Political Dimensions of Climate Justice in the Persian Gulf

Abstract

The research utilises the framework of Regional Security Complex Theory to explore and integrate a conceptual approach tailored to climate justice in energy debates of the Persian Gulf. This study tries to analyse the political aspects of climate policy inside the Persian Gulf region. The study aims to capture the regional relations debate on politics of infrastructure of the power grid and interconnected gas pipelines. The multilevel aspect of RSCT has been adapted the analysis on four different levels: domestic, bilateral, regional, and global. On this basis, the concept helps to explain the reasons leading countries to cooperate or conflict and describe their interests in social justice, environmental justice, and energy justice. This is particularly the case when addressing whether energy is perceived as a security instrument or facilities for social justice. The analytical framework is based on considering three key variables: (1) the level of energy vulnerability of the countries and their domestic energy trends as the independent variable, (2) the foreign policy induced by the distribution of power and geopolitical relationships as the dependent variable, and (3) ideological or perceptual support for ethical implications of political decision-making as an intervening variable.