LIST OF PANELS

Even though the “just” element of energy transition research and practice has increased in popularity recently, definition of what constitutes a just transition are still being debated (Heffron et al. 2024). Indeed, stakeholders in the Southeast Asian region often have diverging visions about how to implement energy transitions (Bößner, Fauzi, and Rimal 2023) and sometimes lack a good understanding about the “just” element of energy transitions (IESR 2024). Moreover, it is unclear how elements of justice and equity are reflected in current ASEAN energy policy and regulatory frameworks.

This panel’s objective is to bring clarity to the conceptual ambiguity of just energy transition and investigate how elements of justice and equity are reflected (or not) in current ASEAN energy policies. As a second objective, this panel will discuss how energy transition policies and regulatory frameworks can be made more robust and effective by integrating justice and equity considerations, with a view to identifying policy provisions that would be needed to facilitate a truly just energy transition. In doing so, the panel will assemble a variety of stakeholders including the private sector in order to discuss both policy needs but also showcase local, bottom-up solutions for just energy transitions.

The research questions are therefore as follows

1)      What are the necessary ‘just’ elements of energy transitions in the Southeast Asian region?

2)      Do current policies adequately reflect those elements of justice and equity in energy transition pathways? If not, what is missing?

3)      And if not, how can elements of justice be mainstreamed into regional policy- and regulatory frameworks to facilitate a truly just energy transition?  

4)      What kind of success stories can we tell, of localized, bottom-up just energy solutions?

The fossil fuel-based energy sector is by far the largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG) and arguably the most important sector to decarbonize in order to meet the objectives enshrined in international law such as the Paris Agreement. However, decarbonizing the energy sector is only possible if a large coalition of stakeholders, including the private sector and civic society organizations (CSOs),is brought on board due to the decentralized nature of low-carbon alternatives. This can only be done with just and equitable approaches to energy transitions but understanding those approaches is still in its infancy. Therefore, bringing conceptual clarity to the issue of just energy transitions and designing policy and regulatory frameworks that support such a just and equitable approach is of utmost importance thus making this panel highly relevant not only from a scientific perspective but also from an implementation perspective.

We invite researchers, practitioners, private sector players, CSOs and development professionals to submit papers and/or abstracts of their work, responding to between one and all four research questions listed above. This description should contain the contact details of the corresponding author as well as the key messages and key insights of the paper and/or the research field the author(s) is/are exploring (min. 300 but max 600 words). Selected participants are expected to give a 10-20 minutes, in person presentation about their paper and/or their work during a moderated panel discussion in Jul 2024 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. People outside of academia like those working for CSOs, NGOs, International Organizations or the private sector are especially encouraged to submit a paper and/or abstract of their work. The panel selection will ensure a diversity of viewpoints will be presented.