TIPPING⁺ Newsletter: Issue 3

The concept of Energy Transition(s) has been at the core of the Climate COP27 which took place in Egypt in November 2022 with a growing call for a global phase-out of coal and fossil fuels. New Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETP) have been announced with Indonesia and Vietnam. At European level, the ambitious Fit for 55 and RePowerEU energy and climate policies are putting the decarbonization of the European economy at reach, aiming for a 55% reduction of carbon emission by 2030 towards net zero by 2050. Overseas, the recent Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has become the most significant climate legislation in U.S. history, with $400 billion to finance green energy, reduce carbon emissions, and advance environmental justice.

The Just Energy Transition(s) is indeed a key issue explored in the TIPPING⁺ project through the understanding of the Social-Ecological Tipping Points (SETPs) for the decarbonization of Carbon intensive regions all over Europe and beyond. After three years of research, TIPPING⁺ is now entering its final phase to capitalize and disseminate the main learnings from its research activities. During the coming months, we will build and share with key stakeholders and policy-makers the main recommendations to contribute to just energy transition(s) in Coal and Carbon Intensive Regions (CCIRs) around the world. So stay tuned!

Megalopolis, Greece

Located in the Peloponnese region, Megalopolis is a Coal and Carbon Intensive Region (CCIR) where lignite mining and lignite-based power generation were since the 1970s the dominant activities, employing a high number of the local workforce. The national lignite phase-out plan of Greece, apart from putting a considerable amount of jobs at risk, has also put an end at lignite-fuelled district heating in Megalopolis, which will be substituted by a newly built natural gas distribution network.

TEESlab researchers explored if and how investing in energy efficiency and electrification can be a more sustainable option for Megalopolis, compared to using natural gas as a transition fuel. Key takeaways include:

• In terms of environmental footprint and energy consumption reduction, it is a more effective option for the residential sector of Megalopolis.
• Using natural gas as transition fuel can lead to new lock-ins in fossil fuels.
• While investing in electrification can be costly upfront, the long-term economic benefits of electrification outperform the case of using natural gas as a transition fuel.

The on-line side event on How to accelerate the just energy transition in Coal and Carbon Intensive Regions was organized during the COP27 at the European Union Pavillon. The aim was to share and discuss the learnings from different EU-funded research and implementation projects (TIPPING⁺, CINTRAN, ENTRANCES, TRACER) on how to accelerate the just energy transitions in Coal and Carbon Intensive Regions (CCIRs) towards greener and more inclusive societies. A detailed report is available here.

The third in-person meeting of the TIPPING⁺ project was organized in Paris, from the 1st to the 2nd of December 2022 with the participation of more than 20 international researchers. During the two-days workshop, interdisciplinary discussions across the TIPPING⁺ work packages and case studies were facilitated to develop the Integration Framework and the New Social Theory related to Social-Ecological Tipping Points (SETPs) supporting successful clean-energy transitions in Coal and Carbon Intensive Regions (CCIRs).

TIPPING⁺ researchers David Tabara (Global Climate Forum) and Jeremie Fosse (eco-union) participated in the cluster event organised on Tuesday 24 January 2023 in Brussels by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). The objective was to identify synergies among EU-funded research projects on Energy transitions in CCIRs and possible collaborations, as well as to share the learnings to EU policy makers.

Several TIPPING⁺ researchers participated at the Conference on “Tipping Points. From climate crisis to positive transformation” that took place at the University of Exeter on 12-14 September 2022. During the event, a dedicated TIPPING⁺ Workshop took place where five case studies posters showcasing key research components (such as the mainstream narrative, the research methodology and conceptual framework) were presented. For more information, you may visit here.

The Institute for Structural Research (IBS) and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) participated at the Conference “From the Grassroots to Policy and Back: Putting Just Transition to Practice”, organised by the Institute of Sociology at the University of Silesia, in Katowice on the 28th of October 2022. The Conference gathered people from all over the world associated with the Just Transition Research Collaborative, and research consortiums investigating coal regions, i.e. TIPPING+ and CINTRAN. More information can be found here.

TIPPING⁺ participated at the CINTRAN Academy Event organised in Western Macedonia (Greece) within the context of the Horizon 2020 CINTRAN project. The aim was to develop strong interaction, co-learning opportunities and chances for networking amongst all participants, as well as to find replicable solutions to mutual challenges. Participants were able to discuss and unpack coal+ regions’ self-defined top priorities in an interactive manner with key stakeholders from Western Macedonia, Greece; Ida-Virumaa, Estonia; Rhineland, Germany; and Silesia, Poland, and others all across Europe. More information can be found here.

Indonesian partner PT Sustainability & Resilience (su-re.co) recently co-hosted the 2nd Policy Dialogue with the topic of "Decarbonisation Strategies in Indonesia: Modeling of Climate, Land, and Energy" on January 19, 2023, together with the Indonesian Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas in Jakarta. Speakers from Delft University of Technology (David Ismagil), University of Kassel (Janina Onigkeit), Cambridge Econometrics (Eva Alexandri), Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz (Raphaela Maier) presented various modelling methods that can be used in the policymaking process in land and energy sectors to support the development of the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2025-2029 and the National Long-Term Development Plan (RPJPN) 2025-2045.

During 2022, TIPPING⁺ researchers have produced several papers from the project outcomes:

Frantal, B., Frajer, J., Martinát, S., Brisudová, L., 2022: The curse of coal or peripherality? Energy transitions and the socioeconomic transformation of Czech coal mining and post-mining regions. Moravian Geographical Reports, vol.30, no.4, pp.237-256. https://doi.org/10.2478/mgr-2022-0016

Frantal, B., Dvorak, P., 2022: Reducing energy poverty in deprived regions or supporting new developments in metropolitan suburbs? Regional differences in the use of subsidies for home energy efficiency renovations. Energy Policy, 171: 113250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113250 

Sokołowski, J., Frankowski, J., Mazurkiewicz, J., Lewandowski, P., 2022. Hard coal phase-out and the labour market transition pathways: The case of Poland. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, Vol. 43, Pages 80-98 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.

Biddau, F., Brondi, S., & Cottone, P. F. (2022). Unpacking the psychosocial dimension of decarbonization between change and stability: A systematic review in the social science literature. Sustainability, 14(9), 5308. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095308

Gupta, J., Liverman D., Prodani K., Aldunce P., Bai X., Broadgate W., Ciobanu D., Gifford L., Gordon C., Hurlbert M. , Inoue C.Y.A., Jacobson L., Kanie N., Lade S., Lenton T., Obura D., Okereke C., Otto I.M., Pereira L., Rockström J., Scholtens J., Rocha J., Stewart-Koster B., Tàbara J. D., Rammelt C., Verburg P. (2023). Earth System Justice needed to identify and live within Earth System Boundaries. Nature - Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01064-1

Grabisch, M., Mandel, A., & Rusinowska, A. (2022). On the design of public debate in social networks. Operations Research 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1287/opre.2022.2356

The full TIPPING⁺ papers and publications are available here.

• March ‘23: Policy briefs and recommendations

• April ‘23: Regional Strategies Booklet

• 14-15 June ‘23: Final Conference in Brussels - Save the date !

• NTNU Energy Transition Conference 2023, 23 March 23

• European Sustainable Energy Week, 20-22 June 23

• European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE), 27-30 JUne 2023

Up until now, the design of a just transition has focused very much on replacing jobs occupied by men. As women tend to remain as silent actors, what their demands are and how they can actively shape this structural change are rarely the focus of the debate. The event from CINTRAN's Coal+ Regions in Transition will bring together practitioners’ voices from several European coal regions to discuss gender-specific problems related to the transformations in energy regions. It will provide an eco-feminist perspective on how to effectively design a gender just transition, looking at women's agency and role in carbon-intensive regions. Register here.

The Entrances Coal and Carbon Regions case studies have been published and are available to download and share. These case studies provide a theoretically based and empirically grounded understanding of cross-cutting issues related to SSH aspects of "Clean Energy Transition" in selected European coal mining and carbon-intensive regions. Additionally, two videos summarizing each region’s case studies were also made available and can be seen at the project’s website. + info: https://entrancesproject.eu

We have partnered with other EU-funded projects to share learnings and exchange experiences on the energy transition in CCIRs.

TIPPING⁺, the EU-funded research project led by 10+ Academic and Civil Society Partners from Europe and beyond that studies clean-energy transitions in Coal and Carbon Intensive Regions (CCIRs). T+ advances the scientific understanding of the critical concept of Social-Ecological Tipping Points (SETPs) that lead to the transformation of an energy-dependent region towards a low-carbon industry, economy and society.

Send us an email for any questions or express interest in the TIPPING⁺ research