At Sharm el-Sheikh Climate Change Conference (COP 27), India reaffirmed its renewable targets but has also retained a focus on coal to ensure energy access. Energy access to all citizens is key to energy justice. This can be achieved by the active participation of grassroots civil society actors, argues an IIT-Kanpur study published in the peer-reviewed journal Energy Research & Social Science. The research is based on the study of media articles on energy published in major English dailies between 2015 and 2020.
Energy justice (EJ) refers to energy systems’ ethical and social dimensions. It prescribes certain principles like making energy available and affordable to all while ensuring due processes that are inclusive and maintaining the environmental sustainability of the energy systems.
Due to strong ties with politics and the public, media largely shapes the popular narrative and public discourse, as a result of which it can influence the policy decisions of the government. Thus, the discussion on various principles of EJ and implicit consensus and conflict as reflected in the media narratives assumes tremendous significance.
