Upholding household agency in climate mitigation and socio-technical energy transition in Ethiopia

Abstract

Despite major advances in global energy transition aimed at climate change mitigation, rural households in sub-Saharan Africa have yet to fully benefit from the increasingly accessible and affordable renewable energy sources. Whereas current literature focuses on conceptual frameworks and experiences of energy transition in developed countries, less is known regarding the household level implications of energy transition in the Global South. This paper investigates the socio-technical energy transition (STET) and adopts the muti-level perspective (MLP) to understand how different actors interact to achieve an equitable and sustainable energy transition in developing countries. Based on key informant interviews with stakeholders engaged in the solar energy transition in Ethiopia, we find that structural fragmentation across various levels and actors trickle down to affect household energy access and consumption. Despite enhanced access to clean energy offered by solar panels, the local users are often excluded from the dialogue surrounding renewable energy transition and climate mitigation, thus compromising their utilization of solar energy and the broader efforts to cut carbon emissions. This paper, therefore, calls for interactive governance and the creation of a decentralized communication platform that recognizes local energy consumers as pivotal agents of change.