Low‐carbon energy, sustainable development, and justice: Towards a just energy transition for the society and the environment

Governments and civil society are increasingly aware that the decarbonisation of energy systems needs to be aligned with justice principles of recognition, distribution and process. This paper establishes a conceptual linkage between ‘sustainable development’, ‘low-carbon energy transitions’ and ‘energy justice’ and examines social priorities to address peoples’ competing priorities associated with low-carbon energy interventions. By analysing a renewable energy transitions in Vietnam as a case study the paper shows that linking social priorities to energy justice provide a useful contribution for energy policy makers toward a better understanding of the multidimensional and complex aspects of low-carbon energy transitions, and how different segments of society prioritise and perceive them for the achievement of socially-just energy decisions.


| INTRODUCTION
This paper establishes a conceptual linkage between "sustainable development", "low-carbon energy transitions", and "energy justice" and examines social priorities associated to low-carbon transitions and a specific renewable energy project in Vietnam.
From a global perspective, low-carbon energy transitions from fossil fuel to renewable energy sources are a solution to the dual challenge of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (and therefore mitigating climate change) and providing access to clean and affordable energy in times of anthropogenic environmental change and accelerated global economic development (Urban, 2014;Valentine, Brown, & Sovacool, 2019;WBGU, 2003). The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, whose ultimate aim is to promote global prosperity while protecting the environment, carry along the topic as a cross-cutting theme and explicitly articulate these two challenges in SDG 7 (ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030) and SDG 13 (take action to combat climate change and its impacts) respectively. Target 7.2 of Goal 7 highlights the importance of substantially increasing the share of renewable energy in the total energy mix by 2030 to support low-carbon energy transitions (United Nations, 2018). From an historical perspective, the multilateral institutionalization of the low-carbon discourse can be traced back to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted in Rio in 1992. It was further strengthened through a decision adopted at the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties held in Cancun in 2011. There, parties agreed that "addressing climate change requires a paradigm shift towards building a lowcarbon society that offers substantial opportunities and ensures continued high growth and sustainable development, based on innovative technologies and more sustainable production and consumption and lifestyles, while ensuring a just transition of the workforce that creates decent work and quality jobs" (UNFCCC, 2011, Decision 1/CP.16).
The concept of low-carbon transitions thus takes a "development-first" approach by integrating climate change goals (i.e., reduction of GHG emissions) with development objectives (Fisher, 2013;Morita et al., 2001), based on the assumption that sustainable development strategies of promoting economic and social prosperity while mitigating the climate mutually reinforce each other (Sathaye et al., 2007). Notably, this agenda, which does not explicitly mention equity and justice principles in the process of achieving those outcomes, has been criticized for its "techno-managerial" approach that would leave procedural (i.e., a fair decisionmaking) and distributional (i.e., an equitable sharing of environmental "bads" and "goods") dimensions of (in)justice aside (Munro, van der Horst, & Healy, 2017). Consequently, it has been argued that justice-based approaches for fairness in access and allocation of resources and better energy decisions are required (Calzadilla & Mauger, 2018;Fuso Nerini et al., 2018;Kaneti, 2019;Sovacool, Turnheim, Hook, Brock, & Martiskainen, 2021). Numerous studies have put the attention on the urgency called for by both governmental and civil society actors of considering justice principles in the transition to a low-carbon society (Calzadilla & Mauger, 2018;Denton et al., 2014;Fuller & McCauley, 2016;Levenda, Behrsin, & Disano, 2021;Silveira & Pritchard, 2016;Sovacool et al., 2021).
Correspondingly, scholarly research on low-carbon energy transitions has over the past years been increasingly concerned with "climate justice" (Caney, 2014;Schapper & Lederer, 2014;Schlosberg & Lisette, 2014;Shue, 2014;Wallbott & Schapper, 2016) and "energy justice" (Bickerstaff, Walker, & Bulkeley, 2013;Jenkins, McCauley, Heffron, Stephan, & Rehner, 2016;McCauley et al., 2019;Sovacool, Burke, Baker, Kotikalapudi, & Wlokas, 2017) that are both considered to have strong implications for the achievement of a just energy transition toward a low-carbon society in terms of equitable distribution of costs and benefits and fair decision-making processes (Carley & Konisky, 2020;Jenkins, 2018). Moreover, several studies highlight that the transition to a just low-carbon society requires a better inclusion and consideration of the social dimension in decision-making through participation of a diverse range of public and private actors, including government ministries, businesses but also civil society and affected people (McCauley et al., 2019;Silveira & Pritchard, 2016;Sovacool, 2021;Tanner & Harvey, 2013;Williams & Doyon, 2019).
In this sense, to achieve socially and environmentally just low carbon transitions, decisions must be based on shared interests through the recognition of social needs and priorities (Chukwumerije & Schroeder, 2009;Edenhofer et al., 2012;Roberts & Parks, 2006;Silveira & Pritchard, 2016). It is therefore important to capture the perspectives and priorities related to just lowcarbon transitions of different segments of society: those who are concerned with or accompany the design and implementation of policies and projects, and of those who are affected by them (Bickerstaff et al., 2013;McCauley et al., 2019;Sovacool, Martiskainen, Hook, & Baker, 2019;Williams & Doyon, 2019). In this direction, some studies have demonstrated how to consider equity and justice in the analysis of renewable energy transitions based on social priorities (Chapman, McLellan, & Tezuka, 2016). Yet, they mainly focus on fairness associated to the distribution of costs and benefits (i.e., distributional justice), employment and economic opportunities.
Taking a broader perspective, this paper combines conceptual insights on sustainable development (looking at its three pillars, economic, environmental, and social as defined in "The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development") 1 (United Nations, 2018), low carbon transitions, and energy justice with aspects of recognition, distribution and process to analyze social preferences in relation to low-carbon transitions and a specific case study of renewable energy projects in Vietnam. The prime contribution of this paper lies therefore in offering a social perspective of the multidimensional and complex aspects of low-carbon energy transitions based on people's priorities and their linkages with sustainable development and energy justice. Specifically, we derive various multidimensional goals that are used to assess the linkages between sustainable development, low-carbon transitions and energy justice and we use them to analyze: (i) the importance that different actors attribute to specific sustainable development and energy justice aspects associated with low-carbon energy transitions; and (ii) how this perceived importance differs among different actors, such as people affected by projects, governmental actors, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). In doing so, we draw our analysis from original data collected during field research and interviews completed in 2018 with different actors that have been concerned or affected by renewable energy transitions and the development of hydropower projects in Lam Dong province in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Vietnam is a highly interesting case as the country is still strongly dominated by the authoritarian rule of the Communist Party of Vietnam and its energy and environmental issues are thus regulated in a top-down fashion (Lederer, Wallbott, Urban, Siciliano, & Nguyen, 2020). At the same time, the country is establishing sustainable renewable energy schemes and can be perceived as a pioneer in low-carbon energy transitions (Urban, Siciliano, Villalobos, Nguyen, & Lederer, 2020;Urban, Siciliano, Wallbott, Lederer, & Nguyen, 2018).
The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 outlines the conceptual framework that we use based on interdisciplinary research on energy justice that brings together different streams from the Social Sciences. Section 3 provides a description of the case study area in Lam Dong province, Vietnam and presents the methodology used to elicit social preferences linked to energy justice and lowcarbon transitions. Section 4 presents the results of our analysis.
Section 5 critically discusses the findings and Section 6 provides some policy recommendations on how social priorities and lowcarbon transition objectives can be linked to energy justice principles in politics.
2 | ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK 2.1 | Energy justice as normative reason and evaluative template Energy justice is a conceptual, analytical, and decision-making framework used to describe, understand, and analyze fairness and equity in the inclusion and consideration of those affected by energy decisions (i.e., recognition), in the access and allocation of energy services (i.e., distribution) and in the procedures used in the whole process of energy decisions (i.e., process) (Jenkins et al., 2016;Lacey-Barnacle, Robison, & Foulds, 2020;McCauley et al., 2019). The concept thus facilitates the normative and evaluative articulation of claims of rights and responsibilities in association with energy decisions. To enable a socially and environmentally just low-carbon transition, energy justice suggests considering nine principles as key components in energy decisions (Sovacool et al., 2017): • availability (sufficient energy resources of high quality); • affordability (access to affordable energy services); • transparency and accountability (access to high-quality information, fair, transparent and accountable forms of energy decisionmaking); • intra-and intergenerational equity (access to energy services for present and future generations); • responsibility (protection of the natural environment and reduction of energy-related environmental threats); • due process (respect for human rights in the production and use of energy); • sustainability (energy resources should not be depleted too quickly); • resistance (allowing for opposition to energy-related decisions and projects); • intersectionality (linkage with other forms of injustices, for example, economic, environmental).
The energy justice framework has been designed to provide both normative and empirical assessments of occurring and emerging injustices in the distribution of energy services. It is based on the normative reason that inclusiveness and fair, transparent and accountable forms of energy-decisions across time and space (Bouzarovski & Simcock, 2017;Williams & Doyon, 2019) are at the basis of a just transition to a low-carbon society. Energy justice promotes participatory approaches to energy decisions in which needs and priorities of different societal actors are fully disclosed and embedded in formal processes of energy policy-making. Framing energy decisions in justice terms can help elicit the relationship between individual and public interests, map and resolve disputes (Fuso Nerini et al., 2018;Islar, Brogaard, & Lemberg-Pedersen, 2017).
The above portfolio of principles flags different dimensions of energy justice. However, if it should be of evaluative value, we need to capture if and to which extent actors that are concerned with and/or affected by energy politics and projects attribute relevance to those different dimensions. Hence, in the following section, we describe the methodology used to link the sustainable development goals that characterize low-carbon transitions with energy justice principles and how different societal actors (i.e., governmental institutions, people affected by energy projects, and civil society organizations) prioritize them according to their experience and involvement in energy decisions. In Section 2.2, we spell out in more detail how the economic, environmental, and social pillars of sustainable development can be related to lowcarbon energy transition and the different principles of energy justice mentioned earlier for the definition of socially and environmentally just transitions.

| Low-carbon energy transitions, sustainable development, and energy justice
Low-carbon energy transitions are change process that have been internationally recognized as a means to reach multiple goals: greening the economy, providing clean (i.e., renewable) energy access, reducing poverty, providing decent jobs, ensuring inclusiveness, while protecting the environment and mitigating climate change (UNFCCC, 2011, Decision 1/CP.16; Urban, 2010;Mulugetta & Urban, 2010;Urban & Nordensvärd, 2013;Skea & Nishioka, 2008;Urry, 2013;Lederer et al., 2019;Lederer et al., 2018;Verolme & Korduan, 2014). In Table 1, we categorize these goals according to the three pillars of sustainable development and we identify how they link with energy justice (Sovacool et al., 2017) and the SDGs (United Nations, 2018). These linkages are further explained hereafter.
2.2.1 | Low-carbon transitions, energy justice, and the economic pillar of sustainable development First, regarding low-carbon energy transitions and the economic pillar of sustainable development, there is a direct interlinkage with Goal 8 of the SDGs "Promote decent work and Economic Growth" and Goal 7 "Affordable and clean energy" (see Table 1). From a justice and economic perspective, low-carbon energy decisions should therefore respond to the energy justice principles of intra/intergenerational equity, intersectionality, and affordability, which means fair access of present and future generations to employment and economic benefits derived from energy decisions and affordable access to energy (Urban, Siciliano, Wallbott, Lederer, & Nguyen, 2017). In the case of low-carbon energy transitions in the Global South, such as for instance in relation to the development of renewable energy projects, affordability (SDG 7) of the energy produced for the local poor is not an aspect which is often taken into consideration in the planning phase of projects. The same inadequacy-pointing towards the spatial expansion of energy justice-can be identified for fairness in the distribution of the economic benefits associated to the energy produced between different geographic areas and populations, such as rural and urban, resulting in a geographical uneven economic growth (Calzadilla & Mauger, 2018;Carley & Konisky, 2020;Siciliano, Urban, Tan-Mullins, & Mohan, 2018). Moreover, in countries in the Global South, energy low-carbon transitions are usually highly dependent on foreign financial support and technology transfer for renewable infrastructure development, which directly links to issues of energy security, such as the capacity to become independent from energy imports by increasing domestic energy production. In terms of jobs creation, the development of renewable energy infrastructures can surely have a positive effects on the creation of new job opportunities for the local population (SDG 8), however, the literature has also showed that often this is only a temporary change for the duration of the projects' construction and for low-skilled workers, especially in the Global South (Calzadilla & Mauger, 2018;Urban et al., 2015). Instead, long-term employment and structural change requires the creation and improvement of skills and knowledge over longer periods of time. Moreover, the literature has also showed that in Europe people employed in the renewable energy sectors are subject to renewable energy markets' instability and global competition which occasionally results in losing their jobs . From an economic and justice point of view, low-carbon energy decisions should therefore take into consideration how economic benefits and costs are distributed between different segments of society and create the conditions to ensure their consistency over time and across generations.
T A B L E 1 Linkages between low-carbon energy transition, energy justice, and the SDGs 2.2.2 | Low-carbon transitions, energy justice, and the environmental pillar of sustainable development Second, in terms of environmental aspects, which directly refers to Goal 7 of the SDGs "Affordable and clean energy", Goal 13 "Climate action," Goals 14 and 15 "Conservation of natural resources and biodiversity", from a justice perspective, low-carbon energy decisions should in addition respond to intra/intergenerational equity, intersectionality, sustainability, and responsibility. These principles all refer to reducing the use of non-renewable sources (SDG 7), such as fossil fuel, to guarantee access to clean energy services for present and future generations while also respecting the environment by mitigating climate change (SDG 13) and preserving natural resources for pre-  (Sovacool & Blyth, 2015). Hence, in this paper, we elicit social preferences concerning the importance that different actors attribute to the specific sustainable development and energy justice aspects associated with low-carbon energy transitions identified in Table 1.
The method used is a combination of semi-structured qualitative interviews and participatory technique based on a preference ranking method (fully explained in Section 3.2). The framework and method were applied to analyze low-carbon energy transitions and renewable energy projects in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

| The case: Low-carbon transition in Vietnam
Vietnam has over the past decades experienced rapid economic development along increasing environmental pressures. And the country's historical record of energy production and consumption is far from "green"-still, its primary energy supply depends to almost 70% on fossil fuels, mainly coal and oil (especially for transport), but increasingly also natural gas (IEA, 2017). Furthermore, fossil fuel subsidies are still high, and the country has one of the lowest energy prices in the world (Smits, 2017, p. 83). But Vietnam is also actively driving forward policies and actions to adapt to climate change and has developed strategies to move toward more low-carbon, climatefriendly energy sources such as hydropower, wind, solar, and modern biomass . However, trade-offs between economic, social, and environmental aspects and opposition to low-carbon energy projects are also likely to increase due to the poor recognition of energy justice in decision-making (Hirsch, Matthess, & Funfgelt, 2017;Urban et al., 2017). Therefore, to understand how different actors prioritize specific sustainable development and energy justice aspects associated with low-carbon energy transitions could help to address peoples' needs and to improve the substantial and procedural quality of politics overall (Cameron et al., 2018). The research results of this paper are based on interviews that have been conducted in Lam Dong province that was selected together with local researchers due to its significance in terms of low-carbon pro- 3.2 | Methodological approach: Semi-structured qualitative interviews and participatory technique based on a preference ranking method To analyze social preferences associated with low-carbon energy transitions in the case study area, we used a preference ranking method based on semi-structured interviews with different social actors.
Three types of groups were interviewed in the course of primary field work in Vietnam for a total of 26 semi-structured interviews con- To reveal social preferences linked to the low-carbon transition goals indicated in Table 1, we used a qualitative participatory technique, which allowed us to identify preferences and priorities of different stakeholders (Rietbergen-McCracken & Narayan, 1998). During the realization of semi-structured interviews, interviewees were asked to rank the low-carbon goals indicated in Table 1 in ascending order (from the most important to the least important) and comment on them. To facilitate comparisons among different stakeholder's rankings, we used a quantitative preference ranking method called the "Revised Simos" procedure (Figueira & Roy, 2002), which allows obtaining ordinal weights which indicate the importance that each interviewee attach to the items analyzed in the ranking in a scale from 0 (not important) to 1 (very important) (Garmendia & Gamboa, 2012;Kowalski, Stagl, Madlener, & Omann, 2009;Madlener, Kowalski, & Stagl, 2007). The rankings obtained were then discussed with each interviewee and the conversation audio-recorded. The audio-recordings were then analyzed using a narrative thematic analysis. Narrative thematic analysis refers to the analysis of the content of the interviews more than the way the story is told (Butina, 2015). The results of the analysis are presented and discussed in Sections 4 and 5.
Although we are aware of the limited number of interviews carried out due to the restrictions encountered during fieldwork to access areas affected by low-carbon energy projects, we believe that the study provides useful insights on the linkages between lowcarbon transition, sustainable development, and energy justice from a societal perspective and across different types of stakeholders.

| RESULTS: ELICITING SOCIAL PRIORITIES
In this section, we present the results of the analysis from which it is possible to appreciate the importance and perception that different social actors attribute to the complex and multidimensional aspects, which characterize a low-carbon energy transition from a justice and sustainable development perspective. Figure 1 displays the different priorities (expressed in ordinal weights as percentage) assigned to the different aspects analyzed during the interviews with actors.
The greatest differences in opinion regarding the weighting are associated with the criteria "energy security," "inclusiveness," "nature conservation," and "production of low-carbon energy". The results of the thematic narrative analysis of the interviews are displayed in Table 2. From the results shown in Table 2, people affected by a large hydropower development give great importance to the conservation of nature and environmental impacts and to change that comes along with renewable energy infrastructure development, such as land clearance/ deforestation and decline in fish stocks (cf. Table 2). The interviewees call for a conservation of nature to preserve their ability to access natural resources, such as land, water, and forest to support their livelihoods as well as the ones for future generations. This is important, as many locals still rely on natural resources for their livelihoods, such as for fishing, farming, and forestry: "we could fish at least 12 to 15 kilos of fish in a day, now only 3 kilos a day and sometimes nothing and fish species are decreasing, we cannot see some species anymore. The amount of fish is as issues in terms of agricultural loss, without taking into account the potential social impacts derived from the reduced access to "other lands," such as the forest from which the local population collect F I G U R E 1 Social priorities related to low-carbon sustainability criteria (institutional actors, civil society, and affected people). (These radar charts graphically show the results of the ranking for different actors, the importance attached to the aspects discussed increases when moving from the center to the periphery of the chart) (Table 1 shows how criteria displayed in the chart are linked to specific energy justice principles and SDGs) T A B L E 2 Summary of the aspects highlighted as relevant during the interviews and referred to low-carbon transition and sustainable development • RE can reduce energy security gaps between southern and northern regions (GIZ) • Energy efficiency must be improved (GIZ, MOIT).

Environmental
Production of low-carbon energy • Low-carbon energy can reduce GHG emissions and air pollution (MOIT; MONRE; VASS-IRSO) • Low-carbon energy can reduce the risk of dependence from import of fossil fuel (Geen ID)

Environmental impacts and change
• RE is linked to land loss and livelihood changes for resettled communities (i.e., hydropower) (MOIT-Lam Dong; MOIT) • Reduced access to forest after dam construction due to inundation and clearance of land (affected people) • Land use conflicts between local population, the government and companies apply for RE projects (Geen ID; GIZ) Conservation of nature • Fish decline after dam construction (affected people); • Deforestation due to land use for RE projects (MONRE; MOIT; affected people)

Social
Energy access • RE can benefit remote rural areas without electricity where ethnic minorities are located (MOIT; GIZ; MOIT-Lam Dong) • Access to energy through small-grid RE infrastructures to empower local people to produce their own energy (affected people) Achieving development goals • RE provides better and cheaper energy access to stimulate development (MOIT; MOIT-Lam Dong) • No provision of livelihood alternatives and income reduction due to fish decline and the difficulty to fish in deep water for the construction of the dam (affected people); • Reduced access to forest to collect food for self-sufficiency and the market; no provision of infrastructures (affected people).

Education
• Provide better education and training for livelihood diversification to people affected by low-carbon projects (MOIT-Lam Dong; affected people). • Decentralized RE power plants help isolated local communities to reach energy sovereignty, but lack of proper capacity building on how to use the technology leads to unsuccessful projects (Geen ID; affected people)

Inclusiveness
• Not specific mechanisms for participation of the local population in case of planning, construction and monitoring phases of the RE projects (GIZ) • No proper negotiation and participation in the different phases of dam construction and energy decision making about alternative energy generation options (affected people) Respecting human rights • People do not have voice or little voice in the negotiation process regarding energy projects, after conflicts Vietnam introduced a treaty to solve conflicts between affected people, construction companies and local authorities but the resolution process is long, not clear and not effective (Geen ID; affected people). products which are vital for their livelihoods and sometimes food security: "We were used to go to the forest to collect honey and bamboo now [after the construction of the dam] we have problems to access the forest" (interview with affected people January 27, 2018). Simultaneously, affected people prioritized the importance of creating longlasting employment opportunities and the right to an inclusive decision-making process in which their voices are heard, and their priorities taken into consideration (Table 2). However, if we look at perceptions and needs in terms of job creation the results differ between different actors. Institutional actors, such as MOIT and GIZ, emphasize job opportunities created for locals during the different phases of renewable energy project construction, such as hydropower, wind, and solar projects, as specified in the quote above from MOIT.
Affected people, however, lamented the temporary and low-skilled aspects of these jobs and the lack of capacity building and training to be able to find alternative energy generation, distribution and consumption in a way that would be suitable within their ecological, social, economic, and cultural circumstances and that would support the diversification of livelihoods over time: "the government has not provided any training or guidance on how to use energy technologies and find alternative jobs" (interview with affected people January 27, 2018). Similarly, Green ID mentioned that one of the causes of failing mini-grid solar projects, especially in remote rural areas of Vietnam, was the lack of inclusiveness of local people in the decision-making process of energy generation and capacity training on how to use alternative technologies: "we had many bad experiences in the past where, companies go to different provinces and provide renewable energy off-grid technology and after it is broken, it is not used anymore. There is not participation and capacity training, or expertise provided to locals together with finding the right supporting mechanism so that the system could work sustainably" (interview with Green ID January 29, 2018).
These results are supported by the literature, which identifies the lack of technical expertise for building, operation and maintainance as well as a lack of financial assets for project construction and lack of access to technologies as factors restraining the development of renewable energy projects in low-middle income countries .
Looking at differences between institutional actors, MONRE's key concern has been the conservation of natural resources, whereas MOIT's main concern is on energy security and economic growth. This is in alignment with the formal mandate of these different institutions. Whereas donors like GIZ see their mission in helping to achieve energy security, energy efficiency, and environmental protection at the national level: "the problem in Vietnam is not only to produce more energy to meet energy security, but you also have to reduce inefficiencies. Not only the transition to clean energy is important but also energy efficiency" and in relation to clean energy production: "In the National Power Development Plan the government has substantially increased the share of renewable energy to meet the increasing energy demand at the national level" (interview with GIZ January 17, 2018). Regarding energy security at the regional level and renewable energy: "the main energy sources in Vietnam are coal and hydropower, especially the hydropower which is produced mainly in the North, so we have to transmit the electricity from the North to the South, which is costly and inefficient. But solar and wind are very strong in the South and in the Centre. So, we think that now we develop either solar, wind and biomass, Southern regions can stop importing electricity from the North, so they can support their own consumption" (interview with GIZ January 17, 2018).
From a more decentralized perspective, the innovation and development center Green ID considers the most important priorities to be achieving development goals, providing energy access and energy security at the local level by using decentralized off-grid systems, which is more in line with affected people's priorities: "We support decentralized power plants. We support different renewable energy sources for local communities. We constantly advocate that for rural areas extending the national grid is not an option. It is very costly. So why not providing off-grid solar power, wind power, small hydropower projects, local and smaller projects are really great to provide electricity to rural areas. However, many provincial leaders they can only see extending the centralized grid as an option" (interview with Green ID January 29, 2018).

| DISCUSSION: SOCIAL PRIORITIES AND JUST LOW-CARBON TRANSITIONS
A socially and environmentally just low-carbon transition needs a holistic view of the interrelationship between society, the environment, and the economy in which community perspectives are taken into consideration in policy processes (McCauley et al., 2019). In this view, the production of renewable energy to reach energy security, access and a cleaner environment go along with the preservation of natural resources, not only for conservation but also for satisfying human needs and priorities, such as guaranteeing access and use of resources for livelihoods and cultural aspects for both present and future generations (Calzadilla & Mauger, 2018). Linking the results presented in the previous section to energy justice principles and the importance that different actors attribute to them, local people are particularly concerned about transparency and accountability, responsibility with regard to handling natural resources, due process, and intersectionality, particularly in linking renewable energy projects to opportunities for employment and education. Institutional actors seem to be particularly concerned with availability of energy supply, which links to energy security, responsibility, and sustainability relating to mitigating climate change and intersectionality with regard to economic growth. This is particularly important for analyzing all forms of setting-up renewable energy installations as here-just as in any other development policy-trade-offs as well as new injustices cannot be avoided. Taken together, our research therefore shows that environmental and socio-economic factors that could influence livelihoods, lifestyles, and lives do not represent a priority at the national level, such as energy security and economic growth. But, we also witness that within this broad categorization, more specific nuances of prioritization exist also among the institutional and the non-state actors, as already presented in the results section.
In relation to environmental aspects, what it is interesting is the different understanding of key terms such as environmental protection. For institutional actors, this refers to climate change mitigation and GHG abatement, whereas for local people affected by the energy project this refers to the availability, protection and use of natural resources such as land and water. We also witness a mismatch in terms of the vision of appropriate decision-making and energy production. Locals call for more inclusiveness and participation in the energy decision-making process. They are more oriented toward solutions that are better linked to their socio-cultural environment and call for energy sovereignty which means the possibility for them to produce and consume their own-produced energy (see people's view under "energy access" in Table 2

| CONCLUSIONS
This paper examined social priorities associated with low-carbon transitions from an energy justice perspective, thereby contributing to the emerging literature on socially and environmentally just transitions in decarbonized societies (Sovacool, 2021). A consideration of justice principles (recognition, distribution, and process) in the transition to a low-carbon society is increasingly called for by both governmental and civil society actors (Silveira & Pritchard, 2016), and can inform the design and implementation of energy-related policies and projects (Calzadilla & Mauger, 2018;Sovacool & Dworkin, 2015). respecting human rights during and after the construction of the infrastructure projects, as well as opportunities for employment, education, and inclusiveness. This requires governments to have more diverse and inclusive decision-making processes and in the specific case of Vietnam better integrated and more coherent policies and planning procedures for renewable energy projects in place, rather than separate ones by several ministries/authorities.
A socially and environmentally just energy transition should therefore look more comprehensively at the natural environment and human-environment interactions and the impacts that renewable energy projects can have on them in terms of resource access but also in terms of ecosystem impacts, finding a way to include both human and nonhuman aspects in energy decision making (Sayan, 2019). A coproduction of knowledge, through exchanges of priorities between different actors and at different governance levels seems to be the way forward for a better definition of a common approach towards just low-carbon energy solutions which respond to the Universal value of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of "Leave No One Behind", which represents the commitment of all UN Member States "to eradicate poverty in all its forms, end discrimination and exclusion, and reduce inequalities and vulnerabilities that leave people behind and undermine the potential of individuals and humanity as a whole" in accordance with the International Human Rights Law (United Nations, 2018). This also means that governments and the private sector need to take into account the local knowledge by communities, NGOs and other civil society organizations and to work more collaboratively for renewable energy projects.
Finally, at a certain point particularly donors will also have to realize that trade-offs cannot be avoided and that thus conflicts are always part of any development assistance. The donor community should not shy away from these conflicts but also be aware not to fall back in old paternalistic habits of how these conflicts can be managed (Barnett, 2017).
What is needed is thus an understanding of how external governance interventions have to strengthen domestic conflict resolution mechanisms that allow the development of a form of meta-governance in which peoples' voices are constructively heard (Lederer, 2018).
To achieve a more holistic and just approach toward a lowcarbon energy transition, it, therefore, seems crucial to fully disclose social priorities and existing conflicts in energy policy-making with evidence-based research grounded in the experience of individuals that are most affected, civil society organizations, and institutional actors. When developing a set of possible alternative lowcarbon energy innovations, the actual implementation of energy justice must be promoted in a way that takes into consideration the divergence between different societal actors' needs and priorities without denying existing trade-offs and conflicts. A socially and environmentally just energy transition thus implies more than simple technocratic fixes and requires the meaningful introduction of competing priorities into the decision-making process (both the formal institutions and the public discourse) around the design and implementation of energy decisions beyond an ex post assessment of acceptability.
In this paper, we examined possible lines of inquiry for lowcarbon transitions and large renewable energy infrastructures in Vietnam. Still, we believe that the results presented by linking social priorities to energy justice provide a useful contribution for energy policy decision-making at the global level toward a better understanding of the multidimensional and complex aspects of low-carbon energy transitions if progress toward socially and environmentally just decarbonized energy solutions are to be implemented.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to thank the Volkswagen Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the Svenska Riksbankens Jubileumsfond for funding the Green Transformations in the Global South (GreeTS) project. Special thanks go to all the respondents involved in this study and to all project members and assistants.