Essays in environmental economics and climate justice

The global climate crisis has prompted governments to implement ambitious policies to mitigate environmental damage, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and promote renewable energy. While essential, these policies impose significant socio-economic costs, that more likely disproportionately affecting vulnerable groups. This paper explores the dual distributional impacts of green policies: source-side income effects, such as job losses in carbon-intensive sectors, and use-side income effects, such as increased energy costs for households. The analysis highlights energy poverty as a severe consequence of use-side income effects, as it disproportionately burdens low-income households in their access to baskets of energy goods. Public perception plays a critical role in the success of climate policies. Resistance, such as the Yellow Vest protests in France, arises from perceived inequities and mistrust in governmental management. Addressing these challenges requires targeted compensatory measures, including retraining programs, subsidies, and energy efficiency initiatives, to enable a just transition. By balancing environmental goals, cost- effectiveness, and equity, referred to as the "triple dividend", policymakers can foster societal support and mitigate the regressive effects of the green transition.