Energy infrastructure transitions and environmental governance

Abstract

At a time of great urgency for transitions to sustainability in light of climate mitigation targets, energy infrastructure is in a state of flux. Expansions in renewable energy and the persistent grasp of fossil fuels over a historically centralised sector surface new challenges of socio-spatial and environmental justice. Where does new energy infrastructure appear, how is this decided, who benefits and who is burdened? What land uses are displaced and with what socio-ecological implications? This collection pulls together insights from environmental and land governance, ethnographic studies of situated social identities, and emerging conceptualisations of energy infrastructure to address these concerns. It features contributions focused at multiple scales–the urban, regional, national and trans-local–and informed by a variety of cognate conceptual lenses: political ecology, human geography, social anthropology, urban studies, socio-technical transitions and epistemic politics. Examining cases from three continents, both the Global South and North, the theme issue presents an array of perspectives from established and emerging scholars. It seeks to combine empirically rich and theoretically rigorous enquiry at the conjuncture of energy infrastructure transitions, changing land use and morphing social identity. The aim is thus to further interdisciplinary knowledge on socio-ecological implications of cross-sectoral transitions.