06 - Fairness means listening to the experiences of all communities - Elizabeth Blakelock

"We cannot afford to exclude any community from this transition" 

What is energy justice and how can it be developed?  

In this episode, Dr Elizabeth Blakelock shares her experience as a fierce advocate for citizens' rights to fair treatment in the energy market. She tells us how she opened her eyes to the intersectionality of race and vulnerability in the sector, and how she is now fighting for energy policies to become explicitly anti-racist. She shares her advice on how to create strategies that put the lived experiences of citizens at the centre, in order to create services, products, programmes and strategies that are truly inclusive by design. Eventually, she addresses the opportunities that the energy transition represents for creating fairer societies 

"There is so much more to the energy system than technical decisions about moving electrons along a wire" 

Dr Elizabeth Blakelock is a champion of the rights of everyone to have access to a warm and safe home. She is passionate about tracking the impacts that firms' decision-making has on people's lives. Then she uses that data to help design essential service markets that are inclusive by design. Elizabeth has been working in the corporate world, as an academic, the charity sector and an energy regulator. As an academic, Elizabeth co-authored the report “Fairness in UK Energy Markets” and in 2020 she finished her Ph.D. on how powerful ideas influence the rules of the energy market to undermine processes that were supposed to ensure inclusive policymaking.  

Reports mentioned: 

• Inclusive design in essential services https://fairbydesign.com/inclusive-design/  
• Diversifying Power: Why We Need Antiracist, Feminist Leadership on Climate and Energy. Stephens, Jennie https://islandpress.org/books/diversifying-power  
• Powerful women: https://powerfulwomen.org.uk/board-statistics-by-company-2021/  

Find Dr Elizabeth Blakelock’s work on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethblakelock/ 

Reach out to Marine Cornelis via Twitter @MarineCornelis or LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/marinecornelis 
Music: I Need You Here - Kamarius
Edition: Podcast Media Factory 

Support Energ'Ethic on Patreon https://patreon.com/Energethic

(c) Next Energy Consumer, 2021

Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.