Understanding Inequities in the Clean Energy Transition Through an Ecological Framework of Energy Justice

The clean energy transition is accelerating worldwide, yet its social benefits and burdens remain unevenly distributed. Existing energy justice frameworks have been vital for identifying inequities in distribution, participation, and recognition, but they offer limited insight into the mechanisms through which these inequities persist. This article introduces "Ecological Energy Justice", a framework grounded in ecological psychology that conceptualizes justice in terms of the action possibilities afforded by socio‑material environments. Drawing on the theory of affordances—hierarchical, multi‑scalar, and dynamically adaptable actionable possibilities relative to actor capabilities—we argue that inequities arise not only from unequal access to resources or decision‑making processes but from mismatches between people’s capabilities and the environments in which energy practices unfold. We show how affordance inequalities shape energy insecurity, clean technology adoption, labor transitions, and procedural participation, and how these inequalities propagate across nested socio‑technical scales. We then outline how just transitions can be advanced through affordance restructuring—reshaping homes, infrastructures, institutions, and regional economies to support meaningful low‑carbon action for all communities. Ecological Energy Justice provides researchers with new tools for mapping the relational dynamics of energy systems and offers policymakers a mechanism‑based approach for aligning decarbonization with social equity, climate resilience, and democratic participation.