School of Earth and Environment

Sustainability Research (SRI) PhD Projects

Politics, power and the governance of low-carbon transitions

The transition to a low-carbon economy has become the political mantra of the 21st century. Through a mix of policy approaches and engagements in new forms of governance, governments, in both developed and developing countries, are seeking to significantly lower carbon emissions across the economy. The national policy signals are becoming clearer, but what remains opaque is how these 'transitions' will be governed at the regional and local levels. Often place-based and scalar politics influence governance processes and outcomes.

This project aims to explore how the governance of low-carbon transitions is emerging in a variety of contexts around the world. National decarbonisation strategies have largely been presented in aspatial language, with limited reference to the governance structures and processes required at various scales of analysis and in different contexts. The following questions may be addressed:

How are scaling and/or networking strategies affecting decarbonisation policy and planning processes?
How are place-based processes potentially territorialising the implementation and take up of low-carbon initiatives?
How does the interface between policy and planning influence the potential uptake of renewable and clean energy projects?
What actors and organisations hold positions of power within the discursive and regulatory spaces relating to low-carbon economy? Who are the potential winners and losers? To what extent are these spaces of governance accountable and transparent?
How might the trickle down of the low carbon agenda influence the politics of protest at the regional and local levels?
How do bottom-up initiatives from the local and regional scales impact upon the low carbon agenda at the national and international scales?

I am happy for projects to pursue studies in the Global North or South. I have ongoing research in Ireland, England, Ghana, Uganda, Zambia, Brazil and South Africa.

Supporting documents:
If you would like to be considered for research in this area, you will need to provide a full research proposal. This should be no longer than 6 pages, plus referencing. You will need to present the proposal in sections to include an introduction, the aims of the project/research questions, full methodology, and referencing. Referencing should be done in the style of a journal related to this research area.

Funding:
No funding is available for this project. Examples of University funding include:

Home/EU: University Research Scholarship (URS) – full information at http://scholarships.leeds.ac.uk

International: Fully-funded International Research Scholarship (FIRS), and China Scholarship Council (CSC)-Leeds Partnership – full information at http://scholarships.leeds.ac.uk

Note to candidate: You will need to demonstrate that you have/are being considered for 3 years of funding to include tuition fees and living costs. Additionally, a bench fee may be charged, to cover exceptional consumables/fieldwork costs needed for successful completion of the project. Please see the notes on ‘fees and scholarships’ in the main menu.

Entry requirements/necessary background:
The minimum entry requirement is 2.1 UK BSc (Hons), with a relevant Masters degree.