Problematizing the Just Energy Transition from a Sub-Saharan Africa Context: Insights from Key Developmental Concepts

The significance and complexity surrounding JET’s connotations and implementation, especially for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), is raising concern and agitation across economic development, environmental governance, morality, fairness, and inclusiveness, leading to questions whether global development requires a transformative equity and justice focus. Questioning its universal applicability, this chapter problematizes JET from a SSA context, asking whether JET is a priority in SSA, and if so, what aims, objectives, and form it should take. Thus, we consider to what extent we can find alternative alignments between JET and key development concepts, i.e., Environmental Kuznets Curve, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Sustainable Development Goals, and a Human Rights-Based Approach) and one environmental concept (Polluter Pays Principle). Based on the development concepts, we highlight areas of concern for which SSA will require deeper context-specific analysis and deliberations, for JET decisions (policies, strategies, and objectives). While SSA’s priority is attaining energy self-sufficiency, JET’s aims can primarily be formulated around the three most widely used arguments, i.e., EKC, MHN, and PPP, while integrating the other two or more concepts as necessary. As SSA countries differ in terms of climate change vulnerability, energy conditions, and levels of socioeconomic development, interpreting JET will vary by region, country, and community groups, producing many interpretations of what JET policies and strategies may look like at different scales.