Energy, Environmental Justice, and Sustainable Development in Emerging Economies

Abstract

Energy systems are central to economic development and social wellbeing, yet in many emerging economies they continue to reproduce environmental harm, social inequality, and exclusion. While energy transition policies increasingly promote renewable technologies, insufficient attention is paid to the social justice implications of energy governance. This article examines the relationship between energy governance, environmental justice, and sustainable development in emerging economy contexts.
Adopting a qualitative doctrinal and socio-legal methodology, the study analyses legal frameworks, policy instruments, and regulatory practices governing energy transitions. Drawing on energy justice and environmental justice scholarship, the article demonstrates how existing regimes often prioritise economic efficiency and technological advancement over equity, participation, and accountability. As a result, marginalised communities disproportionately experience energy poverty, environmental degradation, and exclusion from decision-making processes. Using illustrative cases from selected emerging economies, the analysis shows how this justice deficits materialise in practice under conditions of fiscal constraint, investor dependence, and uneven governance capacity.