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Climate change, energy transition, and the Global South: learnings from the international framework on the ozone layer
Azubuike, S.I. Emeseh, Engobo Amakiri, D.Y.
Azubuike, S.I.
Emeseh, Engobo
Amakiri, D.Y.
Publication Date
2024-07
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© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in
any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository
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2024-05-24
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Abstract
The pursuit of climate action to meet net-zero targets has triggered the call for a global
energy transition from fossil fuels to clean energy sources. However, this global
energy transition does not entirely recognise all countries’ social, economic and
technological capacities as well as emission contributions as envisaged under the
Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) principle, which underlies
international climate policy. It is concerned more with the outcome of transitioning
to clean energy than with justice in the transition process. Recognition justice, an
element of energy justice, enables us to identify the inequalities that global energy
paradigms (such as the energy transition) can create and how a justice framework
can help us understand the implications of energy injustice and address the
inequities across energy systems. Recognition justice acknowledges the divergent
perspectives rooted in social, economic and racial differences and the varied
strengths of developed and developing countries. The energy transition process
ought to recognise these differences so that they are reasonably expected to benefit
everyone. Implementing the energy transition in the Global South (GS) in the same
way as it is being advanced in the Global North will have security, justice,
economic, resource-stranding, and sustainable development implications. This issue
(of injustice in the energy transition) is aggravated by two dichotomous realities:
many countries in the South will be most impacted by climatic changes, yet there
remains political and social opposition to climate action through the energy
transition. As a solution, this paper relies on the notion of recognition justice with
support from the Rawlsian justice concept to argue that a delayed transition
represents justice and recognises the peculiar nature and different circumstances of
the GS. It identifies that learnings from the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal
Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and the notion of CBDR
under international climate treaties can be mainstreamed into energy transition
research and policies to achieve justice for countries of the GS. The paper further
finds that a delayed transition for the GS will (i) enable the region to address
sustainability-related issues of hunger and multidimensional poverty, essential to
realising other Sustainable Development Goals, whilst gradually implementing
energy transition policies; (ii) present an attractive case against political and social
opposition to energy transition in the GS; (iii) advance the goal of CBDR already
recognised under international climate treaties and the bifurcated approaches
established in such treaties; and, finally, (iv) ensure that developed countries
contributing the most to greenhouse gas emissions take the lead now and act while
the GS effectuates national contributions sustainably
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Citation
Azubuike SI, Emeseh E and Amakiri DY (2024) Climate change, energy transition, and the Global South: learnings from the international framework on the ozone layer. Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law. 42(3): 255-277.
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