The Power of Energy Justice & the Social Contract

This open access book focuses on the energy sector and will make a significant contribution to its continued evolution. For many years, the energy sector has been missing a raison d’etre and now finally there are increased calls for that to be justice. Hence, this book will develop the concept of energy justice and how it needs to be formalised in a new ‘social contract’ with all stakeholders in society. The focus will be on improving legal systems at local, national and international levels while ensuring that justice is a core issue within energy law, the legal system and more broadly in society. Raphael Heffron is Professor in Energy Justice and the Social Contract at the Universite de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, TREE, Pau, France. He is also Jean Monnet Professor in the Just Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy awarded by the European Commission (2019-2022). In 2020, he was appointed as Senior Counsel at Janson law firm in Brussels (Belgium). Professor Heffron is a qualified Barrister-at-Law, and a graduate of both Oxford (MSc) and Cambridge (MPhil & PhD). His work all has a principal focus on achieving a sustainable and just transition to a low-carbon economy, and combines a mix of law, policy and economics. He has published over 200 publications of different types and is the most cited scholar in his field worldwide for energy law, energy justice and just transition. Louis de Fontenelle is Associate Professor in Public Law at the University of Pau and Pays de l’Adour, Pau, France. He is member of the research centre TREE (University of Pau and Pays de l'Adour, CNRS, France). His research focuses on issues of law and justice relating to the ecological transition in the context of climate change, in particular energy, sustainable mobility and natural resources. His work is interdisciplinary, involving geography, economics and philosophy.