Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 50 (2024) 100815 Available online 8 February 2024 2210-4224/© 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Research article Renewable energy diplomacy and transitions: An environmental peacebuilding approach Mirza Sadaqat Huda Climate Change in Southeast Asia Programme, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, 30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace 119614, Singapore A R T I C L E INFO Key Words: Energy Transition Energy diplomacy Environmental peacebuilding Geopolitics of energy transition ABSTRACT Energy diplomacy is one of the key determinants in achieving net zero emissions by 2050. The traditional concept of energy diplomacy is rooted in national security and fossil fuel supplies, which is disconnected from global efforts to develop and deploy renewables at a pace that can limit global warming to 1.5 ◦ C above pre-industrial levels. Extant studies have not systematically analyzed the theoretical underpinnings of the form of energy diplomacy that can drive energy transition. This article proposes the concept of ‘renewable energy diplomacy’, which is comprised of four interconnected elements: Collaborative Resource Governance, Digital Trust Building, Energy-Environment Interdependence and Capacity Building. Renewable energy diplomacy provides a theoretical foundation based on environmental peacebuilding to address the critical geopolitical challenges that constrain energy transition. 1. Introduction Energy transition can be described as the gradual substitution of existing energy sources and technologies with ones that have superior technical, social, economic and physical attributes (Rubio and Folchi, 2012). Globally, it is contingent on diplomatic processes that drive confictual parties to cooperate on replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy. Currently renewable energy accounts for 25 % of global electricity generation, with annual expansion continuing unbated. To limit global warming to 1.5 ◦ C above pre-industrial levels, 90 % of global electricity will need to be generated from renewables by 2050. In such a scenario, the share of fossil fuels in primary energy supply will be less than one-third of current levels (Newell and Lane, 2020; IRENA, 2022). Recent advancements in the emerging body of literature on Deep Transitions demonstrate that, while confict was the driver of transition from coal to oil in the 20th century, it is a barrier to rapid decarbonisation in the contemporary context (Johnstone and McLeish, 2020). Johnstone and McLeish (2020) argue that a landscape of peace, rather than confict is likely to drive the contemporary transition to clean energy. The authors propose that one of the key puzzles in sustainability transition research is the identifcation of “mobilising forces” that can accelerate the deployment of renewables (Johnstone and McLeish, 2020: 11). The research of this paper proposes diplomatic processes and broader overtures for peace as a mobilising force for rapidly and decisively infuencing the directionality of energy systems. Scholars of sustainability transitions differentiate between two phases of energy transition: The frst phase is called ‘take-off’ and began in the 1990s, when renewable energy technologies were at nascent stages (Markard, 2018; Rotmans et al., 2001). The mid 2000s to the present is classifed as the ‘break through’ phase, when mature renewable energy technologies, supported by policy in- terventions steadily replace fossil fuels (Markard, 2018; Rotmasn et al., 2001). Recent contributions in sustainability transitions highlight key intervention points that can accelerate the breakthrough phase, which includes the stimulation of a variety of niche E-mail address: mirza_sadaqat_huda@iseas.edu.sg. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/eist https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2024.100815 Received 16 December 2022; Received in revised form 19 January 2024; Accepted 19 January 2024