Externe Publikationen

Governing Just Transitions through policy coherence: challenges and opportunities on the path towards climate-neutral, sustainable futures

Faus Onbargi, Alexia
Externe Publikationen (2026)

Utrecht: Universiteit Utrecht (thesis)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33540/3675
Open access

Just Transitions have emerged as a central pillar of global climate policy, particularly following their formal inclusion in the Paris Agreement in 2015. Their rapid adoption at both national and international levels is notable given persistent shortcomings in global climate and sustainable development governance. However, Just Transition initiatives remain fragmented, conceptually contested, and predominantly focused on energy, and their governance has received comparatively little academic attention. At the same time, policy coherence, a governance principle concerned with maximising synergies and minimising trade-offs and extensively studied in the context of the 2030 Agenda, is widely invoked in policy discourse as essential for Just Transitions, yet its role in Just Transition governance has received little systematic attention in the literature. This dissertation therefore asks: to what extent can policy coherence enable the governance of Just Transitions, and under which conditions? Just Transitions here are understood as transitions that advance climate-neutral, sustainable futures in ways that are substantively just, with substantive justice defined as the expansion of opportunity freedoms, the reduction of inequalities across all dimensions, and the fulfilment of the 2030 Agenda’s promise to ‘leave no one behind.’ Part I (Chapters 2–3) examines the relationships between policy coherence, Just Transition, goal attainment, and inequality reduction. Drawing on survey data from 131 COP28 delegates (Chapter 2) and empirical analysis of 40 sustainable development policy processes across multiple countries (Chapter 3), the findings indicate that policy coherence is widely perceived as integral to Just Transitions and is strongly associated with multidimensional, cross-sectoral approaches that extend beyond energy. Empirical analysis further shows that higher coherence is linked to greater policy effectiveness in achieving multiple objectives. However, coherence alone does not reliably reduce inequalities and, in some cases, can exacerbate them. Part II (Chapters 4–6) examines the temporal, discursive, and political conditions under which policy coherence can enable the governance of Just Transitions. Drawing on policy document analysis and semi-structured interviews, these conditions are analysed through an in-depth case study of Germany’s energy transition, the Energiewende, a high-stakes transition context. Findings demonstrate that governing Just Transitions through policy coherence requires balancing short-, medium-, and long-term objectives, as temporal dynamics alter policy interactions and reveal trade-offs and synergies that evolve over time (Chapter 4). Moreover, policy coherence is socially and discursively constructed, with actors’ perceptions and interpretations strongly shaping whether policies and their implementation are experienced as coherent or incoherent (Chapter 5). Political inequalities in decision-making around the German coal phase-out and onshore wind phase-in further constrain coherence and can lead to slower climate mitigation outcomes (Chapter 6). Together, the findings indicate that while policy coherence may appear to be a necessary principle for the governance of Just Transitions, it is not sufficient. While widely endorsed, its ability to enable the governance of Just Transitions is context-dependent and contingent on its implications for social justice. In addition, policy coherence should not be seen as a fixed end-state, but as a dynamic and imperfect governance principle that is deeply shaped by politics and discourse.

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