Modelling energy justice

Abstract

Interest in linking energy models with energy justice is growing, with a rising number of studies explicitly addressing the three tenets of justice – distributive, procedural, and recognition – and reviews mapping this field. Yet procedural and recognition justice have been treated in limited ways, leaving it unclear how models can meaningfully engage with them. This paper addresses this gap through a structured review of 63 peer-reviewed studies that develop or use models to support local and regional energy transition decisions while incorporating justice considerations. We find that procedural justice is primarily operationalized as stakeholder participation, with less efforts made to explicitly address other principles such as transparency, inclusivity, accountability and to include non-participatory ways of including stakeholder input. Recognition justice is either omitted or conflated with procedural principles, whereas energy justice literature defines it in systemic terms that extend beyond the mere acknowledgement of stakeholder groups. We argue that early-stage decisions such as funding, research design, and stakeholder selection significantly influence whose values are represented in models, whose knowledge is excluded, and which outcomes are prioritized. These influences, despite their justice implications, are rarely acknowledged, with existing efforts biased toward implementations of justice within model logic. We propose expanding the scope of modelling to include these early-stage influences and outline four recommendations for modellers: broaden justice conceptualizations beyond model logic; evaluate early-stage justice implications; adopt reflexive practices; and leverage multi-modelling approaches to capture the multi-dimensionality of energy justice.