Where are urban energy transitions governed? Conceptualizing the complex governance arrangements for low-carbon mobility in Europe

This article addresses the question of where urban low-carbon energy transitions are governed. A challenge is that urban governance is not simply urban, but a complex assemblage of institutions, networks and socio-technical arrangements. There are several on-going literature debates discussing the different types of processes in which cities are involved. I disaggregate these into vertical processes (multilevel governance perspectives), horizontal processes (network and policy mobility perspectives), and what I term infrastructural processes (steering by conditions in the built environment). The purpose of the article is to show how all these types of governance processes combine to drive urban low-carbon energy transitions. Using the notion of policy assemblage, I outline a framework through which the different types of governance processes can be reconciled. This is illustrated through a discussion of how the different types of processes interact in the context of urban low-carbon mobility in Europe. A discussion of the case of Stavanger, Norway, shows how different types of governance processes combine to drive and constrain low-carbon energy transitions and underlines the importance of taking seriously the constraints of the built environment.publishedVersio

Decision-making and scalar biases in solar photovoltaics roll-out

Rapid roll-out of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy is a key component of decarbonising energy systems. Yet clear risks are involved, including footprints from land use and infrastructure as well as socio-economic inequalities. Where are the critical decisions about solar roll-out made, by whom, and to what effect for justice? The paper reviews and synthesises emerging scholarship on solar PV roll-out, cross-sectoral aspects of this multi-scalar energy transition, and energy justice. We identify a trend of diverse scalar biases, and highlight considerable emerging research on risks of scalar injustice and the policy adjustments required to avoid them during rapid solar roll-out.publishedVersio

The Challenges of greening energy: Policy/industry dissonance at the Mongstad refinery, Norway

The interaction between policy making and industry is a key to understanding the conditions for ‘greening’ contemporary energy systems. This article uses efforts toward greening the Mongstad oil refinery in Norway as a case to analyse the challenges involved in politically stimulated shifts towards increased sustainability in the energy sector. A technology test centre and a full-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at Mongstad were the centrepiece of the Stoltenberg government's (2005–2013) climate strategy. However, the project suffered delays and cost overruns until the full-scale carbon capture and storage project was eventually stopped. It is argued that interactions between the policy-making and industrial innovation arenas involved in this case are challenging because they operate according to different internal logics. We conceptualize this divergence as ‘policy/industry dissonance’ and suggest that this concept is a useful complement to literatures on regional innovation systems (RIS) and the multilevel perspective on sustainability transitions (MLP).publishedVersio

Legitimacy and accountability in the governance of sustainable energy transitions

How can we enable equitable decarbonisation? There is a wide gap between power to make transformative decisions, on the one hand, and agency on the part of those affected by climate change, on the other. We converge scholarly strands to understand and address the causes for insufficient action towards equitable decarbonisation – the crisis of accountability – despite global recognition of the urgent need for such action. Just as we study the socio-materiality of energy systems to understand the ephemeral flows of energy, we must also unpick the making of socio-political arrangements to comprehend what practices determine the elusive governance of energy transitions. To unite the twin concerns of energy and accountability, we probe the relationship between accountability and legitimacy on the one hand, and the governance of sustainable energy transitions on the other. This synthesis offers three key insights. First, accountability and legitimacy are deeply conflictual issues where various actors negotiate and struggle for control in energy transitions. Second, the negotiations around accountability and legitimacy have outcomes that are often inequitable. Third, it is crucial that reforms and policies that aim to stimulate sustainable energy transitions address power imbalances as well as carbon emissions. Overall, building equity into processes of systemic change requires instituting strong mechanisms that generate public benefits while legitimating new socio-material infrastructure and practices.publishedVersio

Competing climate spectacles in the amplified public space

The climate change debate is finding new expressions through political protests and demonstrations, during which a plurality of climate narratives emerges. While protests such as Extinction Rebellion have had a strong physical manifestation, involving many people showing up in concrete locations, they have also been facilitated and mediated virtually. In this paper, we examine the spectacle generated when divergent discourses on climate change compete for attention in spaces that are simultaneously urban and virtual. The paper is based on empirical evidence from events surrounding London Fashion Week 2019, focusing on the political mobilization by Extinction Rebellion Boycott Fashion (XRBF) and other groups. Discussing this changing nature of urban protest spectacle, we point to the emergence of an ‘amplified public space’ shaped at the intersection of material and virtual spaces of the city. Both the fashion industry and XRBF employ techniques of spectacle in their strategies to advance their respective climate change and sustainability narratives. We argue that XRBF, in particular, has managed to influence the climate change debate by strategically staging spectacular protest events that are both facilitated and played out in virtual space.publishedVersio

Populism, Instability, and Rupture in Sustainability Transformations

The recent surge in populist politics in Europe and North America has challenged many of the policies aimed at advancing sustainable shifts. In this article we argue that this surge necessitates a rethinking of transition and transformation. The mainstream perspective on transitions understands it largely as the proliferation and upscaling of innovative technologies and policy frameworks. We recast sustainability transitions and transformations as continuous processes of assembly and disassembly, driven by rupture and instability. Rather than seeing populist resurgence as a “barrier” to change toward sustainability, we argue that these ruptures and instabilities should be considered inherent to the transformation process itself. The recent local election in Bergen, Norway, witnessed the surge of a new “anti-elite” political party dedicated to protesting road tolls that finance public transport. We hold that although such movements certainly pose challenges to sustainable transitions, they also provide opportunities for revitalizing democratic politics—moving beyond postpolitical managerial governance and inviting new concerns into local and urban transformation processes.publishedVersio

Populist far right discursive-institutional tactics in European regional decarbonization

What rhetorical strategies are populist far-right parties using to delay regional decarbonization? This paper focuses on three populist far-right parties—the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE), Alternative for Germany (AfD), and Poland's Law and Justice (PiS)—and the discursive-institutional tactics each used from 2014 to 2021 to delay decarbonization of their carbon-intensive regions. We identify three discursive-institutional tactics used by populist far-right actors to delay decarbonization: (1) politicizing decarbonization, (2) reframing cultural values to form alliances with anti-decarbonization movements, and (3) dismantling key decarbonization institutions. We show that the populist far-right discursive-institutional tactics in European regional decarbonization are prevalent and vary widely. The politics of backlash against the EU-driven progressive public policies and anti-democratic rhetoric, including xenophobia and national sovereignty discourses are commonly used by these three populist far right parties to mobilize counternarratives against climate change and regional decarbonization. EKRE and PiS typically portray themselves as the protectors of social insurance and safety for vulnerable groups affected by regional decarbonization. PiS and AfD harness regional identity to mobilize civic engagement against decarbonization. All three parties work to empty and dismantle key decarbonization institutions. Overall, our findings suggest that carbon-intensive regions are particularly susceptible to the discursive tactics and institutional work of populist far-right parties, and may therefore provide opportunities for these parties to constrain decarbonization more broadly.publishedVersio

Decision-making and scalar biases in solar photovoltaics roll-out

Rapid roll-out of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy is a key component of decarbonising energy systems. Yet clear risks are involved, including footprints from land use and infrastructure as well as socio-economic inequalities. Where are the critical decisions about solar roll-out made, by whom, and to what effect for justice? The paper reviews and synthesises emerging scholarship on solar PV roll-out, cross-sectoral aspects of this multi-scalar energy transition, and energy justice. We identify a trend of diverse scalar biases, and highlight considerable emerging research on risks of scalar injustice and the policy adjustments required to avoid them during rapid solar roll-out.publishedVersio