Filling in social “justice gaps”: Going beyond technical dynamics in just transition processes

Jessica Clement ()
Additional contact information
Jessica Clement: CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: Policies that aim to protect the environment have unintended consequences on marginalized communities. Often translating into increased pressures on such communities, these consequences may be linked to top-down decision-making practices that do not consider the preferences and priorities of the marginalized in society. In this chapter, the just transition (JT) policy processes are explored for Hainaut, Belgium. The elaboration of the Territorial Just Transition Plan has guided these processes and led to three axes for the JT in the region (industry, energy, and socio-economic). However, through interviews and multi-actor forums with marginalized communities, important "justice gaps" were identified. For each axis, decision-makers prioritized technical and innovation concerns over social ones, leading to unintended consequences for marginalized communities. Looking through a socio-technical lens, this chapter concludes that JT decision-making processes led to a technical decarbonization focus in the region, but without an accompanying social shift. Considering the perspectives of marginalized communities may help fill these gaps, account for the needs of the marginalized, and support leaving no one behind in JT processes.

Keywords: Just transition; Marginalized communities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05490286v1
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in Stapper Everardus Wilhelmus (Michiel); Baron Marcin; Horne Ralph; Pachova Nevelina; Wieczorek-Kosmala Monika. Just Transition and the European Green Deal. Regional perspectives, Taylor & Francis, pp.71-88, 2026, 978-1-003-48120-1. ⟨10.4324/9781003481201-5⟩

Downloads: (external link)
https://hal.science/hal-05490286v1/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05490286

DOI: 10.4324/9781003481201-5

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().