Energy Transition and Climate Justice in the Mediterranean: A Comparative Analysis of Catalonia, Corsica and Sardinia

The energy crisis, closely tied to climate change, is one of the most urgent challenges of current times. It stems from fossil resource depletion, geopolitical tensions, and the environmental impact of energy consumption. Recent efforts have focused on increasing energy efficiency and adopting renewable or low-carbon sources within a capitalist and developmentalist paradigm. This approach, promoted by transnational governance and backed by nation-states and financial groups, aims to decouple environmental damage from economic growth without addressing mass production and consumption patterns.

However, at the local level, the ecoclimatic crisis and energy transition aren't always seen as urgent. This is partly due to a perceived disconnect from (supra)national institutions and widespread distrust of 'official' science. Green capitalism solutions, favored by cosmopolitan elites and progressive political circles, have faced opposition from social movements and civil society, including in the Mediterranean. In this region, both political and environmental conditions, like desertification and drought, have fueled resistance to top-down solutions.

This paper examines Catalonia, Corsica, and Sardinia, exploring how political actors like social movements, unions, and political parties frame the ecoclimatic crisis and energy transition. These regions, while geographically close and climatically similar, have distinct political and autonomist/independentist/ethnonationalist traditions. However, in all three regions, tensions between nation-state visions and local autonomy/independence reveal perceptions of "internal colonization," now extending to energy and environmental issues.

By analyzing interviews with autonomist and independence party representatives and supporters from civil society and social movements, the study highlights different justice frames: in Sardinia, a distributive justice frame focused on sovereignty and gathered around citizens committees; in Corsica, a procedural justice frame led by formal NGOs and nationalist parties; and in Catalonia, an intergenerational justice frame centered on sufficiency discourses and degrowth policies. These frames reflect the complex relationship between energy transition, decolonial struggles, and local autonomy/independence in each region.