Abstract
Society is facing many crises, and in particular, the energy crisis is problematic given the climate change challenge. The energy sector needs a new social contract to solve these problems. The social contract is a prerequisite for a new legal and social order that includes legal organization of access, availability, and stability of energy resources, energy quality, and the type of energy used. This change, however, needs to involve citizens and ensure that they are recognized as part of the process. The role and involvement of citizens are central to the success of a new social contract.
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1 Introduction—The Relationship Between Energy and Society: A Social Contract
Energy is a fundamental good for life in society. It underpins all human activities. Like water, medicine, and food, energy is vital. As a vital good, societies seek to rationalize and organize their production, transport, and access to promote their best allocation and avoid shortages. Within liberal regimes, energy systems are based on a social contract based primarily on energy security, i.e., guaranteed availability of the resource and physical, social, and economic access to stable energy at a reasonable price, enabling them to satisfy their needs and carry out their activities.
All human societies are going through a period of crisis: a climate crisis, an environmental crisis, an energy crisis, a social crisis, the combination of which indicates a broken social contract on energy. The problem stems from a physical limit, i.e., the scarcity and depletion of the resources needed to produce energy in sufficient, stable, and affordable quantities, and from environmental pressures, particularly global warming. The crisis immediately limits freedom in the sense of experience since energy is essential for carrying out many human activities—heating, feeding, lighting, transport, notably—and is, therefore, a problem of trust. This leads to a problem of individual trust in the ability of public authorities to manage the situation, while at the same time, a collective awareness of the need for change is emerging. This context reveals the problem of the social contract, what it is, what makes it fragile, and what it could be in the future.
2 In Search of the Social Contract
The classical theories of the social contract were developed in a specific context during the Enlightenment by political, legal, and philosophical thinkers (Rousseau, Locke, Hobbes) to explain the emergence of the State and its mechanisms and concepts (sovereignty, general will, general interest, democracy).Footnote 1 The content of the social contract is constantly evolving and revealed by texts and practices. The social contract helps us understand the continuous transition from fact to law. It is what individuals agree to in order to form a society together. This contract is neither constitution nor law but is revealed through texts and the practice of texts. It justified the power relations between rulers and the ruled. It explains the renunciation of total individual freedom in favor of order, collective security, and, paradoxically, freedom. The agreement is indispensable to society and the durability of governments and the State.
Energy is not the entire social contract but an essential component. In a context of crisis, rethinking the energy system as a political and legal theory of the social contract is essential for two reasons: firstly, as an element of legitimacy for public action in defining energy transition policies and rules (i) and as a principle and condition for the existence of energy systems (ii), most of which today are based on networks, with interconnections between producers, transporters, and consumers. The social contract is a prerequisite for the legal organization of access, availability, and stability of energy resources, energy quality, and the type of energy used. Rethinking the social contract in the energy field is a means of building a social and economic development model that balances several dimensions: the social system itself and the local, national, and international legal systems (the relationships between them). These systems are all evolving under the combined effect of new technologies, the tightening of environmental constraints, the accumulation of stakeholder demands, and the policies that will define the direction of the community’s energy needs. The social contract is not abstract but is systematically constructed from reality and the people’s demands.
3 Instruments of the Social Contract
The social contract is linked to the State, but it is tacit and therefore difficult to describe. We perceive it through legal texts and political and social relations. We maintain the idea of justifying government action through ad hoc deliberative and participative processes of a political or administrative nature. Nevertheless, the difficulty is that it is no longer considered in its total economy. It is no longer understood for its own sake. The social contract needs to be nurtured and built through a dynamic, ongoing process of concrete action to promote dialogue and collective choice. The search for social agreement is essential for the bond between the governors and the governed and for the bond of the social body, whatever its scale—local, national, or international—especially at a time of climate change, which demands the utmost concord.
The coming years will see the emergence of a new energy system and a new social relationship. Therefore, we need to understand this social contract in the energy field. What principles and values do we want to establish? Decarbonization is not just a set of techniques, technologies, and data but also a choice of the social model we want to establish. Urgency is the enemy of the moment because it rushes decisions, actions, and reactions and suggests that management is the most credible, the most reliable, at the risk of forgetting the human being and his social function. The new social contract will be established through negotiation and mutual concessions. Reason dictates that it must be based on the principle of justice.
4 Conclusion—Toward a Social Contract Based on Justice
The social contract in its energy dimension is an element of legitimacy for the State and the socio-technical system. It is essential to recognize the central role of the social contract. Today, policies and projects are made without, or to a lesser extent with, society. The State makes direct agreements with mostly private operators who are often responsible for damaging the environment, people’s lives, ecosystems, and resources. Energy must be owned by the regions and the people who live there, respecting their aspirations, cultures, and customs. The social contract issue raises questions about the distribution of roles and responsibilities, the sharing of choices, and solidarity between actors, especially the most vulnerable.
The role of the social contract is essential in making justice,Footnote 2 particularly energy justice,Footnote 3 a reality and in setting the direction for the development of the energy society as a whole. Justice is a determining factor in the distribution of the resources generated, which should benefit the entire territory where the projects are located, while the location and ownership of the necessary resources and means of production are unevenly distributed at international and national levels. Equally, justice is essential to ensure that rights and freedoms are respected throughout the energy life cycle, from exploration and production to consumption, and that any damage caused is fairly compensated. That is the whole point of the social contract.
Notes
- 1.
T. Hobbes, Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil, 1651; J. Locke, Two Treatises of Government, 1690; J.-J. Rousseau, Du contrat social, 1762.
- 2.
J. Rawls, A Theory of Justice, 1971.
- 3.
Heffron, R. J. and De Fontenelle, L. 2023. Implementing Energy Justice Through a New Social Contract. Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law, 41 (2), 141–155.
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de Fontenelle, L. (2024). Energy Justice and the Social Contract Theory. In: Heffron, R.J., de Fontenelle, L. (eds) The Power of Energy Justice & the Social Contract. Just Transitions. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-46282-5_2
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