Win-win not always possible in climate transition

Conflicts of objectives often arise when different interests collide in the climate transition. A new research project will spend three years studying how these conflicts of objectives are managed and how management of them can be improved. Jonas Bertilsson, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, specialising in Global Studies, at the School of Education and Communication (HLK) at Jönköping University (JU), is one of three researchers in the project.

In its latest report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphasises that the key to accelerating the sustainable climate transition is to strengthen synergies and reduce conflicting objectives. The project called “Conflict management in the climate transition” will study how conflicts between different interests arise, how they are managed by the responsible actors, such as the government and public authorities, and how good conflict management can be achieved.

“In the climate transition, there will inevitably be conflicting goals, or trade-offs, as we usually say. It is not always possible to find win-win situations, so the question is how to deal with these conflicting objectives,” says Jonas Bertilsson.

Previous research has mainly focused on the identification and mapping of conflicting objectives. While this is an important starting point, a deeper understanding of the conflicts of interest that arise in the context of differing objectives and how these are managed is required, which is what this project will focus on.

Theoretically, the project aims to further develop the field of research in technology and science studies called controversy studies. Here, conflicts are seen as valuable resources rather than something to avoid, hide or deny.

"Whose values and needs are considered most valid, and why?"

“We will try to design a kind of framework that will help to highlight dimensions of these conflicts so that it becomes more transparent what assumptions people make, what is considered important or not, and whose needs are considered more important than others. There is not always a win-win solution and costs and benefits will be distributed differently, so whose values and needs are considered more valid, and why? Highlighting such underlying and often unspoken assumptions is important if you want to reach long-term solutions," says Jonas.

The project will examine conflicts in three areas often mentioned in relation to the electrification of society: wind power, nuclear power and electric vehicles. The methodology will be a mix of interviews and document analysis, not only analysing the content of documents but also how documents function as tools in managing conflicts.

For Jonas, the grant from the Swedish Research Council was very gratifying.

"I was very surprised when we got the news from the Swedish Research Council. Of course I was very happy, but I had not dared to hope for it. It feels really great,” says Jonas Bertilsson.