Justice-Centered Energy Transitions and Sustainable Futures

Abstract

Energy transition is often framed as a problem of cost; it is, more fundamentally, a problem of allocation and institutional design under real resource constraints. Decarbonization advances while deprivation persists, revealing a structural tension between ecological ambition and distributive order. Such imbalance erodes legitimacy, weakens compliance, and destabilizes reform. This article advances a justice-centered framework in which sustainability endures only when fairness disciplines allocation, secures credibility, and anchors the institutional conditions for durable transition.