Processes of Elite Power and Low-Carbon Pathways: Experimentation, Financialisation, and Dispossession

Global Environmental Change 59 (November, 2019), 101985, pp. 1-14.

42 Pages Posted: 30 Oct 2019

See all articles by Benjamin K. Sovacool

Benjamin K. Sovacool

Science Policy Research Unit; Boston University - Department of Earth and Environment; Department of Business Technology & Development

Dr. Lucy Baker

Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex

Andrew Hook

University of Sussex - Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU)

Mari Martiskainen

University of Sussex - Science and Technology Policy Research Unit (SPRU)

Date Written: October 21, 2019

Abstract

What is a low-carbon pathway? To many, it is a way of mitigating climate change. To others, it is about addressing market failure or capturing the co-benefits attached to low-carbon systems, such as jobs or improved health. To still others, it represents building adaptive capacity and resilience in the face of climate change. However, these interpretations can fail to acknowledge how pathways of low-carbon transitions can also become intertwined with processes and structures of inequality, exclusion and injustice. Using a critical lens that draws from a variety of disciplines, this article explores three ways through which responses to climate change can entrench, exacerbate or reconfigure the power of elites. As society attempts to create a low-carbon society, including for example via coastal protection efforts, disaster recovery, or climate change mitigation and renewable energy, these efforts intersect with at least three processes of elite power: experimentation, financialisation, and dispossession. Experimentation is when elites use the world as a laboratory to test or pilot low-carbon technologies or policy models, transferring risks yet not always sharing benefits. Financialisation refers to the expansion and proliferation of finance, capital, and financial markets in the global economy and many national economies, processes of which have recently extended to renewable energy. Dispossession is when elites use decarbonisation as a process through which to appropriate land, wealth, or other assets (and in the process make society more majoritarian and/or unequal). We explore these three themes using a variety of evidence across illustrative case studies, including hard and soft coastal protection measures (Bangladesh, Netherlands), climate risk insurance (Malawi), and renewable energy auctions and associated processes of finance and investment (South Africa and Mexico).

Keywords: low-carbon transitions; elites; power; financialisation; dispossession; experimentation

Suggested Citation

Sovacool, Benjamin K. and Baker, Lucy and Hook, Andrew and Martiskainen, Mari, Processes of Elite Power and Low-Carbon Pathways: Experimentation, Financialisation, and Dispossession (October 21, 2019). Global Environmental Change 59 (November, 2019), 101985, pp. 1-14., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3473318 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3473318

Benjamin K. Sovacool (Contact Author)

Science Policy Research Unit ( email )

Falmer, Brighton BN1 9SL
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/profiles/373957

Boston University - Department of Earth and Environment ( email )

Boston, MA
United States

Department of Business Technology & Development ( email )

Nordre Ringgade 1
Aarhus C, DK-8000
Denmark

HOME PAGE: http://pure.au.dk/portal/en/persons/id(fca10105-c4eb-4f0f-99a7-a354a8a8a47a).html

Lucy Baker

Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex ( email )

Falmer
Brighton, Sussex BNI 9RH
United Kingdom

Andrew Hook

University of Sussex - Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU)

Brighton, BN1 9SL
United Kingdom

Mari Martiskainen

University of Sussex - Science and Technology Policy Research Unit (SPRU) ( email )

Mantell Building
Falmer
Brighton BN1 9RH UK, Sussex
United Kingdom

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