Citizens, everyday life and tensions in the energy transition

Abstract

While there is widespread support for mitigating climate change, the energy transition raises tensions. This review considers these tensions through four concepts: energy citizenship and democracy, energy vulnerability, identity politics and a just energy transition, as well as Finnish examples. The energy transition manifests in everyday life as pressures to change mobility, housing and livelihoods, and opportunities to participate in the energy market. Energy democracy emphasizes citizens’ empowerment by participating in energy production and grassroots innovation; these remain nascent and relatively inaccessible in Finland. Recent research on energy vulnerability emphasizes that not all vulnerable groups are recognized in public policy. Alongside distributional and procedural justice, the energy justice concept emphasizes recognition justice, i.e., respect for different groups and their needs. Since everyday life materializations of the energy transition have entered party politics, it is important to pay attention to intersecting injustices and to reinforce inclusion in the energy transition.