Political Economy

G02 - Political economy of energy transitions and climate change

Date: Jun 3 | Time: 10:15am to 11:45am | Location:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Antulio Rosales (York University)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Antulio Rosales (York University)

The political economy of an ‘AMOC’ collapse: How an increasingly likely climate tipping point could change the world: Ryan Katz-Rosene (University of Ottawa)
Abstract: While attention to climate tipping points has received some attention in the study of global environmental politics, there is surprisingly little analysis of the human consequences tied to one of the most significant and likely-to-manifest tipping points later this Century – a collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). In this paper I consider how a collapse of the AMOC could impact the global political economy. I offer a basic introduction to the latest science identifying the geophysical risks linked to an AMOC collapse, and identify some of the potential political and economic ramifications which could arise from it. I note that while an AMOC collapse largely exacerbates many existing types of political economic risks to society posed by climate change as we know it, it reconfigures their global spatial dynamics and introduces a new type of global climate-governance problem, which I call the “Divergent Climate Response Dilemma”. Additionally, I consider how a collapse of the AMOC could reshape discursive debates about climate ‘Doom’, ‘Denial’, and ‘Hope’.

Energy transitions for communities reliant on heavy industry in India: Challenges and opportunities in three steel hubs of eastern India: Alexandra Mallett (Carleton University), Hasrat Kathuria (Carleton University)
Abstract: A key contributor to climate change is fossil fuels. India, being the world's third-largest carbon dioxide (CO2) emitter, pledged to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2070. To meet this ambitious goal, India needs to reduce its emissions from “hard to abate” sectors including steel given its high dependence on fossil fuels, primarily coal. Amid growing calls for just transitions, these changes are not limited to shifting of fuel and technology but also involve forming an economy that includes reskilling of workers, and institutional and strong policy interventions to support the impacted communities. However, social dimensions will depend on the local geographic setting, so how can energy transition pathways be suitable to their contexts? The purpose of this paper is to explore the social dimension of transition in three major steel hubs of Eastern India – Giridih, Jharkhand, Durgapur, West Bengal and Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The study consisted of interviews and focus group discussions (FGD) with more than twenty-five workers and other actors in these three clusters, and the qualitative data is analyzed employing the NVivo software. Preliminary findings suggest that the socioeconomic condition of workers is more favorable in larger centres, while the impacts of energy transition will likely be greater on smaller centres that are heavily dependent on the fossil fuel industries, suggesting more need for their support. To address these challenges and facilitate a just transition in these steel hubs the study proposes alternate economic opportunities for the workers, and outlines policy recommendations for both local/regional, state and central governments.

‘Just Transition,’ or Just a Transition? Creating Socially Equitable Decarbonization in Oil-Dependent Regions: Insights from Newfoundland and Labrador: Leah M. Fusco (Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador), Angela Carter (Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador)
Abstract: Energy transitions are intensifying globally, but with varying emphases on equity. While some jurisdictions are advancing “just transitions,” others are focused primarily on technological changes while otherwise replicating extractive modes of development that neglect social equity considerations. This paper examines how energy transition is unfolding in one of Canada’s largest oil producing provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), a province that is relying on doubling oil extraction to achieve socio-economic stability. Yet these policy aspirations expose the province to economic and climate risks given the imminent decline in global oil demand and the heightening climate crisis that is caused primarily by fossil fuels. Set in the historical context of oil production in NL, this paper explores the continued pressures to develop oil, overlaid with new energy projects (notably large scale export-oriented wind-to-hydrogen and mega hydroelectricity projects). Drawing on interview data with policy actors from across the province, we document trends in the emerging (and highly contested) debates around just transition and identify key obstacles to and opportunities for a just transition in NL. While focused on NL, we place the province in the larger context of rich-world oil producing jurisdictions that are confronted with economic and also climate imperatives to decarbonize their economies while they seek to profit from the final years of stable global oil demand.

From Sustainability to Social Metabolic Democracy: (Re)Thinking Questions of Ecology, Justice, and Transformation Through the Theory of Social Metabolism: Joshua McEvoy (Queen's University)
Abstract: Nearly four decades since the Brundtland report popularized the concept of sustainability, progress toward abating the many profound ecological crises we face today is wanting. Critically, sustainability is most often conceptualized and pursued in highly technocratic terms amenable to capitalist eco-modern visions. Whether understood in this way or not, sustainability is also often implicitly or otherwise understood as the ultimate severing of the social from the ecological, freeing humanity from the rest of nature. Taking a critical approach, re-theorizes the underlying normative commitments that animate prevailing notions of sustainability and ecological justice by drawing upon the Marxian concepts of ‘metabolic rift’ and ‘social metabolic control.’ Focusing on socio-ecological mediation and exchange and the relations that animate them, this approach productively reframes sustainability as a perpetual sociopolitical process instead of an end-state and emphasizes the imperative for it is termed here ‘social metabolic democracy.’ It further underlines the necessity of socio-ecological transformation by centring the conditions necessary for pursuing social and ecological justice while refraining from prescribing their content. In forwarding the need for an equitable system of social metabolic control, this approach also raises difficult questions for future research and theorization concerning the relation of democracy and the constitution of its boundaries to biophysical limits and justice.