Synopsis:
The European transition to zero-carbon carbon energy systems implies a wide range of changes which may adversely affect certain industrial sectors, communities and regions. As observed in various European countries, fears of job losses, economic decline, and disruptive structural changes have fuelled opposition to low carbon policies. It is hence becoming increasingly clear that, while Europe’s energy transition puts into practice the values of sustainable development and stewardship of natural resources, it must also uphold two other key European values: fairness and solidarity. Moving away from traditional least-cost modelling approaches, I propose a framework to compare the socio-economic impacts of alternative mid-century energy systems decarbonization strategies

Bio:
Piera Patrizio is a research associate at the Centre For Environmental Policy (CEP), under the NERC-GGR project framework. Her current work focuses on connecting insights from energy modelling with social science and climate policy and includes the assessment of socio-economic benefits of energy systems decarbonization and the exploration of approaches that can foster the integration of knowledge across disciplines. Prior to joining CEP, Piera worked at the International Institute for Applied System Analysis (IIASA), where she studied the interlinkages between the technical, economic and social dimensions of low carbon technology deployment.