DOE Webinar: IGS Director Benjamin Sovacool on Equity and Justice in Industrial Decarbonization
Industrial decarbonization and just transitions are both key to a clean energy future, but they are rarely considered together. Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability (IGS) Director Benjamin Sovacool is working to change that.
At a recent Department of Energy-hosted webinar, Sovacool shared his research on why major industries must consider equity and justice as they take steps to reduce carbon emissions.
Decarbonization technologies are not always implemented fairly
Industry is responsible for about 30% of US carbon dioxide emissions, according to the DOE. Top emitting industries include petroleum refining, chemicals, iron and steel, cement, and food and beverage. To slow changes to the Earth’s climate, industry must reduce its carbon footprint by decreasing reliance on fossil fuels. Doing so will require massive changes to how industries are powered and organized.
Historically, many efforts to slash industrial carbon emissions have created or exacerbated systemic injustices. Wind and solar technology will enable a fossil fuel-free future, however, according to a 2021 study by Sovacool, their deployment can also harm communities by destroying natural resources, forcing populations to relocate, entrenching poverty, and more. In nearly a third of cases, several of these negative outcomes occur simultaneously.
“Not only do these impacts matter because they’re unfair or unjust, it’s also who experiences them,” Sovacool said in his talk. “It tends to be those who have the least adaptive capacity or have already had serious disadvantages imposed on them, especially indigenous groups, Native Americans, ethnic minorities, Aboriginal groups or First Nations peoples.”
This is why, Sovacool said, decarbonization must occur with a central focus on the perspectives, knowledge, and needs of affected communities.
Identifying a more equitable path forward
A just transition is a framework that guides action to ensure no one is left behind as society moves to a lower-carbon economy. A transition grounded in a commitment to equity and justice requires governments, industry, and regulatory authorities to minimize potential negative outcomes and maximize tangible benefits for vulnerable groups.
Sovacool served as a lead author on the sections of the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report about just transitions. Through his work with the IPCC, Sovacool and colleagues tracked dozens of just transition commissions, task forces, dialogues, funds, and platforms, plus more than 50 social movements and grassroots organizations advocating for transition-related justice.
Applying a just transition framework to industrial decarbonization
Sovacool has been part of several extensive research projects to evaluate how a just transition framework can be used to guide industrial decarbonization efforts.
- In one review, Sovacool and colleagues surveyed decarbonization experts from many disciplines and identified 88 different theories on how to approach the topic – only one of which was the just transition framework.
- Through the United Kingdom-based Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Center (IDRIC), Sovacool and colleagues conducted another extensive literature review. They drew from perspectives across the environmental justice, sustainability, and energy democracy literature to propose a framework for considering the justice aspects of industrial decarbonization.
A common theme emerging from this work is the importance of integrating interdisciplinary perspectives to inform policy and action, Sovacool shared.
“The good news is there’s a beautiful kaleidoscope that we can use to better understand industrial decarbonization. But the downside is, there’s no one theory that does it all,” Sovacool said. “As I like to tell my students, all theories are useful, but all theories are also incomplete.”
The Considering Communities in Industrial Decarbonization webinar series, organized by the DOE’s Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office, convenes thought leaders for discussions on diversity, equity, and inclusion, energy equity and environmental justice, workforce opportunities in decarbonization, and strategies for community engagement.
Sovacool spoke alongside panelists including Kate Anderson, a researcher and developer of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Justice Underpinning Science and Technology Research (JUST-R) Metrics Framework, and Jennifer Hirsch, senior director of the Center for Sustainable Communities Research and Education at Georgia Institute of Technology.
Sovacool’s full slide deck is available on our website.