A Just Transition? Human Rights, Justice and Renewable Energy in UK Parliamentary Debate.

Abstract

The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy systems is necessary to mitigate climate catastrophe. However, a failure to centre justice within national policymaking processes could lead to a transition that entrenches inequalities and perpetuates human rights abuses.

This thesis examines how human rights and justice are showing up in UK parliamentary debates on the renewable energy transition. Applying qualitative thematic analysis, informed by social constructionism, it will explore where rights and justice principles have been “internalized”, where they are prompting significant debate, and where they are “meaningfully absent” within parliamentary discussion. I argue that the implicit articulations of a right to affordable energy, a right to work and a right to information as “common sense” suggests that these rights will be considered within UK renewable energy strategy. On the other hand, a comparison with the academic literature and UN discourses on human rights and the renewable energy transition reveals "meaningful absences” in parliamentary discussion including a failure to acknowledge the UK’s legal human rights obligations and a significant narrowing of the issues that are explicitly labelled as “human rights” risks. I also highlight disagreements, contradictions and the construction of trade-offs regarding whose right it is to exploit the UK’s natural resources; how the risks and benefits of the transition should be distributed, and which rights or rights-holders should be prioritised in national decision-making. This, I argue, reveals potential risks in the extent to which threats to human rights will be mitigated, human rights opportunities will be seized, and human rights responsibilities will be upheld within the UK’s energy transition. Thus, this thesis highlights an opportunity for stronger engagement of parliamentarians in considering, articulating and ultimately addressing the human rights and justice implications of the energy transition, to protect rights for all.