Power Shift: The Global Political Economy of Energy Transitions

Chapter 1 Introduction: The Global Political Economy Of Energy Transitions The Question Of Whether And How We Can Collectively Steer Our Economy And Society Onto A Lower Carbon Development Trajectory Is Among The Most Pressing The World Currently Faces. Runaway Climate Change Threatens The Very Habitability Of The Earth: Systematically Undoing Progress Made In Advancing The Human Condition And Rendering Impossible The Achievement Of The Sustainable Development Goals (sdgs) Agreed In 2015. But Despite Rhetorical Embrace Of The Concept And Need For Transition By Governments, Businesses And International Organisations, Critical Applied Analysis Of What A Dramatic Shift In The Structures Of Production And Consumption And, More Challengingly, The Alignments Of Political And Economic Power That Would Be Required To Achieve And Sustain A Low Or Zero Carbon Economy Would Imply, Is Sorely Lacking. The Need For Fundamental Transformations In The Way We Produce, Consume And Distribute Energy Is Glaringly Obvious, Despite Painfully Slow Progress In The Shift Away From Our Fossil-fuel Dominated World. A Series Of Factors Conspire To Make The Need For Deeper Transformations And Nearer Term Energy Transitions Acute And Urgent. Today's Energy System Is Not Fit For Purpose On A Number Of Grounds-- Provided By Publisher.