Spatially just low carbon transitions for a net zero future

The UK is the most regionally unequal of all developed countries, and the low carbon transition (LCT) risks introducing new, or exacerbating old, spatial inequalities. This research therefore applies spatial justice theory to explore issues of equity in the LCT, particularly considering the geographic gap in how the benefits and burdens of transition are distributed. This study first presents a theoretically novel ‘semi-systematic’ review, providing conceptual definition around the term spatial justice as it applies to LCTs. The review responds to an earlier research gap in the narrow focus on employment as the main regionally varied impact of transition, and instead applies a whole systems approach. The research then operationalises the term ‘spatial justice’ in an evaluation of the equity of regional decarbonisation pathways in England. A methodologically novel scenario analysis of Local Authority (LA) net zero emissions targets in England (n=311) indicates significant regional variation in burden-sharing for mitigation. An accompanying composite indicator framework analysis provides a subnational application of the international equity principles of Common But Differentiated Responsibility and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC). This highlights the relationship between responsibility-taking and capability, how this varies between regions, and the associated implications for the justice of the LCT in the UK. This regional variation in local government net zero targets informs the final piece of research. Empirically novel interview research with stakeholders (n=28) from across the English regions, sectors and levels of government, evaluates the equity of LA climate action, applying the framework of CBDR-RC to the local scale. The analysis explores the drivers of differential capabilities across LAs, the equity of a local statutory responsibility, as well as governance mechanisms that could reduce inequalities in capabilities between LAs. The research concludes with a series of recommendations for embedding the principles of spatial justice into policymaking to achieve net zero.