Special Issue of Energy Economics: Sustainable Governance and Energy Transition

This Special Issue on Sustainable Governance and the Energy Transition brings together 14 papers that examine the ways in which corporate governance, financial markets, public policy, and social factors shape the energy transition. Across a diverse set of contexts, the papers examine the impact of sustainable finance, corporate decision-making, and policy interventions on the low-carbon energy transition. Several papers show that climate transition risks are increasingly reflected in credit and equity markets, although the extent and mechanisms of this incorporation vary across countries and economic regimes. Strong governance emerges as an important condition for translating sustainable finance initiatives and divestment strategies into meaningful changes in investment behaviour. Other papers demonstrate that market-based climate policies, incentives for electric vehicles, and financial innovations driven by digital technologies can accelerate shifts in energy production and consumption, particularly when supported by credible and stable institutions. At the household and community level, the evidence points to the importance of perceptions of affordability, fairness, and institutional trust in shaping public acceptance and behavioural responses to the energy transition. These findings emphasise that governance acts as a critical enabling framework for the energy transition, influencing how technologies are adopted, how risks and costs are distributed, and how benefits are shared. Strengthening sustainable governance across financial markets, firms, public institutions, and local communities is therefore fundamental to achieving a low-carbon energy transition that is effective, resilient, and socially inclusive.