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Analysing the integration of the social domain into local and regional energy policies in Portugal.

Authors: Katherine Mahoney, Carolina Castro, Rita Lopes, João Pedro Gouveia

Current European policy approaches interlink the social and energy domains, with energy transitions intended to redress traditional energy system inequities. Despite this, drives for decarbonisation can bring about adverse effects, including land use conflicts and job losses. Consequently, policies such as the Just Transition Fund have emerged, to support regions negatively impacted by energy transitions. In this context, EU Member States have also developed policies bridging the social and energy policy domains. To date, however, there has been limited analysis of the integration of social considerations into energy policies. This is particularly true at local and regional governance scales. Understanding the integration of social considerations into energy transition policies is informative for the delivery of just energy transitions. Thus, this research performs a policy analysis to assess the integration of social considerations into local and regional policies in rural Portuguese districts. Portugal has progressed rapidly with its energy transition, however, the country suffers high rates of energy poverty and marked economic divisions between coastal regions and interior (predominately rural) areas. Preliminary results indicate poor interlinkage of social policies with other policy sectors at the local and regional scales, justifying further exploration of the intersection of Portuguese social and energy policies.