Achieving a just transition toward a low-carbon society: Evidence from alleviating energy poverty

Achieving a just transition to a low-carbon society is critical for ensuring that individuals have access to adequate, reasonable and stable modern energy services. However, the systemic interconnection between alleviating energy poverty (ENP) and advancing a just energy transition (JET) remains underexplored. Using panel data from 2011 to 2023 across 58 countries worldwide, this study constructs evaluation indices for JET and ENP using the entropy method and employs fixed-effects models, 2SLS, and mediation analysis to examine their relationships. The main outcomes are as follows: (1) Alleviating ENP significantly promotes JET, a conclusion that maintains its validity through robustness and endogeneity checks. (2) Heterogeneity checks indicate that the effect of alleviating ENP is more evident in nations with high energy prices, low energy endowments, and low levels of clean energy technology. (3) Mechanistic analysis reveals that alleviating ENP enhances JET by improving public green awareness. (4) Further analysis reveals that artificial intelligence and climate change mitigation policies can greatly alleviate ENP. These findings broaden the research boundary for alleviating ENP and promoting JET, and provide valuable insights and new evidence for policymakers aiming to promote a more just energy distribution.