Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 9, 2025
06:10
Using Generative Art to Convey Past and Future Climate Transitions
Published on: March 31, 2023
897
Quantifying energy transition vulnerability helps more just and inclusive decarbonization
Yifan Shen1, Xunpeng Shi2, Zhibo Zhao3
1Department of Economics and Finance, SILC Business School, Shanghai University, Shanghai 201899, China.
PNAS Nexus
|October 23, 2024
Summary
The energy transition vulnerability index (ETVI) reveals Global South nations face greater fossil fuel phase-out challenges than Global North countries. The COVID-19 pandemic also reversed progress toward global energy transition equity.
Area of Science:
- Climate Change Economics
- Energy Policy
- Sustainable Development
Background:
- The COP28 agreement emphasizes a just transition away from fossil fuels.
- Quantitative assessments of national energy transition vulnerability are lacking.
- Understanding country-specific challenges is crucial for equitable policy-making.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a framework for assessing energy transition vulnerability across nations.
- To quantify and compare country-level challenges in moving away from fossil fuels.
- To inform policy for a just and inclusive global energy transition.
Main Methods:
- Development of a conceptual framework using the Vulnerability Scoping Diagram (VSD) method.
- Creation of an Energy Transition Vulnerability Index (ETVI) for country-level scoring.
- Analysis of ETVI scores in relation to geopolitical groups and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Main Results:
- Countries in the Global South generally show higher energy transition vulnerability than those in the Global North.
- The gap in vulnerability between Global South and Global North has widened over the last decade.
- The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted a decade-long trend of decreasing global energy transition vulnerability.
- Four distinct energy transition statuses were identified: Stressful, Leapfrog, Potential Challenges, and Less Painful.
- Significant synergies exist between energy transition resilience and achieving the 2030 UN SDGs.
Conclusions:
- The ETVI provides a vital tool for policymakers to ensure a just and equitable energy transition.
- Addressing the widening vulnerability gap is critical for achieving global climate and development goals.
- Tailored strategies are needed to support countries facing greater challenges in the fossil fuel phase-out.
Related Concept Videos
00:51Energy Budgets
9.2K
Organisms must balance energy intake with the energy required for growth, maintenance and reproduction. These trade-offs result in a variety of survivorship and reproductive strategies, including semelparity and iteroparity. Semelparous species, like annual plants, have only one reproductive episode in their lifetimes and consequently have short lifespans. Iteroparous species, by contrast, have many reproductive events during their lifetimes but have relatively few offspring. These two...
9.2K
01:21Energy Losses in Transformers
836
In an ideal transformer, it is assumed that there are no energy losses, and, hence, all the power at the primary winding is transferred to the secondary winding. However, in reality, the transformers always have some energy losses, and, hence, the output power obtained at the secondary winding is less than the input power at the primary winding due to energy losses.
There are four main reasons for energy losses in transformers.
The first cause can be the high resistance of the...
There are four main reasons for energy losses in transformers.
The first cause can be the high resistance of the...
836
02:27Energy Basics
37.2K
Chemical reactions, such as those that occur when you light a match, involve changes in energy as well as matter.
37.2K
01:50Global Climate Change
24.2K
Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global temperatures is well outside of the Earth’s cyclic norms, and evidence for human-caused global climate change is compelling. Paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate conditions, provides ample evidence for human-caused global climate change by comparing recent conditions with those in the past.
24.2K
01:12Power and Energy
676
The power and energy delivered to an element are subjects of great significance in the field of electrical engineering. It is a well-known fact that a 100-watt light bulb emits more light than a 60-watt one. Therefore, power and energy calculations play a crucial role in the analysis of electrical circuits.
Power, defined as the time rate of expending or absorbing energy, is quantified in units called watts (W). The relation between power and energy is mathematically given as
Power, defined as the time rate of expending or absorbing energy, is quantified in units called watts (W). The relation between power and energy is mathematically given as
676
00:54Conservation of Energy
8.9K
The terms 'conserved quantity' and 'conservation law' have specific scientific meanings in physics, which differ from the meanings associated with their everyday use. For example, in everyday usage, water could be conserved by not using it, by using less of it, or by re-using it. However, in scientific terms, a conserved quantity of a system stays constant, changes by a definite amount that is transferred to other systems, and is converted into other forms of that...
8.9K