one of the research projects being carried out is the analysis and study of “the development of new fuels such as green hydrogen or the development of large-scale solar generation projects” from the perspective of their impacts, governance, and implications in terms of transitions towards sustainability.

This approach seeks to highlight that the energy transition should not only benefit industrialized sectors or those with greater purchasing power, but also include communities that have historically been excluded from the benefits of energy development, while ensuring that the costs associated with the transition are not borne by less favored sectors or territories.