WORLD ENERGY TRANSITIONS OUTLOOK
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Technological innovation and large-scale investments are critical to the energy transition scenarios described in the 2021 edition of the World Energy Transitions Outlook (IRENA, 2021a). But as IRENA has shown, success hinges on suitable national policies and international co-operation. To undertake the transition and to see it through to its conclusion, a policy framework must be able to produce the socio-economic gains necessary for societal embrace and broad political support. The best policies undergirding the energy transition rest on a systemic understanding of how socio-economic systems interact with global support systems (see Box 3.1). They also inform the design of measures that mitigate adverse impacts and guide a socio-economic transformation alongside the energy transition itself. The more developed countries aim largely to safeguard their welfare. Developing countries see the energy transition instead as a catalyst for alleviating poverty and spurring human development. Recent initiatives to refashion government ministries23 reflect mounting awareness around the complexity of the energy transition. They acknowledge that traditional economic, social and demographic governing responsibilities are more intertwined than ever, and that a technologyoriented transition is by no means automatically socially just. Policy making is principally driven by national-level interests, but international interests – with their bilateral and multilateral dynamics – play an important role. The transition needs to be just and fair at the global level as well. International economic structures therefore deserve scrutiny. Left to market dynamics alone, the distribution of transition benefits can be lopsided across countries, communities and economic sectors. What room is there for improving the distribution of transition benefits and burdens, considering existing economic structures?
23 Acknowledging that policy making involves inter-related sectors, governments have recently recognised the need for ministries devoted to transition-related policies. In 2017, as one example, France established a ministry responsible for environmental policy, transportation, national parks and housing policy, as well as for energy policy.
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