Enabling Sustainable Energy Transitions : Practices of legitimation and accountable governance / edited by Siddharth Sareen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sareen, Siddharth, Editor.

Contributor:

Sareen, Siddharth, Editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human geography.

Ecology.

Physical geography.

Energy policy.

Economic development.

Human Geography.

Environmental Sciences.

Physical Geography.

Energy Policy, Economics and Management.

Development Studies.

Local Subjects:

Human Geography.

Environmental Sciences.

Physical Geography.

Energy Policy, Economics and Management.

Development Studies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (168)

Edition:

1st ed. 2020.

Place of Publication:

2019.

Cham : Springer International Publishing : Imprint: Palgrave Pivot, 2020.

Language Note:

English.

Summary:

"This compact book argues that ideas about accountability and legitimation - drawn from work on environmental governance - can open up new analytical perspectives on what is holding back effective energy system transformation. With bite-size chapters and illustrative cases that draw on the work of five expert witnesses, this is a novel intervention into debates over the politics of energy transition." -Professor Gavin Bridge, Durham University, UK "The book theorizes and advances the research frontier on legitimation practices and accountability with a carefully crafted analysis bridging scholarly fields of environmental governance, political economy, energy research and democratic theory. It is a must-read for all students and scholars interested in shaping more legitimate, democratic and accountable energy transition from the local to global context." -Professor Karin Bäckstrand, Stockholm University, Sweden This open access book reframes sustainable energy transitions as being a matter of resolving accountability crises. It demonstrates how the empirical study of several practices of legitimation can analytically deconstruct energy transitions, and presents a typology of these practices to help determine whether energy transitions contribute to sustainability. The real-world challenge of climate change requires sustainable energy transitions. This presents a crisis of accountability legitimated through situated practices in a wide range of cases including: solar energy transitions in Portugal, urban energy transitions in Germany, forestland conflicts in Indonesia, urban carbon emission targets in Norway, transport electrification in the Nordic region, and biodiversity conservation and energy extraction in the USA. By synthesising these cases, chapters identify various dimensions wherein practices of legitimation construct specific accountability relations. This book deftly illustrates the value of an analytical approach focused on accountable governance to enable sustainable energy transitions. It will be of great use to both academics and practitioners working in the field of energy transitions. Siddharth Sareen is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Climate and Energy Transformation at the University of Bergen, Norway.

Contents:

Prologue

Part I

Chapter 1: Reframing energy transitions as resolving accountability crises

Chapter 2: A typology of practices of legitimation to categorise accountability relations

Part II

Chapter 3: Five easy pieces: Legitimation at work in cases related to energy transitions

Chapter 4: Historicising accountability: Berlin's energy transitions

Chapter 5: A few reflections on accountability

Chapter 6: Do climate targets matter? The accountability of target-setting in urban climate and energy policy

Chapter 7: Governance and legitimation in the transition to Nordic electric mobility

Chapter 8: Accountability and the regulation of legitimacy: Biodiversity conservation and energy extraction in the American West

Part III

Chapter 9: Practices of legitimation and accountability crises in a range of energy transitions

Chapter 10: Conclusion: Legitimation and accountability in energy transitions research

Appendix I: A workshop, parallel exhibitions and associated events

Appendix II: Photos from the events in Bergen, May 2019.

ISBN:

9783030268916

3030268918

OCLC:

1125076677

Access Restriction:

Open access Unrestricted online access