Juliette Linn

Time To Walk the Talk: Analysing the Contextual Conditions that Enable and/or Hamper an Inclusive Just Energy Transition from a Fossil-Intensive Economy to a Low-Carbon Economy.

To mitigate the imminent effects of climate change, fossil duel dependent economies are required to phase out of their fossil fuel industries and transition to renewable energy sectors. In order to address the effects of climate change the Paris Agreement was developed in 2015 to hold all countries accountable to reduce global emissions and limit the average global temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius, preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030. Studies have shown that developing countries are falling behind on energy efficiency targets due to Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities. This thesis analyzes the global energy transition discourse and the role of Leaving Fossil Fuels Underground in that phase out of fossil-intensive economies. It looks at the contextual conditions that influence the inclusiveness of the Just Energy Transitions in developing countries and in what ways the government addresses or rejects them in climate policies developed. Through a case study of the coal industry in South Africa, 13 non-governmental stakeholders of the energy transition were interviewed and 15 climate policy reports and documents have been analyzed. It was found that the main barriers affecting the inclusiveness of the Just Energy transition in South Africa are; (i) lack of accessibility to up-to-date data to spread awareness on climate change, (ii) issues of trust in South African government, (iii) lack of urgency displayed by the South African government, and (iv) Eskom’s current debt crisis restricting financial capacity to phase out of carbon intensive economy. Due to the complex interaction between highly globalized value chain actors and interests of local incumbent actors in the South African coal industry, the South African government demonstrates high resistance to an inclusive phase out of the coal industry. As a result, this research suggests that the current energy transition trajectories remain too focused macro level approaches to take the vulnerable workers into account and thus do not enable an inclusive Just Energy Transition in South Africa. In doing so, this thesis aims to contribute to the academic knowledge whereby developing countries can build the institutional capacity to sustainably address contextual barriers inhibiting an inclusive Just Energy Transition, using the coal industry of South Africa as an example

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